What our travellers say

Travelling with Sapa Pana Travel

Sapa Pana Travel organised this entire trip down to the last detail. The transfers, the rental car and the hotels and lodges. We were given a great itinerary that fitted in perfectly with our wishes and even included a couple of ferry crossings. That was lovely, as we’re both ferry captains. Thanks, Johan! Using the handy maps.me app, we drove effortlessly from hotel to hotel.

Watch the inspirational video below of the trip our travellers went on. Click on the image and the video will start playing.

On the road in our rental car

From Santiago, the capital of Chile, we fly to Puerto Montt. At the airport, we pick up our rental car straight away and drive to Puerto Varas, situated in the Maure District. We are able to recover from the long journey in a lovely hotel. We set off from Puerto Varas and our first highlight is right there: the Cascada de los Enamorados. The most beautiful waterfalls we have ever seen, with a volcano in the background!

As we drive towards the Andes Lodge, we pass lakes full of salmon farms, small ferries, rows of beehives and very few people! It’s raining in the morning, which is of course to be expected in the rainforest. As a result, the journey takes longer than expected. The upside is that we get to know our car really well straight away. Our companion for the coming days is a Toyota 4x4 – certainly no luxury! Thanks to the rain, the surroundings are spectacularly green, with plenty of thundering waterfalls.

Hot springs and a little party

The rain has been falling for four days and nights, but that hasn’t dampened our enjoyment one bit! In Caleto Gonzalo, we’re staying at the Yelcho Lodge. We’re taking a rest day and visiting Pumalín National Park. There’s a hobbit-like atmosphere and the scenery is so beautiful it looks as if it’s been staged. We round off the day with a visit to natural hot springs, fed by a volcano. We’re all alone in the bath, in the rain and mist right in the middle of the rainforest – wow!

The next day we drive on to Puyuhuapi, once again in the rain. There are some lovely walks in the area around Puyuhuapi, and there are a few small supermarkets in the village. We carried on to Coyhaique, which felt like the first major town we’d come across here. On the way, we picked up a hitchhiker. As the distances are long and the local people often don’t have cars, this is quite normal in this part of Chile. We all help each other out! Our lodge in Coyhaique, Patagonia House, is just outside the town, which we’re quite happy about. A lovely room, really friendly staff, and together with the other guests and the staff, we have a little party that goes on until the early hours!

It gets more beautiful with every bend

The next day, we set off early for our next destination. It’s dry and sunny – at last! We drive to Puerto Guadal and, having read that this is a beautiful route, we’re in no hurry. Setting off early turns out to be a wise choice, because just when we think it can’t get any more beautiful, the next bend proves us wrong. We arrive at Mallín Colorado Ecolodge at dusk. When we wake up, we can’t believe our eyes! We’re looking out over a glacial lake, surrounded by a lush green forest, birds, waterfalls, a kaleidoscope of colours from all the flowers, and a white wild horse grazing right next to our cottage. We have to rub our eyes to believe it. We’re having a rest day here and decide to go for a walk in the surrounding area. The view of the Andes is spectacular.

After this rest day, we drive past the glacial lake, via Chile Chico, on to Perito Moreno in Argentina. The landscape is now drier and the roads dustier. The vegetation changes, creating a whole new palette of colours. On arriving in Perito Moreno (not to be confused with Perito Moreno National Park and Glacier!), it looks like a ghost town. Of the 2,000 inhabitants, we only see three on the streets. It turns out to be Sunday and the whole village is at church. Around four o’clock, the streets come alive again with people, children, music and a convivial atmosphere.

A warm welcome from the gauchos in Argentina

Early in the morning, we set off towards El Calafate. We have a distance of about 800 kilometres to cover to reach the next lodge. Just a few kilometres outside the village, we almost have a guanaco – a relative of the llama – on the car. We stop, because a photo has to be taken! An hour later and more than a hundred guanacos further on, it’s mainly a case of keeping up our speed and honking the horn. We drive through a vast wilderness, passing perhaps five cars all day, able to see for kilometres and spotting nothing but wildlife. The nandus, a type of ostrich, are also well represented and, as it’s spring, we see lots of chicks. The final stretch of the route from El Calafate to the lodge is another challenging stretch of road, even though we’re already very tired.

We then arrive at Estancia Nibepo Aike, situated in a beautiful valley next to the Perito Moreno Glacier. We’re given the warmest of welcomes by gaucho Juan, whilst the other gauchos are outside on horseback, herding the cows and sheep into the pens. Another real gem, Johan and team – how do you always find these places? At Estancia Nibepo Aike, we have a rest day, which we spend enjoying a horse ride and, of course, an unmissable visit to the glacier. The glacier is still growing and, as a result, moving – you can actually hear it creaking!

The most beautiful hotel ever

With a heavy heart, we set off again the next day, heading back to Chile, where, strangely enough, the landscape is immediately greener once more. Our destination is The Singular Patagonia, in Puerto Natales. This is the most beautiful hotel we have ever had the pleasure of staying in. Everything is just right: the architecture, the views, the rooms, the service, the food and drink. Everything is top-notch! Fortunately, we have a rest day here too. We drive through Torres del Paine National Park. Due to the strong wind – force 9 – hiking isn’t an option today. The next day, we drive on to ‘el fin del mundo’ and, upon arriving in Punta Arenas, we hand back the car and begin our preparations for the trip to Antarctica!

On an expedition to Antarctica

We feel so blessed to have been able to experience this. Antarctica is an unspoilt corner of the earth, where the vivid colours emphasise the serenity. It’s magical. Words and photos simply cannot do justice to how special this is!

Waking up amongst the icebergs and kayaking with penguins

We fly from Punta Arenas to King George Island, also known as Frei Island, in a small plane. Here you’ll find a number of scientific and military bases and one runway that we’re allowed to use. Our expedition ship is waiting in the bay and we board it via zodiacs. At night we sail to the Antarctic Peninsula and in the morning we wake up amongst the icebergs. We’ve signed up for the kayaking team, which means we miss most of the Zodiac trips. In return, we drift past icebergs in complete silence. Penguins swim alongside the kayak and we drift past ice floes teeming with seals.

Click on the image to watch the video about Antarctica.

The best expedition team ever

We’re spending six days aboard the Magellan Explorer, a brand-new expedition vessel carrying up to 73 passengers. The cabins are luxurious, spacious and have a balcony. The food is exceptionally good, but most importantly: we have the best expedition crew ever! Scientists and outdoor specialists who show us Antarctica with great passion. Lectures are paused when whales swim past, and they ensure our safety. Thanks to this team, we are now ambassadors for Antarctica, because once you’ve seen this beauty, you can’t help but campaign for the preservation of this fragile part of the Earth.

In conclusion

The locals are very friendly everywhere. It does help if you speak a bit of Spanish, because the further you go into Patagonia, the fewer other languages are spoken. During our trip, there were protests in Chile, which we witnessed on a number of occasions, but they were all very peaceful and only took place in the larger cities.

The food was excellent. In Patagonia in particular, they use lots of local produce, from fresh salmon to delicious lamb. And the Pisco Sour, a local drink you can order anywhere, comes highly recommended! But don’t forget to try the local wines – it’s unfair that Chile still isn’t really taken seriously as a wine-producing country.

The days in the car were sometimes long, which makes it quite an active way to travel, but that’s also why we got to see so much! What’s more, after every long day of travelling, we had a rest day to explore the local area. That made it perfectly manageable. The roads were only partly tarmacked, which made for an adventurous route, taking us past beautiful lakes, waterfalls, volcanoes and glaciers, through forests, mountains and vast open spaces – because Chile really does have it all!