Patagonia Hotels

by Neil Woodburn on

“Stylish” hotels in Patagonia?

I never thought I’d see an article about hip, stylish hotels popping up in this remote and isolated corner of the world. And yet, here we have Nathan Lump of Travel & Leisure writing about the newest places to crash in this mountain sanctuary that do not involve a tent.

I’ve never been, but I’ve always imagined this wondrous place a sanctuary from the modern world where “stylish hotels” simply do not exist. According to Lump, however, the modern world has been making inroads since 1993 when the luxurious Explora Lodge (above photo) opened up in Torres del Paine National Park. Since then, other hotels have opened to cater to affluent travelers more interested in comfort than roughing it in Patagonia. Lagrange explores four of the newest, and most “stylish” of these, including Eolo (El Calafate, Argentina), Los Cerros (El Chaltén, Argentina), Remota and Altiplánico Sur (both in Puerto Natales, Chile).

I have to admit, I was a bit impressed with the write-ups but will have to defer to someone who has actually been to see if the hotels are ruining Patagonia. Lump himself understands the potential impact and writes that “it is possible to envision a time when tour buses roaring across four-lane highways and disgorging tourists at sprawling megaresorts will banish the incredible sense of peace here.”

For the moment, one can still enjoy this “sense of peace” but better act quickly before such resorts suck the air of Patagonia.

Patagonia in the Star Trib

by Erik Olsen on

If there’s one place that I’ve blogged about here that I sometimes dream about, it’s Patagonia. It seems like a century ago that I was there with a friend of mine, trekking the Torres del Paine circuit in Chile, and trudging my way (by horse at one point) to the base of the Grey Glacier. The landscape in Patagonia is awe-inspiring. I like to tell people that it is a mixture of Yosemite, Yellowstone and scenes from a science fiction novel. In regards to the latter, not only are some of the gaping spaces there other-worldly, but there are animals like the guanaco and the reah (also known as the Nandu, an awkward, flightless ostrich-like bird) that roam the countryside and sometimes stalk unsuspecting passers-by (we were followed by a curios rhea for about three miles).

So given my enthusiasm for the place, I can hardly pass up the opportunity to post about new articles on Patagonia as I fine them. To wit: here is one from the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. Writer Chris Welsch finds the allure of the true land down under nearly as inviting and fascinating as I did. He’s on the road with several fellow travelers including some Aussies and an Argentine makes a fine story of his trip down there. Of course, he make the obligatory nod to Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia and rather conspicuously throws in a couple of foreign words like cebadora, but that’s OK. We’ll forgive him the travel-writing cliches. It’s otherwise a fine piece.

Potts on Patagonia

by Erik Olsen on

It’s nice to see two great travel writers talk about one of my favorite places. Rolf Potts takes a look at Patagonia…actually he talks with South America expert Wayne Bernhardson about Patagonia. Potts, you may know, now does a regular column on Yahoo, but is also the author of the book Vagabonding, about traveling the world on a shoestring. (He is also the writer of one of my favorite articles of all time about infiltrating the movie set in Thailand where Leo DiCaprio was filming “The Beach”). Bernhardson is a former Lonely Planet writer (10 years there) who now does guidebooks for the good folks at Moon Handboooks. I remember Bernhardson’s work well from when I was living in South America.

Anyway, the important thing here is the topic: Patagonia. Just last night (no kidding) a friend at dinner asked me where he should go if he had 10 days to kill and could go anywhere (he’s kind of an outdoors buff, too, btw). Patagonia, I declared. Head down south and see Torres del Paine, Punta Arenas, Argentina’s Península Valdés…the list goes on. Potts gets Bernhardson to open up about the region’s vast history (also nicely covered in Bruce Chatwin’s On Patagonia) and the many things to do and see in the region. I scribbled some things a ways back about Patagonia, which you can check out here, but take a read of this email interview between Potts and Bernhardson and give some serious thought to heading down South…it is almost spring/summer there, after all.

Music and Travel

by Erik Olsen on

Man, it was some time ago that I featured here a list of songs I most enjoy listening to while traveling. The list was partly based on some personal experiences with music while I was on the road in various places. That is, years ago I did the five day trek up the Inca Trail. I was drained and tired and beat. Even for a guy who’s pretty fit, the Inca Trail has got some tough spots. Anyway, I put the headphones on and heard Willy Nelson sing Peter Gabriel’s Don’t Give Up, and immediately quickened my step and pushed on. It wasn’t the title of the song, or the words…it was just the sound of Willy’s doleful tenor, some mix of his voice and the incredible surroundings that just clicked and created a moment of immense and meaningful beauty. Music and travel mix like that.

And then later that year, I was standing alone on a cliff over-looking the crashing waves on the Valdez Peninsula in Argentina, miles away from anywhere or anyone, and I head Pearl Jam’s Off He Goes, and well, my spirits soared, my chest puffed out, and my head whirled with the most wonderful feeling of freedom.

I guess the point of all this is that music and travel can create an intoxicating mix. Music adds a dimension to your experience in the moment that can lift your spirits and fill you with a sense of joy that is really incomparable. I was reminded of all this when reading this piece in the SF Chronicle about exactly that: music and travel. The writers sense of music and travel differs slightly from my own, but it is a toic worth thinking about as you load up your ipod for your next adventure.


Summer Skiing Way Down South

by Erik Olsen on

Here we are reaching the end of a lovely summer, lots of vacations taken, a few scares here and there, but so far rather sedate for most. But perhaps you’re one of those skier types who did not get enough out of our last winter’s snowfall. Then what can you do about it now? Well, as most of you probably know, it is wintertime in the Southern hemisphere and that means that there is skiiing to be done in places like Chile.

Way down south, there are several excellent resorts to choose from, including Portillo, Valle Nevado, and Termas de Chillán. The snowfall in Chile is said to be excellent, with as much as 280 inches at Portillo and much “corn snow” to be shredded. I’ve skied Chile myself and consider it excellent terrain. And one of the best parts is topping off the day with a nice Pisco Sour. Yum.

Budget Travel is talking about decent package deals to get down there just you and your boards starting at about $1200 for a week.