Pausanias

Behuman - sorry to hear you were disappointed by Stella Australis. We sort of knew this but discounted them because of their seriously limited itineraries. If you are going to the end of the world, I think you need to maximise things and take a ship that gets you to South Georgia and all those Antarctic places along with the Horn.

pauljeff

We went from Awasi to Eolo - Awasi arranged a car & driver. I think it took c. 5 hours - we made it to Eolo in time for lunch.

behuman

Typically Awasi will provide free private transportation to Cerro Castillo - the border to Argentina, where Eolo will pick you up for a charge. It is a long drive and you might be delayed at the border, so take your time.

SojournsOf

Anything more recent on EOLO? I'm thinking of booking an Antartica cruise and could fly in for four nights here for the El Calafate area from Ushuaia after the cruise. Never been to Patagonia before and for a short extension, I think this would be the best place rather than going to Chile.

Pausanias

Any preference about which ship or cruise line? Try to find one which also visits South Georgia.

SojournsOf

I'm going to book myself on Quark on this itinerary: https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/en/...penguin-safari

Quark also sounds a bit more expedition - I like the idea of kayaking, paddle boarding and the polar plunge! I had amazing feedback from a client who loved it.

I'm not really interested in the Falklands and surprisingly not many just do Antartica and South Georgia. I want South Georgia for the king penguins which you would not see on a standard Antarctica only itinerary.

Silversea run a couple too - Silver Cloud (5 Jan 21 & 14 Nov 21) and Silver Explorer (10 Nov 21) have itineraries.

Pausanias

That Quark trip looks excellent! The ship is new and with 170-odd passengers it's bigger than some expedition ships but the extra size makes for more deck space and stability and speed. Delighted you will be going to South Georgia which was the absolute highlight for me - one of the world's most incredible places, with epic scenery, vast numbers of penguins and seals and also the ruins of the old whaling stations. It was said that when whaling was at its peak you didn't need navigational charts; you could smell the island from way below the horizon. As for the Falklands, well, my very best wildlife encounters have been on some of the more remote islands in the Falklands, when I literally sat down on a clifftop and had albatrosses clambering over me.

The Silversea programmes are also excellent and in some respects possibly more of a luxury offering than Quark.

Antarctica is becoming very busy nowadays. A few days ago I counted six ships alongside at Ushuaia, another eight ships in the Drake Passage, more than 15 ships on the Antarctica Peninsula and another couple at South Georgia.

Pausanias

Quark's ship World Explorer is alongside at Ushuaia today on the near side of the pier, with the fancy new ship Scenic Eclipse on the far side of the pier.

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/we...a/ushuaia.html

SojournsOf

Scenic looks amazing! And as an Aussie we work closely with them, but Quark just seems more like an experience.

Pausanias

There is a long but fascinating thread on Cruise Critic written by a passenger aboard Scenic Eclipse as it sailed down the coast of South America and on to Antarctica. It's well written, honest and with photos. It seems there are many teething problems with the ship - notably in its design - but overall it seems to have delivered an authentic expedition experience.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/to...to-7-december/

chweekueh

Hello - just tagging on to this thread. Am planning a trip to Chile in April, thinking of starting with Atacama then down to Patagonia. We have rooms booked at Patagonia camp - any reviews on this & the expeditions? Any recommendations on expeditions within Torres del Paine as well would be appreciated. We are early 30s, reasonably fit city folks who are not used to cold weather (home base South East Asia).

Thanks! x CK

Fliar

Just came back from Awasi and wanted to add my two cents.

This is place is insanely expensive (US$2600 per night, minimum three nights). That does give you all meals and drinks and a private tour guide. Despite this I still feel it is overpriced. However, it's booked solid for the next 4 months so either other people are very rich or I'm wrong.

First, the great: the views are too die for, realy amazing. Unbelievably wide views with the snow-capped torres in the background. Food is excellent and wines superb, which a huge range available everyday and always changing (thanks Pablo). Drinks are unlimited and it's wonderful to sit in the lounge just taking in those views.

Activities are entirely tailored and our guide was very pleasant and accommodating. You can choose to have lunch back in the lodge (but it's always a long drive) or outside, where they set it up in a sort of Aman style, with a (good) bottle of wine.


Why no A+ rating?
The rooms are nice but not exceptional.
I hate the hot tub outside. I am a sucker for spa pools but having to wait 4 hours for it to heat up and then only being able to use it for 2 hours...it never being at the right temperature, the waste of energy...give me a regular spa pool anyday and let me sit under the stars in the cool Patagonia night when I want. Also, they didn't ask if I wanted it on the first day (and I didn't know before I arrived) so didn't get to use it at all on the day of arrival.
Related to the spa - there is no privacy. They've put up a few sticks between the villa and the hot tub, but not all the way! Weird.
There is nowhere to sit outside. Not in your villa and not in the lodge. Very strange.
Not that most people come here for such a thing but realise there is only the one main buidling and no other facilities - no spa (treatments are done in room), no pool, no gym, nothing.
House keeping was so-so. As a contrast, I had some laundry done a few weeks before at Singita (Rwanda) and got it back in a sort of picnic basket with a ribbon, a piece of paper and beautifully folded. Here it was stuffed in a laundry bag.
There is no main overhead light in the room so if you're looking for something, good luck.
There is no door in front of the shower and no real door, just a curtain in front of the bathroom. I hate this sort of arrangement, especially when traveling with a friend or my father.
Toilettries are l'Occitane...surely they could have found something local?
It was nice to receive a small gift on the second night (some local chili pepper mix, merquen, very nice), but nothing on the first night and the same thing again on the third.
We were addressed with 7 (!) variations of our names. Even their post-stay email survey was incorrect.
No water (or towels) in the car the day we arrived.
No one told us we could have had lunch in Puerto Natales (included) on the day of arrival.
No fruit or other 'gift' in our room on arrival.


Some of these are minor issues but put together, well for $2600 per night I expect something close to perfection and this wasn't quite good enough. Nonetheless I had a very good time here and wouldn't hestitate to recommend it, if money is no concern. You'll have a fabulous time.

RichardInSF

Gosh, I wrote this in 2015 and still haven't done it. But I am very seriously thinking about going for it next February, 2023 -- Buenos Aires, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, over 2-3 weeks. Awasi, as described in this and other threads does sound tempting but it was last reviewed, a bit negatively, in 2019, just above. If it hasn't been renovated recently then it might be a problem.

Also how does one spend time cruising/driving the Darwin straits and where to stay? Looks like all the cruises from Ushuaia go to Antarctica, that's not where we want to go. Where to stay in Ushuaia, still Los Cauquenes?

Edited to add: Looks like it is now possible to fly from Santiago to Puerto Natales, where Awasi will meet you.

Pausanias

Charles Darwin used a boat for a good reason - the terrain is only approachable from the water and that largely remains the case today. I sailed down to Ushuaia from Santiago on our way to Antartica and South Georgia and that's how most people see the Chilean fjords, Patagonia and the Beagle Channel. However, there are one or two companies which specialise in the area and here is a link to the principal one -
https://www.australis.com/eu/en/rout...onian-explorer

This company has been mentioned on previous posts in this thread. As with all these totally remote and wild places you need to make some compromises on luxury and privacy unless you have your own private yacht of course.

RichardInSF

Actually, in the "Voyage of the Beagle," Darwin relates getting off the ship for a LONG time in this area while the Beagle mapped the channels. Darwin got around on horseback. It seems that he got seasick a lot and took all opportunities he could to leave the ship. LOL

I had found the cruise company you mention. It does look like their 5 day cruise in the area, on which they appear to have essentially a monopoly, is the way to go. Definitely not a luxury cruise line, however, their largest cabins are 22 sqmt and most are 18 sqmt. But probably the right way to go from Ushuaia to Punto Arenas.