Of earth’s 37 billion or so acres, very
few are as stunningly lovely as those
we savor on this trip. And of Melville’s
“attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian
sights and sounds,” we’ve chosen the
most marvelous—
with some pride, to tell
the truth. Admirers of Patagonia are many,
but, as Jan Morris said, “If you love something
hotly enough, consciously, with care,
it becomes yours by symbiosis, irrevocably,”
and Patagonia has indeed become ours by
symbiosis.
After a look at bustling Buenos Aires, we fly south to El Calafate, set beside one of the world’s largest and most impressive glacial lakes, Lago Argentino. Then we’re off to some of the choicest parcels of those many billions of acres: the stunning Fitz Roy massif and its spiky neighbors. (The great traveler Lazlo Mecir found himself at a near loss in the presence of these skyrocketing peaks. He called them “insanely spindly exclamation marks and huge rocky thoughts, sitting out there to be read somehow.”)
Based from El Chalten, a charmingly scruffy little town graced with fine small hotels and great restaurants, we spend a couple of days hiking in these stupendous, almost unearthly mountains, returning in the evening for showers and festive dinners. Then back to El Calafate and on by boat across Lago Argentino to Estancia Cristina, a famous old wilderness ranch found for us long ago by Patagonian sage Yvon Chouinard. Set against the lushly glaciated mountains of remotest Patagonia, isolated, unreachable by road, a wilderness within a wilderness, the Estancia is a remarkable destination, a glorious place to wander, fish, ride horses, and revel in views of the massive peaks guarding the Patagonian Ice Cap and the glaciers that rumble from them into the lake (tinting it a beautiful turquoise, a color usually found in small glacial lakes). These are the lands that took “firm possession” of Darwin’s mind, filling him with “deep, but ill-defined sensations.”
After a night in the grand, new Eolo lodge, a real Patagonian marvel that overlooks the vast Patagonian countryside, we spend a day looking at the mammoth Moreno Glacier, watching it slowly calve into Lago Argentino, then drive across the border into Chile for a couple of days day hiking in the Torres del Paine, perhaps the only rivals of the Fitz Roys for sheer mountain theatricality.
Into Patagonia is led by our quintessential Patagonian, the affable and encyclopedically erudite Janko Gorse, who shucked a successful accounting career in Buenos Aires to follow his bliss south to the mountains and plains of Patagonia. In the past 18 years Janko has established himself as the region’s top leader. Your writer, who recently wandered in Patagonia with Janko, counts him as a dear friend, one of the greatest guys he’s ever wandered with, anywhere in the world.
After a look at bustling Buenos Aires, we fly south to El Calafate, set beside one of the world’s largest and most impressive glacial lakes, Lago Argentino. Then we’re off to some of the choicest parcels of those many billions of acres: the stunning Fitz Roy massif and its spiky neighbors. (The great traveler Lazlo Mecir found himself at a near loss in the presence of these skyrocketing peaks. He called them “insanely spindly exclamation marks and huge rocky thoughts, sitting out there to be read somehow.”)
Based from El Chalten, a charmingly scruffy little town graced with fine small hotels and great restaurants, we spend a couple of days hiking in these stupendous, almost unearthly mountains, returning in the evening for showers and festive dinners. Then back to El Calafate and on by boat across Lago Argentino to Estancia Cristina, a famous old wilderness ranch found for us long ago by Patagonian sage Yvon Chouinard. Set against the lushly glaciated mountains of remotest Patagonia, isolated, unreachable by road, a wilderness within a wilderness, the Estancia is a remarkable destination, a glorious place to wander, fish, ride horses, and revel in views of the massive peaks guarding the Patagonian Ice Cap and the glaciers that rumble from them into the lake (tinting it a beautiful turquoise, a color usually found in small glacial lakes). These are the lands that took “firm possession” of Darwin’s mind, filling him with “deep, but ill-defined sensations.”
After a night in the grand, new Eolo lodge, a real Patagonian marvel that overlooks the vast Patagonian countryside, we spend a day looking at the mammoth Moreno Glacier, watching it slowly calve into Lago Argentino, then drive across the border into Chile for a couple of days day hiking in the Torres del Paine, perhaps the only rivals of the Fitz Roys for sheer mountain theatricality.
Into Patagonia is led by our quintessential Patagonian, the affable and encyclopedically erudite Janko Gorse, who shucked a successful accounting career in Buenos Aires to follow his bliss south to the mountains and plains of Patagonia. In the past 18 years Janko has established himself as the region’s top leader. Your writer, who recently wandered in Patagonia with Janko, counts him as a dear friend, one of the greatest guys he’s ever wandered with, anywhere in the world.
Days 1 & 2: USA to Buenos Aires • Day 3: fly to El Calafate,
drive to El Chalten and Fitz Roy • Days 4 & 5: hiking in the Fitz Roys • Day 6: hike on Viedma Glacier, return to El Calafate • Day 7: boat to Estancia Cristina • Day 8: reposeful day at Cristina • Day 9: drive to Eolo lodge • Day 10: Moreno Glacier • Day 11: drive across Chilean border to Torres del Paine • Days 12 & 13: hiking in the Paines • Day 14: drive to El Calafate,
fly to Buenos Aires • Day 15: depart Buenos Aires •
Day 16: arrive in USA.
Into Patagonia with Janko Gorse
Trip Details
2008 Departures:
16 Days
Activity Type:
Touring
,
Walking
Trip Price:From $5960
- October 18 - November 2
- January 17 - February 1
- January 31 - February 15
- February 14 - March 1
- February 28 - March 15
- November 7 - November 22
- December 20 - January 4
- January 23 - February 7
- February 13 - February 28
- March 13 - March 28
16 DaysActivity Type:
Touring
,
Walking
Trip Price:
From $5960
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