Loren N.
Our Patagonia trip was fantastic
Our Patagonia trip was fantastic. First, we needed (as always) more time. I wish we would have had 4 full days in Buenos Aires. The location in Recoleta was perfect and the Westin was fine. The bus tour was only OK. Too much driving and not enough stopping at some of the great spots. Our best day was spent walking and in the cemetery that was amazing. I had heard so many good things about the Bariloche area. It was beautiful but our days there were jammed with people and traffic. The bus tours were greatly delayed in heavy traffic and we had little time to see any of the sights. The boat trips also had long bus travel but the boat stops and short walks were very nice. The long travel day with 4 buses and 3 boats from Bariloche to Puerto Varas turned out to be wonderful. Great guides and the entire day was a remarkable adventure crossing the border into Chile. Puerto Varas/Puerto Montt/Chiloe was fine on our own and the hotel was nice. The town tours were worthless and skipped almost all of the major sites that we enjoyed walking to. Fortunately, our guide for Chiloe was fantastic. He actually asked us what we wanted to do so we skipped what was described and took a boat to see penguins and then had lunch as scheduled - excellent day. Torres del Paine was just like our dreams. The hotel was wonderful and all of the day activities whether hiking, riding, or boating exceeded our expectations. The guides were some of the best we have ever seen and everything was beautiful beyond belief. We wish we could have had another 2-3 days there - 5 were not enough. Punta Arenas was a fun, walkable town on our own. The Australis trip was amazing. We had never been on a cruise and this was amazing every single day. The sights were unbelievable and the guides, programs, food and drink, and meeting others from around the world were highlights of the trip. We made it to Cape Horn and were able to spend the (stormy and windy) day on the island seeing all of the sights. We felt like little children living a dream. All of your arrangements and the transfers were almost perfect. This is usually the stressful part of travel but all of the transfers were on time and, except for one, we had a text confirmation the night before so communication was perfect. In retrospect 2 more days in Buenos Aires, 3 more days at Torres del Paine, and skipping Bariloche completely would have made the trip better. Bariloche is a back-packers paradise but it cannot be seen on a bus and the town itself is a touristy dump. Our opinion... Thanks for all of your help. It was the trip of a lifetime.