Chile

10th Anniversary Highlight Photos!

Posted by on January 29th, 2014

In honor of our 10th Anniversary, we wanted to share a small collection of some our favorite photos from over the years.  Maybe they’ll give you some ideas for future trips.  Click on any photo to see a larger version.  Enjoy!

Tucker Islets – A Taste of Galapagos in Patagonia

Posted by on January 6th, 2014

One of my favorite spots in the Galapagos Islands is Punta Vicente Roca.  At the northern end of the Bolivar Channel, a calm passage between the western islands of Isabela and Fernandina, Punta Vicente Roca’s volcanic coastline is home to a plethora of unique and photogenic birds, including Galapagos Penguins, Blue-Footed Boobies, and Flightless Cormorants…. Read Full Post

Recap of IGTOA’s 2013 Galapagos Guide Training Course

Posted by on December 20th, 2013

During the week of November 18-22 I had the good fortune to attend the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association’s Five Star Guiding in Five Days course at the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora. The course was led by Sam Ham, who is a renowned guide training expert, and Tom O’Brien, a highly experienced and knowledgeable… Read Full Post

Pro Mujer: Changing Lives Through Microloans

Posted by on December 20th, 2013

Microfinance has proven to be a powerful engine of change in the fight against global poverty.  The idea is that with a small loan for use as startup capital, individuals who have no collateral and are considered “not credit-worthy” by traditional financial institutions will be able to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. … Read Full Post

Environmentalism in Patagonia

Posted by on November 28th, 2013

A few years ago, bumping along an unpaved road in Argentine Patagonia, I found myself reflecting on just how different this desolate grassland was from my urban home in Oakland, California.  We passed a gaucho trotting along on his horse, hours from any sign of civilization, and I wondered about his lifestyle.  Was his way of… Read Full Post

Cape Horn: The Southern Tip of South America

Posted by on November 18th, 2013

What is it about the geographic extremes of the earth that appeal to us so much as human beings?  Several years ago, while teaching and traveling in India, I visited one of these extreme sites: Kanyakumari, the southern tip of India, where the the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean converge. … Read Full Post

3 Latin American cocktails

Posted by on October 11th, 2013

Nothing says ‘vacation’ more loudly or clearly than sipping on a cocktail in your swimsuit or your bathrobe. While Argentina and Chile might be most famous for their wines, and Peru and Brazil for their coffee, try these three Latin American cocktails and you’ll realize that each country has something to offer on the cocktail… Read Full Post

An introduction to South American wines

Posted by on August 14th, 2013

Chile and Argentina are two of the world’s biggest producers and exporters of wine, and their wines are readily available in the US and Europe. Plenty of their excellent wines don’t make it to the foreign market, however, and are waiting to be discovered on your visit to the region. Use this guide to scratch… Read Full Post

Luxury Atacama hotel, Chile: Tierra Atacama

Posted by on July 16th, 2013

Chile is incredibly diverse in its landscape. Traveling west to east (a maximum of 217 miles at its widest point) one travels from the Pacific Ocean to the towering Andes. Traveling south to north one can go from the windblown end of the earth in Patagonia to the driest place on earth: the Atacama Desert. Surprisingly,… Read Full Post

Easter Island: debunking the myths

Posted by on June 7th, 2013

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as it is known in Polynesian, must be one of the most enigmatic places on earth. Thousands of miles from anything, including the Chile coast, and littered with almost 900 moai, the angular figures carved from volcanic tuff which have made the island world-renowned, it is a deeply haunting place…. Read Full Post