Vaya Adventures

Your Travel Specialist

We are TRUE specialists. Nearly every person at Vaya is a current or former U.S. expat who has spent years living, working, or exploring in the destinations we offer. Our focus means everyone here knows these places intimately, and that comes through in the thoughtful planning of your trip. Each journey is "tailor-made" by our knowledgeable specialists to match your interests and timing, with no big tour groups or tour buses. The superlative feedback we regularly receive from our travelers says it better than we can. With Vaya, you'll experience more of the best of what the world has to offer.

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Journal Entries by Vaya Adventures

What Goes Into Creating an Itinerary at Vaya Adventures? We Asked our Destination Specialists

By Vaya Adventures
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Apr 10 2024

We recently interviewed some of our enthusiastic Destination Specialists to learn about some of the new [...]

2023 Vaya Photo Contest Winners

By Vaya Adventures
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Feb 23 2024

Vaya travelers are known for being genuinely curious and respectful, for delving into the destinations they [...]

The Jemmy Button Story: A Kidnapping, a Hoedown and a Massacre in Wulaia Bay

By Vaya Adventures
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Jan 03 2020

Travelers on our Patagonia cruises know they will be visiting some of the most remote glaciers, [...]

Pukara Quitor

Alone in the Devil’s Cave in Atacama, Chile

By Vaya Adventures
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Nov 21 2019

Alone and deep in a cave beneath the Pukara de Quitor archeological site in northern Chile’s [...]

The Kamehameha

Sailing in Rio de Janeiro

By Vaya Adventures
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Sep 30 2019

A gust of tropical wind fills the sails and propels us out of Guanabara Bay and [...]

Moai on Easter Island

The World Has Two Navels

By Vaya Adventures
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Aug 29 2019

Easter Island, Isla de Pasqua, Rapa Nui, or the original native name: Te Pito o Te [...]

Marine Iguana

Swimming with a Sea Creature Like No Other

By Vaya Adventures
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Aug 09 2019

Submerged a few feet below the surface of the Pacific, I spot a curious creature chomping [...]

Chinchero, Sacred Valley, Peru

Dispatch from the Sacred Valley

By Vaya Adventures
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Jul 08 2019

“All of this will be an airport someday,” explained Vetor, our Quechua guide, motioning out to [...]

Antarctic Ocean Optimism On the RCGS Resolute Marine Mammals Voyage

By Vaya Adventures
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Apr 10 2019

After two days of blue skies and uncharacteristically smooth sailing through the Drake Passage south from [...]

Did the Patagonian Indians save the Magellan expedition from self-destruction?

By Vaya Adventures
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Mar 04 2019

On March 31, 1520, Magellan’s Armada de Molucca, a fleet of five ships commissioned by the [...]

Big Ice trek on Perito Moreno Glacier

From Iron Man to Big Ice: An interview with Vasso Kelly

By Vaya Adventures
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Dec 15 2018

Below is an interview with an exceptional Vaya traveler and athlete, Vasso Kelly, who visited Argentina [...]

My prize-winning, published account of a wild jaguar encounter in Brazil

By Vaya Adventures
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Nov 14 2017

When I got home after a jaguar speedboat safari in the Brazilian Pantanal, I felt that [...]

Kayaking in the Rainforest Canopy versus taking the Canopy Elevator, Bridges, Towers or Sky Biking

By Vaya Adventures
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Jul 24 2017

Following a recent Tucano cruise in the Brazilian Amazon, kayaking in the canopy of the Amazon [...]

Cable car from El Alto to La Paz

Gustu, La Paz’s Acclaimed Culinary Experiment with a Social Conscience, Draws Globetrotting Foodies

By Vaya Adventures
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Jul 12 2017

Could there be a less likely location for a world-class culinary experience than La Paz, Bolivia? [...]

Hike Up El Morado

El Morado: Hummingbirds, Bacon-Eating Finches, and Glaciers on a Day Hike from Santiago

By Vaya Adventures
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Apr 05 2017

Adventure-seekers and nature-lovers headed to Chile to hike and enjoy the outdoors usually focus on the [...]

Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu the Vaya Way

By Vaya Adventures
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May 25 2016

Those of you who have traveled with Vaya before know that we like to put our [...]

An Alternative, Less-Traveled Lakes Crossing Route

By Vaya Adventures
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Feb 18 2016

The Lakes Crossing between Chile and Argentina. For those who travel to the Chilean or Argentinian [...]

Lollapalooza heads to Bogota, Colombia

By Vaya Adventures
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Feb 10 2016

The 2015 Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago was evacuated amid weather reports calling for rain, hail, [...]

Canoeing with Caimans in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park

By Vaya Adventures
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Aug 13 2015

“Back, back, back!” exclaimed our native naturalist guide, Sergio, as he and two members of the [...]

Central Chile: More Than Just a Layover

By Vaya Adventures
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Aug 06 2015

Santiago and Central Chile have long been afterthoughts for travelers coming to Chile, who tend to [...]

Exploring Chile’s Wine Region in a Day Trip from Santiago

By Vaya Adventures
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Mar 23 2015

Chile is known internationally for the quality of its wine, and a visit to wine country [...]

Arequipa & Colca Canyon as an Active 3-Night Extension

By Vaya Adventures
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Jan 22 2015

On a recent trip to Peru I had the chance to visit some places that are [...]

Zen Birding in Santiago and Central Chile

By Vaya Adventures
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Dec 05 2014

Keeping a lookout for different bird species where you are traveling can be a good way [...]

Savoring a Stay at a Gourmet Hotel in Argentina’s Lake District

By Vaya Adventures
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Oct 14 2014

Given that the word gourmet is in the name, one would expect Las Balsas Gourmet Hotel [...]

Guatin / Gatchi – an active Atacama option

By Vaya Adventures
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Aug 18 2014

The Atacama Desert has numerous excellent and unique excursion options. While they all allow you to [...]

Wandering the Walled City of Cartagena

By Vaya Adventures
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Aug 04 2014

It’s been over a decade since I started traveling in Central and South America, but I [...]

Grassroots Conservation at Paz de las Aves Bird Refuge in Mindo, Ecuador

By Vaya Adventures
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Apr 14 2014

Though Ecuador is a relatively tiny country, slightly smaller than the state of Nevada, it is [...]

Tierra Patagonia: A Premier Torres del Paine Lodge

By Vaya Adventures
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Apr 05 2014

On the Chilean side of Patagonia sits one of the most renowned (and arguably most beautiful) [...]

Tucker Islets – A Taste of Galapagos in Patagonia

By Vaya Adventures
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Jan 06 2014

One of my favorite spots in the Galapagos Islands is Punta Vicente Roca.  At the northern [...]

5 Reasons to make Valparaiso a part of your Chile trip

By Vaya Adventures
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Dec 30 2013

When I first came to Chile about 10 years ago, I was excited for my first [...]

Cape Horn: The Southern Tip of South America

By Vaya Adventures
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Nov 18 2013

What is it about the geographic extremes of the earth that appeal to us so much [...]

Galapagos wildlife cruise: the Galapagos sea lion

By Vaya Adventures
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Sep 03 2013

When discussing my favorite animals in the Galapagos, the Galapagos Sea Lion comes a close second [...]

Chasing icebergs in Patagonia

By Vaya Adventures
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Jul 10 2013

I just finished watching the award winning 2012 documentary Chasing Ice, a visually stunning film that [...]

Zen Birding in South America – Macaws in Peru

By Vaya Adventures
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Jun 26 2013

While preparing for a recent trip to the Mindo Cloud Forest in Ecuador, one of the [...]

A visit to Isla Chiloe in Chile’s Lake District

By Vaya Adventures
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Jun 02 2013

I recently had a chance to visit Chile‘s mythical island in the Lake District called Isla [...]

The Finest Galapagos Sailing Tour: the Mary Anne

By Vaya Adventures
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Apr 01 2013

On a recent trip to the Galapagos Islands, I boarded the beautiful Mary Anne, a First [...]

Galapagos Wildlife Spotlight – The Galapagos Green Turtle

By Vaya Adventures
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Jan 23 2013

The Galapagos Green Turtle is a subspecies of the green sea turtle that is found in [...]

Galapagos Wildlife Spotlight Series – Wildlife as a Tool for Cruise Planning

By Vaya Adventures
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Jan 23 2013

On any Galapagos cruise, even on shorter 4 and 5 day options, you will see a [...]

The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes

By Vaya Adventures
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Dec 18 2012

Traveling back and forth between North America and South America sometimes means falling asleep in winter and waking [...]

Conservation Efforts in Chile

By Vaya Adventures
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Oct 17 2012

The following article I wrote on environmental conservation in Chile was published by the International Ecotourism [...]

Three Nights at the Posada – A Peruvian Amazon Extension

By Vaya Adventures
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Aug 20 2012

Adding an Amazon Jungle visit to a trip in the Peruvian Highlands (i.e. Cusco, the Sacred [...]

Hiking and Biking in Peru: Video Highlights

By Vaya Adventures
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Aug 16 2012

On a recent trip to Peru I followed our Peru Highlights Active: Hike & Bike Peru’s [...]

Traveler Interview: A Wisconsin Family’s Meaningful Brazil Adventure

By Vaya Adventures
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Jun 27 2012

Louise Mollinger recently returned from a special trip to Brazil with her daughter Fabiana. Louise adopted [...]

3 Outstanding Lodges In Torres del Paine National Park

By Vaya Adventures
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Jun 15 2012

When you travel to the southern extreme of the continent to experience the wild, natural beauty [...]

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