As I wrote recently, my own semi-spontaneous Patagonia excursions differ from those of visitors who cannot devote so much time to the Patagonia region that I enjoy every year. In contrast to that earlier itinerary, today I’ll suggest a rather different but overlapping trip to Patagonia; it starts in Buenos Aires and ends in […]

  Visitors on a Patagonia adventure cruise are usually well-traveled people, and may notice that South America’s Pacific coast is a mirror image of North America’s. Southwest of Puerto Montt, the island of Chiloé has a geography similar to Canada’s Vancouver Island – a verdant, densely forested Pacific coastline that alternates rocky headlands and seemingly […]

Looking at the map, many travelers planning a Patagonia cruise overestimate South America’s remoteness because, beyond the tip of the continent, the next thing they see is Antarctica. In reality, at a latitude of 56° S, Cape Horn is almost exactly the same distance south of the Equator as Edinburgh is to the north, but […]

Fancy running through wild, unspoiled terrain close to one of the world’s most spectacular national parks?   You’re not alone: on September 6th,  the 6th annual Patagonian International Marathon saw fearless runners attempting the most ancient of running distances – but in a completely unique location. Confronting some of Patagonia’s most beautiful landscapes 10 km, 21 […]

Recently, in this space, I wrote about overnighting in Antarctica as part of a Patagonia expedition, but there’s another option that’s well worth consideration. Barely an hour northeast of Punta Arenas, surrounded by the South Atlantic Ocean, the Falkland Islands have no glaciers, but they do have an array of sub-Antarctic wildlife that matches almost […]

When Ferdinand Magellan first entered the famous strait that now bears his name, he was not on a Patagonia adventure cruise. In late 1520, when his fleet of five ships sailed past what is now Punta Dungeness, at the eastern entrance to what is the most direct route from the Atlantic to the Pacific, he […]

Many if not most visitors on a Patagonia excursion visit two countries, Argentina and Chile. Unlike Europe, there is no currency union between the two, so it’s important to know what’s happening with money – especially the notoriously fluid situation in Argentina. Like many foreign travelers and Argentine tourism operators, I welcomed the recent end […]

One major highlight of any Patagonia cruise tour is the wildlife. From the decks of any vessel, and on land excursions, passengers can enjoy the sight of Patagonia nature and countless birds – many of them unique to the Southern Hemisphere – and marine mammals such as elephant seals and sea lions. Literally and metaphotically, […]

Referring to the countries in South America that are around and south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the Southern Cone, in geographical terms, is comprised of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. However, Southern Brazil and Paraguay are politically and socially considered to also be part of the Southern Cone, and so we refer to all five […]

As the Southern Hemisphere spring and summer approach, our thoughts turn to a Patagonia vacation, but many of us have only a vague idea what that means. Consequently, I’d like to take an opportunity to define the region that has stimulated the imagination since Ferdinand Magellan first landed there in the 16th century. Intending visitors […]