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Archive 2016 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided

  
 
Schlotkins
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


So I am turning 40 in April next year and am thinking about Patagonia to celebrate. My debate is if I do a guided Photo tour or just do it myself. It's probably a lot cheaper if I do it myself, but the question is how much do I miss since obviously I've never been there.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Chris



Mar 11, 2016 at 01:10 PM
Mr.Gale
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


Patagonia is a large area, where do you plan on going? I took a tour last fall and had a great time visiting many areas in Argentina and Chile and my favorite place was Torres del Paine. I'm in my 70's so a guided tour worked best for me and my wife and I but being 40 going on your own might be best.
Mr.Gale





Mar 11, 2016 at 02:10 PM
dgdg
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


A lot of different angles to this.

Are you going by yourself?
Can you speak the language?
How is your health and fitness level?

Do you want more of an explorers approach, discovering things on your own, meeting locals or other travelers. Or do you feel like you are only going once and you really want to hit the main photographic locations for sure?

I imagine a photo tour will make it more likely you will have lots of photo ops at classic locations. You'll have less day to day stuff to manage and you can concentrate on your photography and sharing the trip with whomever you travel or new friends. If you twist an ankle or get sick you have help. In a group, its less likely you'd be accosted by thieves.

I went to the Chilean side a while back with my wife. I wasn't into photography yet, but fully enjoyed it. We did it all on our own combining our broken Spanish which was highly valuable. We took public transportation and local drivers for hire. Day hikes, huts, and modest lodging. I can still remember several locations that would have made great photos and see them on FM. A rental car would have helped with odd hour travels for sunrise/sunset.

Plan either approach and then simply see what happens. It's all good.

David



Mar 11, 2016 at 11:33 PM
elkhornsun
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


How good is your Spanish? The more remote the area the less likely you are to find people who speak English. An option to a group tour is to book a combination driver, guide, and interpreter. Need to get someone by referral to be on the safe side and verify their English skills before you arrive. Easy to find such a person for $100 a day or less and this is less expensive than renting a car and paying for the insurance or going on a group tour at $500 a day or more.

Usually the group tours want to stay at 4 and 5 star hotels and this greatly limits the experience with the isolation from the locals. It costs more to experience less.



Mar 13, 2016 at 04:33 PM
Schlotkins
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


My spanish is nonexistent. So either I better start learning now or I'd need some kind of guide. How do you go about finding such a guide?

I am going by myself.... unless I can find someone who speaks spanish to go with me apparently. I'm fit (run 5ks, lift) so I don't think that's an issue. Obviously I know about the iconic spots from what's posted online but not much else...

Thank you all for your replies!
Chris



Mar 13, 2016 at 06:18 PM
dgdg
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


Our quaint hotel had a person there who drove for hire. They had mini buses at the Torres, but his schedule was more convenient. Not sure how you'd find someone like him online.

Without any spanish, I'd definitely find a private driver/guide for hire in advance or go with a tour. A driver can be reserved at your different locales. Not necessarily one driver for the whole trip.



Mar 13, 2016 at 07:43 PM
GroovyGeek
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


Chalten and the Fitz Roy massif are, IMO, far more compact and attractive, especially from a photographic viewpoint. But everything requires decent hikes to get to (7-10 miles one way). The trails are nicely marked and completely suitable for self-guided hikes. English-only is fine. Paine is much more spread out, you absolutely need a driver to get around, unless you have weeks to devote to hiking. Prices for everything are 2x higher than on the Argentinian side too. Or at least they were in 2011. With the political mess and idotic government in Argentina this should be even more true today.








Mar 18, 2016 at 04:28 AM
elkhornsun
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


If there is a good lodge in an area I would email them and ask about guides. The owners depend on their guests having a good experience and providing good reviews are not likely to steer you wrong. Tripadvisor can be useful but we have gotten the best guides from hotel or B&B or hacienda referrals.

I might add that it helps when negotiating a rate with independent drivers, etc. dressing down is a good idea. I usually wear a cheap plastic watch and "rough" clothing and it helps. Wear a shiny watch or have your wife with lots of jewelry and the rate will go up considerably. These areas tend to have a local and a gringo rate and the difference can be a doubling of the cost for the gringo.

Do not have someone at the airport sell you on their services. They usually get a kickback for taking you to particular place from its owner. You may also be driven someplace and get robbed. I am not a fearful traveler but there are certain ways to greatly increase the risks of problems.



Mar 21, 2016 at 03:06 PM
Schlotkins
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


Beautiful shots - thank you all for the advice. I'll do some more research and probably have more questions.


Mar 22, 2016 at 10:44 AM
Aztatlan
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


Renting a car from Punta Arenas or El Calafate and self-driving the region is straight forward. Certainly do not feel that even if you go solo that you need to pay a driver.

Lack of Spanish is no barrier to enjoying the area, either.

In my eyes there are two key issues that decide whether a solo trip is worth considering:

- Are you confident travelling the area alone including the driving (which is not difficult, but some people won't have this confidence in a foreign country, particularly in South America)

- Are you happy to put in the research required to make a solo-tour a success

Most, or perhaps all, of the iconic views are easy to find and exist along well-marked trails. Finding your own locations/compositions is also easy enough to supplement the trophy shots.

With that said, going with a tour certainly has it's advantages. You don't need to worry about driving, booking anything, or researching locations - just show up and go with the flow. Most photo tours to Patagonia are extremely expensive, but I know some exist which are reasonably priced.



Apr 09, 2016 at 08:01 PM
Akpilot
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Patagonia: Guided or Self-Guided


My wife and I were just down that way a couple of weeks ago. We spent almost a month driving around Argentina and Chile on our motorcycle that we drove down from Alaska. After spending several months on the road in Spanish speaking countries you would be surprised how much you pick up.

With that said, Spanish is not necessary in that area. Patagonia relies heavily on tourism for their economy and most of the hotels and a lot of the restaurants will have people who speak English. Most of the park rangers also spoke basic, broken English.

The roads are well maintained so you shouldn't have a problem with a rent a wreck. I will suggest getting a GPS with the Argentina and Chile maps already downloaded. The roads were pretty vacant with the only notable traffic being in Punta Arenas. They drive pretty good compared to most of the other countries in Latin America. You can find hostels for just a couple $ per night but most hotels will set you back $80-120. Remember as an American you have a $160 visa that you will need to get online before entering Argentina. Buy a spare gas can and fill it and leave it in the trunk. Fuel up when you gas gauge hits 1/2 tank as there are not many gas stations and the ones that are there aren't always open.

The best idea that I seen was a bunch of camper vans that all had cool Scooby-do type paintings on them. I didn't look into them but I'm assuming you rent them in Punta Arenas. It is crazy windy down there and there is never good weather forecasts for that area.

In Puerto Natales everybody is a photographer or knows one so just ask the hotel or restaurant where they would go for pictures. Worse comes to worse just look at the postcards and then ask where they are taken.

Brian



Apr 10, 2016 at 04:40 PM





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