Out & About May 2017

Returning home to Awasi a Pisco Sour awaits – probably my favourite cocktail to be had outside Cuba. The exquisite food that follows is creatively prepared to feature flavours of the desert such as Carob and the Chanar fruit. Most importantly, the Awasi team are among the very best hosts anywhere in the Americas and this wonderland is hard to leave. Travelling south to Chilean Patagonia takes two flights on the reliable Lan Chile. The aerial views flying over the Andes, the lakes and rugged coastline, give an impressive preview of what is to come in Patagonia. The south of Chile remains one of the world’s great remaining wildernesses and has always been a highlight for me. Torres del Paine National Park is a five-hour drive from Punta Arenas, but the stunning mountainscapes and genuine frontier territory make the drive feel like a timeless film set. My destination is the exclusive Explora Patagonia. Perched amid rushing waterfalls and the imperious Andes, the location was

visionary from the outset and the national park rules have since excluded any other development within the park, making a stay here feel like a privilege. I was welcomed by one of the local guides who tailor fantastic itineraries and activities including hiking, mountain biking, kayaking and horse riding. We started the next morning with a full day trek into this frontier wonderland. Condor and flamingo, Grey eagle, puma and guanaco are just some of the wildlife that lives in the formidable landscapes of Torres del Paine. Part of the magic of the place however, is how few other humans you will see. Early the next morning we rode out to take in the vast, dramatic landscapes just as explorers would have done centuries before, followed by kayaking on a flat azure lake alongside creaking glaciers. This is a truly incredible part of Chile and the closest you can get to Antarctica without travelling the three days further south across the Drake Passage.

For my final adventure in Patagonia, I took a Jeep with a driver guide across the border to the Los Glaciars National Park and El Chaltén in Argentina. This is great trekking territory; the Fitz Roy Mountains, the thick forests, glacial parks and lakes just beg to be explored. I may just have to return to these extraordinary lands and spend a week traversing their wonders in my own Jeep Chevrolet – it seems to me yet another very good reason to return to Chile. From £9,885 per person, for 14 nights including flights & transfers. If you are inspired by this journey, contact Bailey Robinson. With their indepth knowledge and experience, attention to detail and special contacts around the world, you can trust them to create your perfect holiday. To find out more email: travel@baileyrobinson.com 01488 689700

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