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Travel guide to Uruguay

by Amanda Barnes November 7, 2021

Uruguay is one of the most charming and among the easiest countries in South America to visit. In our travel guide to Uruguay, you’ll get a feel for how this South American country is safe to visit, well organised and moves at a peaceful pace. You can easily spend a couple of weeks easing into life in Uruguay and exploring its wine regions. As a bare minimum, plan to spend a couple of days in Montevideo and visiting the wine route of Canelones, and a couple more in the coastal regions of Maldonado or the riverside regions of Colonia.

Guide to visiting Uruguay and experiencing its wines in situ

Montevideo’s Carrasco International Airport has direct flights to most Latin American capitals and international connections, and is just 20 minutes from the capital (by taxi or bus). If you are arriving by boat (from Buenos Aires or Brazil), there are three busy ports with international arrivals in Uruguay: Montevideo, Punta del Este and Colonia del Sacramento. Major cities are also served by international bus services, and local buses are comfortable and regular. Hire cars are widely available and driving is a joy in Uruguay — especially with the country’s fascination for interesting curved bridges and roundabouts.

November 7, 2021 0 comment

Travel Chile Chile Features Travel & Culture

Pumalín and Patagonia parks in Chile: The largest private land donation in history

by Amanda Barnes April 28, 2019

written by Amanda Barnes

The Pumalín and Patagonia national parks in Chile are the largest private land donation in history. The formal handover from Kristine Tompkins has been finalised as she donates over 375,000 hectares of private land to the Chilean state to form the Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park and Patagonia National Park. These two parks are part of a series of donations from the Tompkins family, which have helped create and expand eight national and regional parks in Chile and Argentina.

The Patagonia National Park stretches over 304,000 hectares and includes wetlands, steppes and forests protecting a diverse range of threatened and endangered wildlife and species. The Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park spans over 402,000 hectares and protects a large temperate rainforest with trees up to 3,000 years old.

An inspirational family dedicated to conservation

Kristine Tompkins is the widow of Douglas Tompkins, with whom she formed the Tompkins Conservation. They are both self-made millionaires from the USA who left their successful careers in the moutaineering retail sector and moved to Patagonia in the 90s to focus on conservation projects. Together they have led an inspirational mission to acquire land in Chile and Argentina in a bid to protect and conserve areas in the Southern Cone and helped form several national and regional parks that are helping to protect places and species from extinction.

“After years of work together with Doug and the team at Tompkins Conservation we have achieved our dream,” says Kris Thompkins. “The parks that we created with so much love are now national parks which belong to everyone. The real work begins now. Taking care of these parks will not only be the responsibility of the government, but also the work of society, of each one of us, so that this patrimony may be conserved and protected for the future.”

The nonprofit organization has helped conserve more than 5.7 million hectares in collaboration with governments, other NGOs, and philanthropic partners, and is dedicated to marine conservation and rewilding extinct and endangered species in South America.

Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park

Total area: 402,391 hectares
Tompkins Conservation donation: 293,337 hectares

In 1992, the foundation created by Douglas Tompkins began acquiring large tracts of temperate rainforest with the goal of their permanent conservation, in what is now Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park.

This new national park protects 25% of Chile’s endangered alerce forest, a protected species with individuals over 3,000 years old, in addition to lakes, waterfalls and volcanoes. Fauna includes pudu (a minature deer), puma, Commerson’s dolphin, Darwin’s frog and Chile’s only marsupial, the rare monito del monte. Park infrastructure includes a cafe, cabins, campgrounds, an information centre and 11 trails. It’s located 114 miles south of the regional capital of Puerto Montt, accessible by road and ferry, on the Carretera Austral.

Patagonia National Park

Patagonia Park in Chile, Douglas Tompkins donation and land conservation

Total area: 304,527 hectares
Tompkins Conservation donation: 83,763 hectares

Patagonia National Park features the greatest terrestrial biodiversity in the region, with habitats ranging from Patagonian steppe to lenga forest and wetlands. It’s home to numerous endangered and threatened species, including ten percent of the global population of huemul, the south Andean deer.

A former estancia, its central area was historically overgrazed and poorly managed as a product of intensive ranching. Through a long process of restoration and rewilding, the native grasslands have recovered and wildlife has returned in numbers, including herds of guanaco, a South American camelid, flamenco, puma and a population Darwin’s rhea under restoration.

Top notch infrastructure includes a lodge, restaurant, visitor center and museums, as well as campgrounds and trails. Patagonia National Park consists of the Tompkins Conservation donation in addition to the former national reserves of Jeinimeni and Tamango, plus fiscal land. It’s located 180 miles south of Coyhaique, the regional capital of Aysen.

Video on the Pumalín and Patagonia parks creation and handover

April 28, 2019 0 comment

Visit La Serena Chile penguins sea lions dolphins

Travel Chile Chile Features Features Elqui Travel & Culture

Why La Serena should be on your Chile bucket list

by Amanda Barnes July 9, 2018

written by Amanda Barnes

La Serena in Chile is an often overlooked destination but this coastal city in northern Chile is a hotspot for nature-spotting, stargazing and Pisco-drinking. Bianca Rodrigues investigates.

I booked my tickets to La Serena, Chile without knowing much about the region. I had found very cheap tickets via the budget airline, Jet Smart, so I figured I had nothing but a few bucks to lose if we didn’t like it. I booked one night in a hostel in La Serena, allowing myself some flexibility if we wanted to bolt. What happened after completely surprised me. La Serena, and the Pisco Elqui region, shouldn’t just be a passing glance, and here’s why.

As we landed in the tiny La Serena airport, we found ourselves in a picturesque seaside town, with swaying palm trees and sunshine warming our faces. The view of the open fields and clear blue skies was enough to help me realize this would be a good trip.

First stop – Hostal El Punto

Based on some overwhelmingly positive reviews, we chose to stay at the German-owned Hostal El Punto. It was pretty empty when we arrived, which was a welcome break from the bustle of Santiago. We checked in, and explored our new digs. It’s times like these that I’m thankful for the Internet because I couldn’t have been happier about our decision.

At every turn, we found ourselves in an adorable room or courtyard, and I was eager to snap some photos with my camera during our trip. Since we had arrived in the evening, we just did a quick walk through town (very safe, and surprisingly lively) and turned in for the night.

Pisco Elqui, the heart of Chile’s Pisco country

Even if you’re not a fan of this fermented spirit, you can’t miss the sweeping valley views of Pisco Elqui. The region is famous for its vast vineyards that stretch as far as the eye can see. This is offset by the dramatic Andes mountains which create the most picture-perfect surroundings you can imagine. We went in the fall, and the area was carpeted with bright yellow vegetation and stark, brown mountains.

While I may not love pisco, I didn’t want to give up a chance to visit one of the most famous Pisco distilleries in the region, Gabriela Mistral.

I will say, the tour here was not the best, especially since it was in Spanish and it was difficult to follow along with the tour guide. It was similar to any winery tour you may have been on, but the grounds are absolutely stunning, so, just for that, it was worth a look. And, fun fact, they use American oak barrels to store the pisco!

More than just penguins – a visit to Isla Damas

One of the most popular recommendations under “La Serena Things to Do” was always the Isla Damas tour. I found a non-tour option that got us there using a local bus company and vowed to keep my expectations low since this wasn’t the season for penguin sightings.

It was a long, but scenic journey to the tiny town of Punta Choros, from where the boat tours set out. You can see in the photos below how dry and dusty the north of Chile can really be, only made more apparent by the colourful clapboard houses that line the streets.

The boat tour lasts about 3 hours, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and we were on the water! As we made our way through the clear blue seas, our tour guide explained to us (in Spanish) the delicate nature of this reserve, and the impressive efforts the local conservation organizations have made to create a natural habitat for these Humboldt penguins.

Unfortunately, our penguin sighting was quite limited, but I think we got something even better – sea lions and DOLPHINS! You can see a video of the dolphins jumping out of the water here:

Stargazing in the mountains

Due to its dry conditions, the area around La Serena is one of the best spots in the world to observe stars. In fact, Chile has set up several observatories in the area and invites researchers from any country to take advantage of their resources.

We visited the Pangue Observatory, spending a night in Vicuna, another town an hour from La Serena. From Vicuna, it was about 45 minutes of driving in pitch black cutting through unpaved mountain roads. I’m thankful there was no light to see the jagged cliffs we were driving along.

We were greeted by our wonderful guide who is an astronomy hobbyist with an impressive telescope. It was an intimate experience of a group of four of us, and he showed and talked us through pretty much anything a novice astronomer would want to know about. We saw dying stars, near and distant galaxies, and my personal favourites, the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.

After just a few days in La Serena I felt we were just seeing the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot more to do here, including kitesurfing, visits to nearby national parks, and local towns.

Don’t sleep on La Serena. There’s a lot waiting for you.

Written by Bianca Rodrigues

Bianca Rodrigues is a New York native now living in Santiago, Chile, blogging about her travels through this beautiful country.

She likes eating brownies, drinking Carmenere and watching celebrity interviews on late night TV.

You can follow her travels by following these social media channels:

*Blog

*Instagram

*YouTube

July 9, 2018 0 comment

By Region Features Wine Travel & Culture Bolivia Wine Guide

A wine lover’s guide to Bolivia

by Amanda Barnes June 29, 2016

written by Amanda Barnes

The heart of Bolivian production is in Tarija – the country’s wine capital and home to 95% of the country’s wine production. There’s no mistaking the wine capital on arrival, as Tarija proudly promotes its wine production symbolised by a big glittering wine glass sculpture towering over the town.

The town of Tarija is nestled in-between the hillsides of the wine valley. Although the hills looks the same height as the city, Bolivia is the highest altitude wine region in the world. Vineyards can reach up to 3,000 meters above sea level, and are never less than 1,800m above sea level, giving Bolivia’s wines a very unique character.

June 29, 2016 0 comment

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