Patagonia: Need lead on bilingual guides, Christmas slowdown

[CoachGayle]

A U.S. colleague of mine wants advice on travel in Patagonia....Anyone have experience? She prefers to work with Argentinians (or Chileans or even any of you if possible, rather than folks up north.) Here is her request:

"My BA friends are most dear, but the outdoors is not high on their "to do"s. I would love to know if your contacts know of bi-lingual Argentinian travel agents who could help us piece together a moderate hiking, sea kayaking venture in Patagonia. We are salivating over a number of possible destinations, but would love to speak to someone who can help us assess the levels of hiking difficulty with our levels of capabilities. Where can we go on our own, where do we need support arrangements.

We are also finding that since we will be there over the Christmas period, most tour agencies we have been reviewing are not functioning for an almost 10 day space."

All tips most welcome. Thank you!

 

[gouchobob]

Your colleague should read up on it, study some travel guides. They could easily put together the trip they want by themselves. Doing it yourself is the best way to travel in my opinion.

 

[tkm]

My Argentine friend recommended and gave me a contact of a lady working for ASATEJ travel agency.
I haven't talked to her as I prefer arranging everything by myself but if you want, I can give you her email address. She's bilingual.

 

[MizzMarr]

I agree with GouchoBob, but not everybody has the time or inclination to do it themselves. If you're looking for an agent, I know these guys: http://latinexcursions.com/
They speak English and can help your friend arrange whatever trip they want.

 

[Half Luck]

I highly recommend Hernan from Indomita Patagonia. He was my guide when I went to Torres del Paine through Cascada Travel (Cascada contracted the job out to him). Indomita is his own company, and if you deal with him directly, you don't pay any middle men. He's Chilean, speaks great English, and was an EXCELLENT guide.