Author: David Hilton

Swoop’s Patagonia Product & Partnerships Manager, David has a hoard of travel knowledge, gleaned from working as a tour leader throughout Latin America and Antarctica. He grew up visiting family in Argentina and lived in Buenos Aires for years, so Patagonia has always been a region very close to his heart.

Epic Adventures Tierra del Fuego

Crossing the Beagle Channel to the end of South America

Most travellers’ experience of Tierra del Fuego starts and finishes in Ushuaia, Argentina’s southernmost city, that sits on a narrow strip of land between the mountains and the waters of the Beagle Channel. It’s a fine place to start a trek or catch an adventure cruise ship to Cape Horn or even Antarctica, as well […]

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Planning & Tips

Why we love Hotel Las Torres

Having worked for many years as a guide in Patagonia during which I visited Torres del Paine more than a hundred times, I thought I was well versed in the different hotel options within and around the national park. But my recent trip back to the area with Swoop was a great eye-opener and a […]

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Epic Adventures

Lanín Volcano – my favourite trek in the Argentine Lake district

I first visited San Martín de los Andes in the Argentinean Lake District 15 years ago when I backpacked around Patagonia and had much longer hair than I do today. When I finally returned recently for a trekking adventure, I was overjoyed to find that not a lot seemed to have changed in the intervening […]

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Epic Adventures

What makes the Argentine Lake District such a special destination?

I first visited the Argentine Lake District as a backpacker in 2004. Sitting in a small bar, drinking a Quilmes beer, I missed my flight home to the UK where I was due to begin a Masters degree. Instead, I chose the region’s verdant forests and snowy mountain peaks – and Patagonia’s wide-open spaces for […]

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Planning & Tips Travel Tips

Understanding Argentina’s economy (and how to navigate it as a tourist)

Note: This post was updated in September 2024 to reflect recent changes in the Argentinian economy. We have a joke in Argentina that when God was creating the nations of the world he gave them all two virtues. France, for example, got wonderful food and avant-garde fashion. Italy received historic monuments and fast motorcars. Saudi Arabia […]

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