Category: Stories & Inspiration

In April 2024, Florida-based landscape architect Sydney Fisk travelled with Swoop Patagonia to Torres del Paine. Her experience centred on a stay at EcoCamp, which had been the focus of a research project on sustainable travel and eco-resorts. We caught up with her after her trip to discover what it felt like to finally visit […]

‘Don’t go right. Please, don’t go right…’ Talking to the road is never a good sign, but I’d become obsessed with its direction and the crazy thought that I could win it over as an ally in my all-consuming struggle with the Patagonian wind. Now so strong I could barely keep my bike on the […]

It’s a story as old as humanity itself: the conflict between farm and wilderness, between those raising livestock and predators looking for an easy lunch. Whether it’s ranchers and coyotes on the American plains, Maasai herders and lions, or shepherds versus wolves in the mountains of Europe, the question always remains: can people, livestock and […]

In July 2024 the Chilean authorities announced that the Las Guardas Bridge, a key crossing point along the O Circuit trail in Torres del Paine National Park, had been seriously damaged by winter avalanches. The O Circuit is the most popular trek in the national park after the W Trek and a challenging undertaking.  Today, […]

Torres del Paine captured my heart on my first visit there nearly ten years ago. I was so won over by its wild beauty that made me want to become a mountain guide. It was where I did my guide training and where I then worked for five seasons, guiding guests from all over the […]

I never tire of Patagonia’s glaciers. For me, they are this region’s most dramatic testaments to the power of nature. They are like living things, endless flowing in frozen rivers down from the Andes, slowly reshaping mountains and carving their way across entire valleys. Many of Patagonia’s most fantastic glaciers reach straight into the sea […]

While Patagonia is often at the forefront of people’s minds as a hiking destination, its attraction for wildlife watchers shouldn’t be overlooked. The region offers some tremendous opportunities for wildlife encounters. And just like an African safari, it comes with its very own list of the ‘Big 5’ species to see. Here’s our guide to […]

What happens when a place once overlooked by the world starts to be discovered by tourism?  That was the question I was asking when I recently travelled through the Aysen region of Chile.Those that have visited Aysen talk about it with a glint in their eye, like they’re letting you in on the world’s best […]