Life in Patagonia

If you want to have the security of using your phone abroad, it may be worth buying an Argentinian or Chilean SIM card.

• Please ensure your phone is unlocked before you depart on your trip - this will allow it to accept a different SIM card
• There are a variety of companies to choose from, the bigger ones such as Claro, Movistar or Entel are good options
• You can buy a SIM card in small kiosks, supermarkets, or direct in the phone company stores in most towns and cities - these SIM cards are generally 'prepaid'
• We recommend you add data and use an internet app (such as WhatsApp) to communicate, rather than relying on texting and calling - not only is adding data often quite cheap, communicating using data is often cheaper than calling 

Patagonia is a vast region with great swathes of remote wilderness. When you are away from the larger towns or cities, please bear in mind that it is much harder for guides, refugios or other parties to cater to food allergies or intolerances in the wild and with limited resources.

If you have a serious food allergy, you should approach your time in Patagonia with caution, especially in remote eating scenarios. Whilst our partners on the ground will do their best to cater to your needs, they will not be used to being as fastidious and careful as you may need to be on a day to day basis.  

It is also worth mentioning that celiacs might not always have many options, especially outside of the larger cities. 

If you are concerned about your time in hotels, towns or cities, or on board an adventure cruise, we would suggest speaking with the hotel or ship manager and getting a message to the head chef or head waiter as early on in the experience as possible. 

Chile and Argentina are very clean countries with very high levels of hygiene in most areas. A seasoned traveller would drink the tap water in both countries, but if you are just on a two week holiday you might prefer not to risk it and stick with bottled water. 

It's a good idea to take a water bottle as most hotels will have large drinking water containers from which you will be able to refill your bottle.

All water in Torres del Paine and Los Glaciares National Parks is safe for consumption without filtering or boiling.

Although a lot of the highways and bigger roads in Patagonia are well paved, a lot of the roads (such as the roads into the national parks) are gravel and dirt. Large parts of the famous Ruta 40 are unpaved, and so stretches of it will require a 4x4 in order to drive it. It is also important to give yourself a lot of time to get from one place to another as Patagonia's unpredictable weather has the ability to make your journey last a lot longer than you think it will. 

It can be a very long distance between petrol stations, so it is highly advised that you fill up whenever you see one.