Day 1, Arrival/Santiago

Arrival to Chile. Meet our representative at the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport and transfer to our hotel in the heart of Santiago. If you arrive early this day, make sure to get out and stroll around the neighborhood surrounding the hotel. The vibrant and very safe business district is a pleasant place to have a coffee or do a little shopping.

Day 2, Patagonia

After an early breakfast, we head to the airport for our flight to the southernmost major city in the world, Punta Arenas. We board our private vehicle and head toward the famed Torres del Paine National Park. En route, we have two special treats – a great typical Patagonia sheepherder's lunch and then an afternoon photo session with Andean condors at a local ranch! We arrive to our hotel late this evening to for check-in and a late dinner. 

Day 3, Patagonia

 

This morning we shoot the sunrise right from our hotel and then have breakfast before heading out on our first Patagonian adventure. We'll take the morning to explore another nearby lake that offers us stunning mountain views. We return to our hotel for lunch and a bit of a rest before heading out to the Torres del Paine National Park for an area that offers us great views of the soaring mountain peaks. We can work with wide angle this afternoon but also with telephoto zooms for graphic compositions and time lapse. Throughout the day, our local guides will be on the lookout for pumas! We return to our hotel for dinner this evening. 

Day 4, Patagonia

 

We leave very early this morning for sunrise over the stunning Laguna Amarga that offers a beautiful view of the famed Torres. We return to our lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, we head out right on the hotel grounds for sunset and night shots of the lake and the towering mountains of the national park by moonlight. Again, throughout the day, we will be on the lookout for puma. 

Day 5, Patagonia

 

We enjoy sunrise this morning from a different overlook near our hotel that offers beautiful possibilities for reflections. After breakfast at our hotel, we check out and depart for another section of the park that offers beautiful views. After arriving at our hotel, we enjoy an amazing 3 hour boat ride to shoot blue icebergs and a glacier field set below the towering peaks of the Paine. It's awesome! We enjoy dinner at our new hotel after this amazing day! If the weather is clear, we can do night photography right from the grounds of our hotel. 

Day 6, Patagonia

 

Today we take the entire day to explore a different side of the Torres del Paine National Park, focusing on river views, fall foliage, mule deer, and a number of different birds including the Megallanic Woodpecker. 

Day 7, Travel

 

Today we enjoy our last breakfast at our beautiful hotel before heading back to the airport for our flight to Santiago. We stop en route for a snack at a great coffee shop/bakery/restaurant near the Argentinian border. We arrive to our city hotel in the early evening and have time to relax and repack for our departures tomorrow. We have included a room service dinner this evening for everyone so that we can all relax a bit. 

Day 8, Araucania

 

Today we travel to the amazing Araucania region, which is home to snow-capped volcanoes, crystalline lakes, and the amazing Araucaria aurucana trees. These trees are sacred to the local Mapuche indigenous people, who harvested the seeds as food. All 20 members of the genus Araucaria are evolutionary fossils dating back to the Mesozoic period. The trees remain only in scattered and isolated populations dotting the southern hemisphere. Besides having a fascinating cultural and biological history, Araucaria aurucana trees are simply amazing for photographers. With their towering shape reminscicent of something out of a dinosaur-age Dr. Seuss book, they will make for amazing photographic subjects for us! We'll spend the next few days exploring the forests and lakes of the region for landscape photography.

 

Day 9, Araucania

 

Today we spend all day out in the field photographing the amazing landscapes of the Conguillio National Park. Our focus is on the incredible Araucaria trees for wide angle and telephoto scenics but we will also be able to photograph beautiful lakes, a waterfall, a snow-covered volcano, and local birds. We'll be based out of our vehicle but will also be able to take some nice hikes on flat ground to explore the area for photography. 

 

Day 10, Araucania

 

We spend all day out in the field today for landscape photography in the Cordillera Las Raices section of the National Park. Fall foliage, lakes, and waterfalls are on the agenda. With luck, we may even be able to photograph local inhabitants collecting the Araucaria seeds, known locally as piñones. We'll have a bite to eat at a restaurant in the charming mountain town of Malalcahuello before continuing on the photograph a local waterfall and the forests on the flanks of another snow-covered volcano! We return to our lodge in the evening for dinner and then a night photography session.

 

Day 11, To Santiago

 

After breakfast at our hotel this morning, we check out and head back to Santiago. Along the way, we have the opportunity for more landscape photography of Araucaria trees and beautiful mountain lakes. We arrive to the capital in the evening and check in to our hotel in a beautiful section of the city that forms the bridge between the modern and the colonial sections of Santiago. If your flight leaves late at night the following day, it's a great area to walk around and do some street and architectural photography or just to enjoy the area.

Day 11, Airport

 

Private transfer to the airport for your flight home.