PHOTOGRAPHY
EXPLORA PATAGONIA
EXPLORA HOTEL SALTO CHICO PATAGONIA – NOT FOR THE ALPINEOPHOBICS!
We came from Rapa Nui (which was fabulous itself) to Patagonia and landed in heaven. Simply one of the most gorgeous places on the planet. How the owner of the Explora Hotel Patagonia, Pedro Ibanez, ever managed to secure the location for his hotel is a marvel. It is so dazzling that one could spend weeks just watching the clouds move across the Torres del Paine massif from the steps of the hotel and never explore the countless wonders available nearby.
In his mission statement, Ibanez says: “”I believe that the more remote and mythical a place is, the more impact it has on you. When we were staying up Explora, we talked a lot about that nostalgia, that longing to arrive at places which are more difficult to get to.”
The philosophy of the explora folks is to travel to remote areas where one can engage in in-depth exploration and be enveloped with luxury of the “essential” things, shelter and food.
In 1959 the famous Torres del Paine area was declared a National Park. It is one of the most famous parks in South America and is renowned as one of the most beautiful, unspoiled and remote places on the planet. It is located some 2500kms south of Santiago and 100kms north of Puerto Natales, in the southern tip of Chile. Recognised by UNESCO in 1978 as a world heritage site the area covers 2,422 sq. kms.
