DESTINATIONS TOURING & ADVENTURE | ARGENTINA


WHAT’S NEW IN LATIN AMERICA


Unesco has designated two new World Heritage Sites in South America. The


ESMA Museum and Site of


Memory, in Buenos Aires, was a detention and torture site during the 1976-83 military dictatorship. The Jodensavanne


Archaeological Site, in


Suriname, one of the earliest sites of Jewish settlement in the Americas, is home to a synagogue and other 17th-century buildings.


Chile has created a new national park less than 40 miles from the capital, Santiago. The Santiago Glaciers National Park – which covers 75,000 hectares – is


home to 368 glaciers that provide water to the region’s ecosystem, including the Olivares Gamma, Juncal Sur and Tupungatito Volcano glaciers. It’s also a habitat for pumas, condors,


peregrine falcons, Chilean eagles and guanacos (camelid).


New flight routes are making South America more accessible. Latam Airlines, which launched a five-times-weekly direct service between Heathrow and Lima


last month, has announced that, in February, it will offer a million more seats compared with the same month in 2023 – a 16% increase. Virgin Atlantic is set to begin flights from


Heathrow to Sao Paulo in May. BOOK IT


A 12-day Highlights of Argentina trip with Latin Routes starts at £3,899 per person, including international and internal flights, nine nights’ B&B and all tours. The itinerary takes in Buenos Aires and Bariloche, a winery tour in Mendoza and a trip to Iguazu Falls. latinroutes.co.uk


36 4 JANUARY 2024


GATEWAY TO PATAGONIA Although I’m reluctant to leave BA, seven thousand miles is a long way to come for just one city. A two-hour flight from the capital sits Bariloche – the gateway to Argentine Patagonia – where I get my first glimpse of the world’s longest mountain range, the Andes. Darkened, dog-toothed peaks draped in early spring snow are reflected in the mirrored waters of Lake Nahuel Huapi – the Andes is everything National Geographic promised it would be. We’re staying at Villa Huinid Bustillo, where the best rooms overlook the range – I’m late for breakfast every morning. A half-day Circuito Chico trail is an easy way to get a sense of the area. Stopping at Mount Campanario, we take chairlifts up to the top and gaze as the world unfurls like a diamond- dusted map of shimmering glacial waters, snow-dusted mountains and thick Patagonian cypress forest.


sell HOW TO


GAYNOR ATHERTON head of sales, Latin Routes


Do your homework on the destinations: You can learn lots about the diverse regions around Latin America, even if you haven’t travelled there yourself. We have some great tools on our agent hub to help with this, as well as a handy ‘how to sell’ guide that helps agents see the main highlights of each country, plus useful information such as the best time to travel. Have detailed conversations with clients about their requirements: The more information you have, the easier it is for our expert team to build an itinerary matching your customers’ requirements, interests and needs – they can even arrange a Zoom meeting to help answer questions or bring the itinerary to life. Keep an open mind: There are plenty of opportunities to incorporate activities into an itinerary, and it’s possible to combine culture, adventure and beach all in one trip.


On our final day, we go ‘full Patagonian’ with a horse riding excursion


at La Fragua estancia (ranch). In the safe hands of gaucho Jesús, we spend the morning riding the gentlest horses through the creeks and canyons of Patagonia, as Andean condors soar overhead. Leaving six enamoured women speechless, it was a tranquil and damp-eyed end to a fantastic Argentine adventure.


TW travelweekly.co.uk


CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Tango dancers in Buenos Aires; the fam trip group; Mount Campanario, Patagonia PICTURES: Shutterstock/Alexandr Vorobev, sunsinger


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