Green Holidays

Stay in the amazing Torres del Paine EcoCamp and experience the rush!

With this amazing experience you can camp in relative comfort in Patagonia. The rooms/tents/domes are a neat half-way between comfy hotel rooms and a standard tent and are based on the traditional tribal Kawesqar huts resembling an igloo - and perfect for deflecting the high winds that sweep this area.

You can stand up in them and they are right on natures doorstep - but you don’t have to eat on your knees (although you can if you want too) and you won’t ruin the location with a giant obtrusive building with added energy requirements……

And these structures can (and are) moved regularly to allow the grass and plants to recover and regrow without showing signs of continued human destruction!

The Camp:
There are different types of dome available depending on your needs, group size and you budget!

Suite Domes- Have double or twin beds, chairs and units - and are heated with a low-emission wood stove. The electricity for each unit is generated with both a micro-hydro turbine and solar panels. All units also have a private bathroom, composting toilet and food waste facility.

Standard Domes- Also have 2 twin or a double bed, and have clear holes in the roof of the structure so you can see the stars! These are slightly smaller in size as they have no private bathroom facilities. Toilets and showers are available in separate units which are of a high standard.

Group Domes - There are also 2 giant domes for all visitors: 1 for cooking and eating, and the other (at nearly 20ft in diameter) for relaxing and socialising.

The Resources:
Basically, they make sure that they are as little known as possible! They don’t advertise on site as their site does move slightly with time and the tents are completely removed in winter.

They use natural resources and renewable energy as much as possible, and try to create as little waste as possible, by ordering in bulk and less often to reduce transport waste and excess packaging.

They separate all waste - and even feed their organic waste to a neighboring pig-farm! They also have only composting toilets on site. They are also working with the CarbonFund to be carbon neutral.

Food is prepared in bulk by the staff and eating is a group affair to make sure that all the resources and energy are reduced, rather than spread out through the evening.

The Experience:
You can wake up here with a perfect view of the magnificent Torres Del Paine National Park outside of your room. The domes look absolutely amazing at night - and are very impressive inside.

There are a number of trips on offer around the great Patagonian wilderness, and can be aimed at either the mountaineering, the sight-seeing, the natural formation, wildlife, or just peaceful trekking here and there.

Guides can arrange for trips further afield - but if you are based here - it seems a shame to take day trips to other places and miss out on this wonderland!

And If You Needed More:
This adventure firm won the National Geographic ‘Best Adventure Travel Company’ award for the 2nd consecutive year, and is listed in Alistair Sawday’s Green Places to Stay, Rough Guides Clean Breaks, The International EcoTourism Society (TIES) and was even mentioned by USA Today.

However, it is a shame that these locations are so expensive that they restrict the eco trip to just those who have so much money that they could pay for us all to go on vacation in a normal campsite for a month or 2!

At around $1400 for only 3 nights in the eco-camp (1 night elsewhere) and 3 days trekking per person, not including flights to the country or transfers to the site, it certainly isn’t cheap! At least all meals are included!

But, wow - what an experience! Go to EcoCamp Patagonia to see more…….

Great tips on how to minimise your traveling ‘footprint’ in fragile or little visited locations.

We all love traveling to isolated, pristine environments where we can experience nature as it was meant to be.  We don’t want giant hotels standing on the beaches, or wide, busy roads leading into the wilderness - but if you want to go somewhere special - you need to take precautions.

I’m not talking about those for your own safety and health while traveling - I’m referring to the impact you will have on those environments.  And how you could ruin them before anyone else has had a chance to enjoy them - sometimes without even meaning to!

Here are some simple tips to make sure you really do ‘take only photos and leave only footprints’!

Keep Erosion To A Minimum:
When hiking through delicate ecosystems, try to keep to the paths to avoid damaging plants unnecessarily.  If people all start to walk side by side just because there is room to do so, the path eats away into the location - and can only get wider each time. 

Also, if enough plant material is trampled when you take a short cut, others who visit later may think it is an actual path, and start to enlarge the route - damaging more land.

Pitch Your Tent Eco-Wisely:
Choose a site for your tent that doesn’t cover native plants or flowers.  Always try to find a sandy or un-vegetated area to settle your ground sheet - otherwise you could be squashing or killing delicate ecosystems or slow-growing wild flowers.

In addition, don’t settle somewhere that is too close to water as you could prevent shy animals from approaching their water source.  Or get your belongings washed away after heavy rain!

Deposit Your ‘Waste’ With Care:
If you are outdoors long enough to need to ‘go’ then make sure you are sensible with your choice - and make sure you are off the main path! (however, this isn’t an excuse to violate ’rule 1′). 

In hot climates, make sure it is buried several inches underground - and to the lower edge of the path.  In rocky regions cover it with leaf litter or rocks, and make sure you don’t leave your toilet paper in the wind!  Either burn it or better still take it away with you - as with feminine hygiene products and dispose of in a bin!

Don’t Pollute Rivers:
Goes as an ‘obvious’ really - but not many people take biodegradable eco-friendly soaps and shampoos with them when camping!  Let alone washing up or cleaning products!

Also, try not to use them in the watercourse itself.  Ideally use a bucket or similar, then throw the waste water into the ground away from the stream or lake, so the ground can absorb most of the chemicals instead.

Depending on where you are and in what country - make sure that you don’t upset local communities by splashing around in water that they use for drinking or are trying to fish in - otherwise you could cause possible friction in the future for other tourists in the area.

Cooking Over Flames:
When thinking of starting a campfire - make sure you are legally allowed to do so - never assume that you can start one anywhere as they are by no means harmless!  And never leave a burning fire unattended.

Ideally, you would use an area that is already burned, or an area that is not covered in plant materials either dead or alive - dry or dead plants can act as fuel across the ground.  And make sure nothing is overhanging so make sure it doesn’t heat up and burn.

Only use fallen branches and wood for fuel - rather than dead branches still on trees - they act as an important natural habitat for birds, insects and mammals.  Also, don’t make it larger than you need as wood is a valuable resource in many communities.

Happy Camping!