Patagonia Tours & Vacations

There are not enough words to describe how magical this trip was. It was 26 days and every day was an adventure filled with unexpected surprises. This trip touched the highlights of Argentina and just a tiny portion of Antarctica. Even though I was not able to see the whole of Argentina and the whole of Antarctica, the experience remained beautiful, all thanks to Zicasso's travel agent and his team, who made this trip very much a magical adventure. Yes, it was aggressive, as I covered many different parts. However, my agent and his team made it possible for me to feel comfortable and enjoy my experience. He and I worked together from March 2024 to October 2024 on customizing this trip. We talked about the budget and certain modifications. The result was a trip I will never ever forget.

Buenos Aires: I was there for one night and got a great overview of the history of Argentina from my guide. In the six hours I had on the tour, I understood I needed to stay in Buenos Aires longer to appreciate the city. There are many districts and each has its own history and, in a way, its own culture. I have to return to explore Buenos Aires a little bit more because six hours is not enough to explore this beautiful city. I was amazed at how green this city is. I appreciated the guide for giving me an overview of the history of Argentina. However, I know I need to come back to really get an in-depth education of the history of Argentina, especially the history of Buenos Aires.

El Calafate: This is a relatively new city in Santa Cruz province. Let me tell you, it is absolutely gorgeous. It has a different, country-style feeling. One of the biggest attractions of El Calafate is definitely Lago Argentino, with branches of its glacier river surrounding the city. The Perito Moreno Glacier was absolutely magnificent. I can't believe I was able to trek on top of the glacier. The guides were awesome. They helped me a lot while I was struggling to trek on this glacier. They made me feel comfortable and gave me the courage to trek on just a small part of the glacier. 

The next day, I visited El Chaltén. My guide was awesome. She made me comfortable during the three-hour ride and told me lots of interesting facts. She was very patient when I was hiking up to Laguna Capri. The hike, which is four kilometers from the base, was very challenging, but I was able to do it. On the ride back, I was able to see the cloudless peaks of Mount Fitzroy. That was really a lucky day … it reminded me that life can be very unpredictable, with many twists and turns.

Ushuaia: I cannot believe I came to the southernmost city in the world! I hiked eight kilometers in the Tierra del Fuego National Park and paddled in the Lapataia river. This was definitely a very challenging excursion, but my guide made me feel very comfortable and helped me all along this challenging trek. Everybody in my trekking group made me feel comfortable as I was struggling to hike along the steep path. However challenging this trek was, I still loved it and enjoyed it, and was able to inhale the beauty of this pristine forest. 

The next day I did a five-kilometer hike into Laguna Esmeralda, which was again breathtaking. Even though this track was not as challenging as the previous day, it was still challenging because of the muddy path. My guide was very patient with me and made us all feel very, very comfortable. This hike was worth it, as after five kilometers hiking, I was able to see Laguna Esmeralda. This beautiful green glacier lagoon was breathtaking; again not enough words to describe its beauty. I was very appreciative of my guide and all the group members who helped me as I was struggling to hike.

Antarctica: What can I say? I visited the coldest, driest, windiest place on our planet. Even though it was not fun journeying through the Drake Passage for 48 hours, going in and coming back, it was definitely worth the experience and risk-taking. After all, adventures are known for their challenges. The expedition team was excellent. They were highly and made sure everyone on the ship had a great experience. Every one of the crew cared about us. Again, there are not enough words to explain how beautiful this continent is. I have never loved winter, snow, or even ice, but it taught me how to fall in love with ice. There were so many beautiful icebergs. And I fell in love with the penguins. I can definitely see myself sitting down in a place and just watching penguins all day. I even did the polar plunge. This trip taught me that I have the capacity to do a lot of things I did not expect to be able to do.

Mendoza: Usually, people come to Mendoza for wine. I came to Mendoza for something else besides wine. I can't believe I was able to see Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain peak in all of the Americas. It was Mount Aconcagua that was my inspiration to come to Argentina. I saw Mount Aconcagua and learned about the different mountain ranges. I even enjoyed the beautiful ride along the mountain ranges through tunnels. I learned about the oasis and the irrigation system. I was very, very impressed with the irrigation system and how they divert the glacier river to feed the town and water the trees in the cities. I even visited an olive oil and balsamic vinegar factory. It was amazing to learn how olive oil was made before newer technologies came into place. I finally was able to taste different types of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, which I fell in love with. This was all thanks to my guide, who was wonderful throughout the trip. She was what made the trip so memorable. I definitely had a great time interacting with her and learning from her. I cannot believe that during my short stay in Mendoza, I was able to see many things and learn many things.

Salta/Jujuy: Again, my words come up short in describing how much I enjoyed these two beautiful provinces. They reminded me of Peru, having once been part of the Incan civilization. There is so much history and countless natural beauty within these two provinces. It was my guide who made this trip unforgettable. He made this trip very educational and fun at the same time. I visited some small towns, both colonial and pre-colonial. I visited many breathtaking areas, such as Quebrada de Las Flechas, Cafayate, Cachi, and Humahuaca. It was unbelievable how the topography changed on different points of my journey. I am so happy that he was my guy, as I learned so much from him, especially about geology. I sincerely do not have enough words to describe how grateful I am to have learned from him.

Iguazú: One word, spectacular! I cannot believe I saw the Iguazú Falls from the Argentine and Brazilian sides. It was hands down one of the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen. I even did a boat ride to get a river-level perspective of these falls. I'm glad to have had a guide who was so excited and enthusiastic in showing me different parts of the waterfalls along the different trails in the national park. He was excited to show me the national bird reserve in Brazil on my last day. I could feel myself coming back to Iguazú Falls and just standing there and enjoying the beautiful, spectacular view of this magnificent group of water bodies.

Once again, I thank my travel agent from the bottom of my heart for arranging this beautiful and majestic adventure for me. I learned so much history and geology. I also learned that I had the capacity to undertake difficult, challenging trekking that I didn't think I was able to. I came out of this trip feeling like a stronger person. I cannot wait to work with him again for another adventure!

Santiago and his team are consummate professionals: I can recommend them unreservedly. Santiago put together a great 16-day itinerary that allowed us to visit some amazing destinations in Chile and Argentina. Planning of the trip was excellent and Santiago proved very accessible and prompt in his responses. Indeed, during the trip itself, we were able to connect very easily with Santiago for any further queries. It was also lovely to catch up with Santiago in his office when we visited BA. Whilst we appreciated the very competitive pricing offered, we really valued Santiago’s great enthusiasm and genuine focus on customer care and satisfaction.

The final itinerary proved excellent. This evolved over a period of time in response to our requests. It allowed us to see a lot of the countries in a short space of time. Although we visited in August during the low season, when the weather was cold, it was stunning. Indeed, we felt very lucky to visit at this time as tourist numbers were low. I also have to thank Santiago for his great suggestions for activities to celebrate my partner’s birthday: this proved a memorable day.

All transfers, internal flights, day trips, and excursions proceeded very smoothly and we had no worries about any of the logistics, including crossing from Chile to Argentina. The guides provided were friendly and informative, and we had some great excursions, including in Santiago, Valparaiso, Frutillar, the Torres del Paine National Park, El Calafate, the Glacier Perito Moreno, Buenos Aires, and Iguazu Falls. We greatly enjoyed seeing the stunning scenery and wildlife, meeting very friendly people, and enjoying some wonderful cuisine and refreshments.

Finally, we would love to return and will certainly look to Santiago to put together a new itinerary for our next visit. Many thanks to him and his team for providing a hassle-free experience and some great memories! Thank you.

I don't think we got the best agent for what could've been an amazing family trip. We traveled with our children (9yrs & 13yrs old) throughout Argentina over the past Xmas holiday season - Buenos Aires-Ushuaia-Calafate-Bariloche-Iguazu-Buenos Aires. I have a keen interest in travel and hotels and knew pretty much what I wanted from this trip but thought I would engage this travel agency through Zucasso to help with the itinerary. They seemed to be engaged in the planning process but once on location, things didn't run as smooth / didn't  make a lot of sense. A lot of the local experiences were not well thought out or the local suppliers were not great which was a tax on our high expectations for a fun family trip in Argentina moreover that for the price, we had pretty high expectations. Our schedule was fairly busy - 5 locations and 6 domestic flights and our travel agency was supposed to book the best local excursions suitable for a family and arrange transfers. We were somewhat disappointed that a lot of the trips weren't what we wanted - e.g. we had a day out to Ushuaia steppes it's a boat trip to the penguin island but turned out the trip we were on couldn't land on the island as the company wasn't licensed - instead we were booked on a 3hr trek through a rough marshland and terrain hardly suitable for children. Also, in Calafate, we were booked on a completely unessential trip to the Upsala glacier (which we couldn't see close anyway) involving 3hrs crowded ferryboat trip each way to estancia Cristina (where there isn't much to see/do) while it was perfectly fine to just do the one day trip to the Perito Moreno glacier which is a great day out with fantastic view and easy transfer. Finally, at Iguazu falls, we staid on the Brazillian side (at a great place) but for some bizarre reason, our travel agency thought it was a good idea to put us on a day trip to the Argentinian side involving two border crossings (as a bonus our driver got stopped by the police due to irregular documentation and we had to get a random taxi after an hour in the heat) - while it was perfectly fine to stay the two days at the hotel we stayed at and see the falls from there which actually had the best views! Luckily, parts of our trip went well as we were well looked after at the hotels in Buenos Aires and Bariloche - great properties with professional service. Nevertheless, we never felt like we get much out of our travel agent and at times it felt the opposite. It's disappointing as the company's manager seemed like a nice man who knows his stuff professionally. Maybe he wasn't engaged or his people responsible for our itinerary didn't deliver but it just didn't work for us. I am not sure what kind of standards Zicasso requires from its partners but I feel a bit conned to have chosen this agent in a market with so much competition and choice.

This agent is the face of this company, and that's why it felt like both an expert travel agency and a friend guiding us on our 3 week journey through the Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia. My wife and I delayed our honeymoon for more than half a year and then spent 3 weeks in Patagonia in December all organized by this company. The trip was expertly planned and the itinerary worked like a well oiled machine.  In retrospect, we might have followed some of our agent's original suggestions rather than our own variances, but the trip was expertly planned and scheduled and we enjoyed our time in the Patagonian wilderness greatly. 

Our trip took us from Buenos Aires to Bariloche. From Bariloche, we crossed over the Andes to the Chilean lakes region and Puerto Varas.  Then we traveled down to Punto Arenas and Puerto Natales before going into the Torres Del Paine national park for a 5 day trek.  After that we transferred to Calafate and El Chalten in Argentina for another week before returning to Buenos Aires and heading home.