Pumas at Leona Amarga
A search for Patagonia's puma across Leona Amarga, a conservation estancia at the edge of Torres del Paine, arranged by Tierra Patagonia.
South America by Private Jet
Six countries, from the Galápagos to Cartagena, in 17 nights by private jet.
- 17 nights
- Six stays
- Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia
- Private jet, wildlife, culture, multi-country
A private jet takes out the long connections that usually make this route impractical, so each flight lands somewhere new within hours. Pumas tracked across a conservation estancia in Patagonia, the lunar rainbow over Iguaçu on a full-moon walk open only to hotel guests, a working Andean ceramics studio, and a 17th-century convent in Cartagena whose crypt gave Gabriel García Márquez a novel.
- Length
- 17 nights
- Pace
- Six stays
- Style
- Private jet, wildlife, culture, multi-country
- Route
- The Galápagos to The Sacred Valley to Torres del Paine to Iguaçu Falls to The southern Amazon to Cartagena
- The GalápagosFour nights
- The Sacred ValleyThree nights
- Torres del PaineThree nights
- Iguaçu FallsTwo nights
- The southern AmazonThree nights
- CartagenaTwo nights
01
Days 1 to 5 · four nights
The Galápagos
A private jet via Guayaquil to Baltra, then on to Santa Cruz. Days aboard the lodge's yacht to nearby islands such as Bartolomé, North Seymour and Plazas, with snorkelling, naturalist-led hikes, the lava tunnels and the Charles Darwin Research Station. Early mornings on the lodge's own paths through replanted endemic forest, where wild giant tortoises are often met, or a ride down to the white sand of Garrapatero Beach. For certified divers, PADI or SSI, a dive can be arranged at Gordon Rocks off Santa Cruz, among manta rays and hammerhead sharks, year round.
Where you stay
Pikaia Lodge
Pikaia Lodge stands on the edge of an extinct volcanic crater on Santa Cruz, 450 metres up, within its own 31-hectare reserve where wild giant tortoises roam. Days are spent aboard the lodge's 145-foot yacht, Vision Pikaia, which visits two islands on each full-day cruise.
02
Days 5 to 8 · three nights
The Sacred Valley
A private jet to Cusco and on into the valley for mountain biking, the Moray terraces and Maras salt pans, a private rail carriage to Machu Picchu with a guide, and a cooking demonstration. At the hotel, a morning in the ceramics workshop with Sol y Luna's own artisans, keeping the piece you make, local weavers spinning wool and dyeing it with flowers, roots and herbs, a visit with the chef to a nearby farm and the market, and the daily show of Peruvian Paso horses. On the last morning, a drive through Chinchero to Cusco for its plazas, cathedral and temples before flying south.
Where you stay
Sol y Luna
Sol y Luna houses its guests in 43 casitas of local stone, each decorated individually and set in gardens of native plants facing the Andes. Yaku Wasi, the spa, has a sauna and steam room, and the hotel's profits help fund the Sol y Luna Association, which supports education for the valley's children.
03
Days 8 to 11 · three nights
Torres del Paine
A private jet south to Patagonia. Hikes to the French Valley and the base of the Towers, a boat outing, riding across the steppe with a gaucho, and time to watch for guanacos and condors. A day searching for puma with a specialist guide across Leona Amarga, a conservation estancia on the edge of the park, and a walk to the thrombolites, among the rarest living geological formations in the world, or to Aonikenk cave paintings. On request, a dawn half day at Estancia Cerro Guido with the wildlife trackers and puma researchers of the Cerro Guido Foundation, among their camera traps and guanaco monitoring, with breakfast in the field.
Where you stay
Tierra Patagonia
Tierra Patagonia curves along a bluff above Lake Sarmiento, built in local lenga wood and facing the Torres del Paine massif. Its 40 rooms look over the lake and the national park, and the Uma Spa has a heated indoor infinity pool under glass and an open-air whirlpool.
04
Days 11 to 13 · two nights
Iguaçu Falls
A private jet north to the falls. A private helicopter flight over them, the catwalks and the train to the Devil's Throat on the Argentine side. From 5:30 a.m., the First Light walk covers two kilometres through the waking forest, and on the nights around the full moon, a walk open only to hotel guests to see the lunar rainbow in the spray. An afternoon at the Jaguar's Den, home of the Onças do Iguaçu project, where the whole fee goes to its jaguar work.
Where you stay
Hotel das Cataratas, A Belmond Hotel
Hotel das Cataratas is the only hotel inside Brazil's Iguaçu National Park, beside the falls and one of the largest stretches of Atlantic Forest in South America. Guests have early and late access to the falls, and the spa bases its treatments on traditional Guaraní wellness rituals.
05
Days 13 to 16 · three nights
The southern Amazon
A private jet to Alta Floresta, then road and river to the lodge. Canoeing on the River Cristalino, guided forest trails, sunrise from one of the two 50-metre towers above the canopy and a boat trip to where the rivers meet. Some 595 bird species have been recorded around Cristalino and Alta Floresta, about half of all the birds of the Amazon, among them six kinds of macaw.
Where you stay
Cristalino Lodge
Cristalino Lodge stands by the River Cristalino in a forest reserve of 11,399 hectares, reached by road and river from Alta Floresta. Two 50-metre observation towers rise above the canopy, more than 30 kilometres of trails run through the forest, and a deck over the river is there for swimming.
06
Days 16 to 18 · two nights
Cartagena
A private jet to the Caribbean coast. A tour of the hotel with your butler, through its 240 years as a convent of the Poor Clares, and a drink in El Coro Lounge Bar above the crypt archaeologists uncovered in the 1940s; the young Gabriel García Márquez joined them, and the tomb they found became Of Love and Other Demons. A walk through the Old Town, a private yacht to the Rosario Islands for lunch at a villa, and a salsa lesson before a night out. At El Arsenal, a private tasting pairs Colombian rums with chocolates, from small artisanal houses to large producers. A private jet home on Day 18.
Where you stay
Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena
Sofitel Legend Santa Clara occupies the Santa Clara de Asís Convent, built in 1621 for the Poor Clares, in the San Diego quarter of Cartagena's walled city. Its 126 rooms and suites mix colonial and contemporary design around gardens and a pool, with dinner at Restaurant 1621 and drinks at El Coro Lounge Bar.
Arranged on request
The lunar rainbow at Iguaçu
On the nights near the full moon, a 90-minute walk to the falls to see moonlight refract through the spray, offered only to guests of Hotel das Cataratas and not to children of 12 or under.
The Jaguar's Den
A visit to the base of the Onças do Iguaçu project, which works for the park's jaguars and its neighbours; the full cost is given to the project.
Clay with Sol y Luna's artisans
A hands-on workshop through each stage of Andean pottery with the hotel's own artisans, taking home the piece you make.
The convent of Santa Clara
A butler-led tour through the hidden history of the hotel as a convent of the Poor Clares, founded in 1621.
Hammerheads at Gordon Rocks
Off Santa Cruz, Gordon Rocks is a dive for the experienced, with manta rays and hammerhead sharks, year round; PADI or SSI certification is required.
Subject to availability.
Ways to make it yours
- Two nights in El Calafate for an ice trek on the Perito Moreno Glacier and riding in the Anita Valley.
- A night in Cusco rather than a morning visit.
- A ceramics class at Hotel das Cataratas with the artist Maria Cheung.
This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.
Made around you
Most travel is bought. This is designed.
Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.
The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.
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