​​It is dawn in Cape Horn National Park and I am on deck as our cruise ship approaches Isla Hornos (Cape Horn Island). With the captain’s assessment of landing conditions imminent, the will-we-or-won’t-we sense of expectation weighs heavily. “The albatross is down,” says a sailor, pointing to the shore. I follow his gaze, expecting to see a large, blackwinged bird. Nothing. In threadbare Spanish, I try to ascertain the meaning of the fallen albatross. “Es bueno or non bueno?”

Imagine a brief in which you requested a stylish and chic hotel that spoke to cutting-edge modernity, with a dash of bygone elegance. Sort of Hollywood gentlemen’s club meet Manhattan today. This pretty much sums up the Singular Hotel in Santiago, which opened in 2014. The monochrome reception is easy on the senses after the 15-hour, 11,000 kilometre flight from Sydney – and you have 62 rooms in the renovated building from which to choose. Outside, the café culture is unrival

The Sophisticated Traveller's Ros Holcombe checks into a handsome Chilean retreat, Hacienda Hotel Vira Vira, built be a Swiss couple besotted with the landscape and it's fiery ruler. Read the full feature article here #Press #PressViraVira

Santiago is transforming itself into a tourist hotspot rather than just a transport hub. FLYING into Santiago is an ideal appetiser for any trip to South America, with the city surrounded by the Andes in all their glory. Many people fly in and fly straight out to their next South American destination. But if you do that, you will be missing out on a city that is going through a renaissance of sorts — slowly transforming itself into a tourist spot, rather than just a transport

A cruise with Australis takes passengers on a wild journey through the dramatic Tierra del Fuego region of South America. Download full article here #PressAustralis #Press

When it comes to family travel, it can often be hard to switch things up and find something different. Enter Hacienda Hotel Vira Vira in Pucón, Chile – a country which is one of the hottest destinations of the moment. You’ll find Vira Vira in lush parklands, on the banks of Liucura River, with views of the Villarrica volcano. The hacienda-hotel complex operates a 40-hectare farm which means plenty of fresh and healthy produce for you and your children. In terms of child-frien

An adventure from La Paz in Bolivia via the spectacular salt flats of the Salar de Uyuni to the Atacama Desert in Chile gave Tricia Welsh the chance to savour the region’s diverse gastronomic and astronomic delights with a generous lick of salt in between. Bolivia and Chile are probably not high on most people’s wish lists, but when they both come in among the top 10 of the New York Times’ nominated list of places to visit in 2015, you have to stop to consider why. In probabl

GLACIAL LAKES, GUANACOS AND CONDORS AWAIT YOUR ARRIVAL A scenic lake at Torres del Paine National Park; the view from The Singular hotel; grazing guanacos. Pictures: Neale Maynard Charles Darwin did it tough during the voyage of the Beagle around the wild, wind-ravaged coastline of Patagonia in 1833. Supply shortages meant shore excursions, with Darwin combining hunting expeditions and scientific research to ensure his crew didn’t starve. In Charles Darwin And The Mystery Of

The only lodge in the San Pedro region that is totally enveloped by natural surroundings, Alto Atacama is a remote eco-retreat in the middle of the Chilean desert. In fact, it just may be utopia. An easy two-hour flight from Santiago, once you arrive at Calama, the luxury starts with your private airport pickup. About an hour drive to reach this hidden paradise as anticipation builds, once you get here, you’ll never want to leave. Crafted out of local, sustainable materials,

Pucón, a town of about 22,000 situated halfway down Chile’s spine, is the Southern Hemisphere’s Jackson, Wyoming. It’s perched in the mountains d offers endless outdoor options. The key difference: Pucón is surrounded by a group of active volcanoes, the most famous of which is 9,341-foot Villarica, a popular destination for trekking and backcountry skiing that blew its top last March. The eruption momentarily scared off travelers; that, combined with the arrival of shoulder s