With over 10,000 flying hours, gained mostly in the extreme Patagonian wilderness as the personal pilot for renowned conservationists Doug and Kris Tompkins, no-one comes close to matching Rodrigo’s skills and knowledge in the beautiful but unforgiving environment he calls his backyard.
An air safari with Rodrigo is to experience Patagonia in the raw. Each is customised to your wishes. A three- or four-day charter in Northern Patagonia allows you to swoop down onto seemingly inaccessible mountain lakes, soar over snow-shrouded craters and cruise past vertiginous waterfalls. With a week or more to spare, you can hop down the Ruta de los Parques from Puerto Montt to Torres del Paine or even Cape Horn.
“No airstrip or body of water is unknown to Rodrigo, and what you do and where you go is limited only by your imagination.”
In keeping with the spirit of the early flying safaris, the journey is broken up into a series of short flights. Time on the ground is spent at some of the remotest private wilderness camps and lodges in Chile, where you’ll receive comfortable, eco-friendly accommodation, exceptional food and wine, superb hospitality and expert guiding.
No airstrip or body of water is unknown to Rodrigo, and what you do and where you go is limited only by your imagination. If you wish, you can interrupt your flying to join a marine conservation team for some yacht-based monitoring of the blue whales that frequent the waters of Tic Toc Bay. Or make a first ascent of the Corcovado River by jet boat to explore the virgin wilderness of newly gazetted Corcovado National Park.
Learn about Deep Ecology as you meet key stakeholders of Tompkins Conservation. Sail among remote forested archipelagos with a consort of dolphins. Climb up to high mountain ridges in search of critically endangered huemul deer. Begin an aerial photography project. Pack a rod and line and cast for trout in unfished lakes.
Whatever you decide to do, this experience has the capacity to change the way you feel about the world.
