An Invitation to Patagonia
April 2027. A Seat on the Expedition.
April 2027. A Seat on the Expedition.
You are invited.
This is not a trek.
Most Patagonia travel settles into one corner and stays there. A few nights near the Towers, a lodge, a hike, a flight home. The landscapes are magnificent. The scope is narrow. What Planet 5 has assembled is different in kind: a fourteen-day expedition that descends the length of the wild south, from the rewilded steppe of Aysén, across the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, beneath the granite of Fitz Roy and the Towers of Paine, to the fjords of Tierra del Fuego where the map runs out.
The journey moves by private aircraft, on foot through Magellanic forest and open steppe, by boat across glacial fjords, and over a frontier route that crosses from Chile into Argentina on paths the settlers walked. Each of these is world-class on its own. Together they are unrepeatable.
The difference between seeing Patagonia and crossing it.
What makes this corner of the earth unlike anywhere else.
In the north, the steppe and lenga forest of Aysén hold one of the great restoration stories of our time. Parque Patagonia was ranch land grazed to the bone. Through Rewilding Chile, it has become thriving ecosystem again, and the guanaco, the condor, and the endangered huemul are returning to ground that had lost them.
South of the parks lies the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the largest body of ice outside the poles. The O’Higgins Glacier, the largest glacier in that field, calves into fjords few travelers ever reach. You meet it not from a platform, but from its own waters.
Beyond the ice rise the two most storied skylines in Patagonia. Fitz Roy, a wall of granite spires above El Chaltén. And the Towers of Paine, the summits that give the park its name. Between them run the estancias, the working ranches where gauchos still move cattle on horseback.
At the far end, Tierra del Fuego. Fjords, glaciers, and the Cordillera Darwin, the last inhabited edge of the continent before the ice and the sea take over. The map, quite literally, runs out.
Four landscapes that are individually extraordinary and collectively exist nowhere else in this sequence. The expedition moves through all four.
April 4 to 8. The rewilded heart of Patagonia.
The journey begins where Patagonia is being brought back to life. On the first evening, above Coyhaique, an introduction to Rewilding Chile sets the frame for everything that follows. Former ranch land, grazed bare over a century, restored into thriving ecosystem, with the guanaco and the endangered huemul returning to it. This is not background. It is the thesis of the trip.
Then you walk into it. A private flight to Chile Chico and a multi-day traverse of Jeinimeni, one of Chile’s most pristine and least-walked landscapes. Lenga forest, open valleys, river crossings, and remote lagoons, carried by porters, camping in country few ever reach. The trek ends at Explora Parque Patagonia, a lodge raised from local stone and copper, built to disturb the land as little as a building can. A full day on the Cochrane River by kayak closes the phase before you turn south, toward the ice.
Restoration you do not read about. Restoration you walk through.
Glacier, frontier, and the last family at the end of the world.
April 8 to 9. Two days.
From the remote settlement of Candelario Mancilla, a private navigation crosses glacial waters to the face of the O’Higgins Glacier, the largest in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Fjords, hanging glaciers, walls of ice, and a silence broken only by the glacier itself. This is not a transit. It is one of the great journeys of the expedition.
On the far shore you are welcomed by the only family that still calls Candelario Mancilla home. There is no lodge here, no staff, no schedule. Only a fire, a home-cooked meal, and a night at the quiet end of the country.
The next morning you walk a historic settlers’ route, roughly fourteen miles, through Magellanic forest and glacial meadow to a border post just under 2,300 feet up. On clear days Fitz Roy appears on the horizon for the first time. The trail descends into Argentina, and a private vessel carries you the length of Lago del Desierto to the next world.
A crossing on foot and by boat, from one country into the next. It cannot be bought as a package.
April 9 to 11. Two nights.
Home for two nights is Estancia Bonanza, twenty thousand acres of lenga forest, ñire, lakes, and mountains at the foot of the Cordón del Bosque. The estancia calls it the luxury of simple things.
On arrival, a climbing and via ferrata route ascends to Ovo Patagonia, an egg-shaped shelter fixed to the rock, where the Fitz Roy massif takes the last warm light of the day. A scene made for the camera.
The next day, Laguna de los Tres, Patagonia’s iconic hike. Lenga forest, a steep final climb, and the reward of a turquoise lagoon framed by the granite spires of Fitz Roy.
April 11 to 14. Three nights.
Your base is Estancia Cerro Guido, a historic working ranch of more than 250,000 acres at the edge of Torres del Paine National Park. Founded before 1900 and still run from its original buildings, it manages its grasslands for the preservation of native fauna, and the guanaco and the ñandú have returned to the restored prairies. Cattle are still moved on horseback by the baqueanos who have kept this land for generations.
Three nights, three of Patagonia’s finest days. A cultural afternoon through the century-old heart of the ranch. Puma tracking in Torres del Paine with a specialist who works in small groups and puts the animal first, on ground that has become the best place on earth to photograph wild puma. And the great trek to the base of the Towers themselves.
April 14 to 16. The end of the inhabited world.
A flight and transfer carry you to Lodge Almirantazgo, deep in Tierra del Fuego. Comfort set against genuinely wild nature, with exclusive access to navigation, trekking, and wildlife in one of the most southern and pristine corners of the planet.
A full day at sea takes you to Jackson Bay and Parry Fjord, among glaciers, elephant seals, and leopard seals, with the Cordillera Darwin rising beyond. One of the richest wildlife areas of Tierra del Fuego, and one of the least visited. Then north, to Punta Arenas and home. The map, for once, crossed end to end.
Where Patagonia, and the continent, quietly end.
April 3 to 16, 2027
Day 1
Santiago and Coyhaique
Private flight south. The Rewilding Chile talk above Coyhaique.
Days 2 to 6 | Phase One
Aysén and Parque Patagonia
Jeinimeni traverse, carried by porters. Explora Parque Patagonia. Kayak on the Cochrane River.
Days 6 to 7 | The Crossing
O’Higgins Glacier and the Ice Field
Private navigation to the glacier. A night with the last family at Candelario Mancilla. Settlers’ trek across the border into Argentina.
Days 7 to 9 | Phase Two
El Chaltén and Fitz Roy
Estancia Bonanza. Via ferrata and sunset at Ovo. Laguna de los Tres.
Days 9 to 12 | Phase Three
Torres del Paine
Estancia Cerro Guido. Puma tracking. The base of the Towers.
Days 12 to 14 | Phase Four
Tierra del Fuego
Lodge Almirantazgo. A day among the fjords and glaciers.
Day 14
Depart Santiago
Includes
Excludes
Hosted throughout by Dirk Collins. This expedition involves sustained trekking. Prior hiking experience is strongly recommended.
This expedition serves people looking for something beyond the standard Patagonia trip.
Beyond the Towers
You have seen Torres del Paine on a poster. You are ready to cross the whole of wild Patagonia, not photograph one corner of it.
The Photography Collector
See where the work comes from. Walk the landscapes that become the art on your wall.
The Multigenerational Journey
A family experience across ice, granite, and the end of the world. The estancias built theirs over generations. You begin yours.
The Once-in-a-Lifetime Seeker
Some combinations cannot be assembled twice. The route, the access, and the timing are singular.
The kind of journey that requires an invitation, not a booking.
What separates this from everything else.
Aysén, the ice field, Fitz Roy, Torres del Paine, and Tierra del Fuego each exist as standalone destinations. No operator combines all of them into a single fourteen-day narrative that runs the length of wild Patagonia. The combination itself has no precedent.
The O’Higgins Glacier navigation, the night with the last family at Candelario Mancilla, and the settlers’ trek across the border to Laguna del Desierto are not a purchasable package. They are a genuine frontier crossing, on foot and by boat.
Parque Patagonia entered alongside Rewilding Chile, not as a drive-through. Responsible puma photography with a specialist who refuses the crowds. Historic estancias at the edge of the Towers rather than chain hotels. These are relationships and access, assembled for ten people.
The real question is not the cost. It is whether an experience at this level exists anywhere else. It does not.
This expedition does not simply pass through these landscapes. It helps protect them. A portion of every Planet 5 expedition supports Rewilding Chile, the organization restoring Parque Patagonia to the thriving ecosystem you walk through in the first days of the journey.
Supporting Rewilding Chile’s restoration of former ranch land in Parque Patagonia, where the guanaco, the condor, and the endangered huemul are returning.
The Southern Patagonian Ice Field feeds the rivers and fjords of the whole region. Its glaciers are among the clearest records we have of a changing climate.
The estancias learning to share their grasslands with the wildlife that was there first. Coexistence rather than exclusion.
This is not charity. It is a business model that works. You walk the rewilded valley, and your journey helps keep rewilding it.
Every seat is by invitation only. The structure is built around how you want to experience the journey.
Dirk Collins hosts and produces the expedition. Co-founder of Teton Gravity Research, and for thirty years a producer and director of films, television, and brand work for HBO, National Geographic, Disney, Rolex, and Red Bull. Seven continents, more than thirty-five countries, and a specialist in aircraft logistics and remote operations.
He is the one other filmmakers call when the location is the hardest part of the shoot. Expedition and aerial producer on Everest: The North Side, Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s account of Jim Morrison’s first ski descent of Everest’s north face, from National Geographic and Disney. Aerial producer on TGR’s HBO series Edge of the Earth. Two National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet expeditions, including the one that placed the highest weather station in the Southern and Western Hemispheres on Tupungato in Chile.
What makes this expedition possible is not one person. It is the network. A dedicated photography specialist who knows the light of Patagonia Norte, Patagonia Sur, and Tierra del Fuego. The lead guides who cross the ice field and climb to the Towers. The families whose estancias and land open only to a trusted few. These are the same kinds of relationships Dirk relies on when producing films for the world’s most iconic brands. The same access, the same standard of trust, built in the field.
Confirmed guests are introduced to their field team during onboarding, name by name, before departure.
Seat confirmed. Onboarding begins.
The expedition. Two weeks in Patagonia.
Content delivered. Ready to share.
The window is brief. The story lasts.
Planet 5 runs only a handful of expeditions each year. Each one is built around the people who join it.
This invitation is personal. If the journey resonates, we would love to hear from you. Reach out to discuss pricing and how a seat might work for you or your group.
Contact Usexpeditions@planet5media.com
"Some journeys change how you see everything after."
Patagonia · 2027
Tell us a little about what you have in mind and we will be in touch personally.