1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Monitoring condors in some of the more remote parts of Patagonia. The 'condoreras' where the condors roost are simply beautiful areas in themselves, and it was fascinating learning about the condor and contributing to important research being conducted by an Argentinean scientist.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

The expedition is not solely about conservation, and in fact if you go for 6 weeks you only get to participate in about 10 days worth of conservation work (more for 12-weekers). There is a trek in Chilean Patagonia for 17 days plus travel time, which doesn’t involve any conservation work, plus a lot of training and the inevitable in between days and breaks. Make sure the itinerary and activities are really what you want to do and you’ll have a great time. Quiz the staff at the tour operator office!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

It certainly benefited the scientist studying the condors, but I’m not sure it benefited other local people particularly. Food was from bought from big supermarkets and all the staff are foreign (largely British and North American) including the trek guides. As far as the environment is concerned the project operated under a ´Leave No Trace´ system and was on the whole very environmentally sensitive.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Bit disappointing really ... I loved the condor work but as the conservation element was what attracted me it was disappointing to have it only take up 10 days out of 6 weeks.

Read the operator's response here:

Thank you very much for your review of the Patagonia Expedition on responsibletravel.com. I’m sorry you felt a bit disappointed with your experience. You are quite right that the expedition is not solely about conservation. What we have found is that although most people are keen to spend significant time on the conservation side of the expedition, many are also coming to Patagonia to experience the adventure side – the trekking, exploring wild landscapes, visiting snow fields and glaciers and learning survival / outdoor skills.

At present, of the 12 weeks, three weeks are spent doing comprehensive training that will equip you with the skills needed to fully take part in the expedition. This includes winter survival skills, camping, navigation, first aid, physical conditioning treks, emergency Spanish and field research techniques. Then you spend three weeks doing scientific Research in Lanin National Park and other protected areas, 3 weeks doing Andean Condor monitoring in the foothills of the Andes and 3 weeks doing exploratory trekking on the Northern Ice Cap in Patagonian Chile.

We are the first international organization to bring volunteers to Argentine Patagonia – as you pointed out, the expedition operates under a ‘leave no trace’ system and is very environmentally sensitive. The needs of the expedition members does mean that shopping is sometimes done in larger supermarkets, especially as access to food can be very limited on certain phases of the expedition. However, we do have several local partners who we are working alongside, most importantly the local staff and conservation bodies in the protected areas where we work, as well as Parque Nacional Lanin and Argentinean National Parks Board (Administración de Parques Nacionales Argentina).

I’m sorry the expedition wasn’t all you wanted it to be, but glad that you have taken away some good memories and experiences.