Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards

Ecocamp Patagonia has been highly commended in the Best in a Mountain Environment category at Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards!

A COUPLE OF PUMAS just visited our Ecocamp Patagonia

A COUPLE OF PUMAS just visited our Ecocamp Patagonia!, not every day we have the chance to see them this close! Patagonia is WILD!

New place for the Magellanic Lamb BBQ's at the Ecocamp Patagonia

Our Ecocamp Patagonia is getting better and better!

Ecocamp Patagonia Recommended on Clean Breaks (by Rough Guides)

Travel publisher Rough Guides is holding a launch event for its new publication 'Clean Breaks - 500 new ways to see the world'.

The book is a guide to "500 fantastic experiences that will inspire you to see the world in a new light - unusual holidays and alternatives ways to travel that make a real difference to the lives of local people and the planet."

The book's co-authors Richard Hammond and Jeremy Smith will lead a half-hour discussion on 'What makes a clean break' from 7pm followed by drinks and nibbles.

Pumas in Torres del Paine

Two five years old pumas moving around the Patagonian steppes, rheas, hares and birds such as ducks and ‘caranchos’ are the attractions of the "Patagonian safari" a new tempting tourism product in the southern zone.










Photo REUTERS / Oswaldo Rivas

Creative Travel Funding

venessapaech

Lonely Planet author

Travelling takes money. And if you go a long way (particularly over water), it can take lots.

There are a good variety of shoestring options to get around and plenty of things you can get up to for free, but you can’t exactly hitch a ride on a 747 by holding out your thumb on the side of the tarmac, or live on the breadcrumbs the pidgeons don’t want.

The recent story about a New Zealand athlete who opened a brothel to fund his Olympic bid got us thinking about similar tales of creatively fundsourcing wanderlust.

Some travellers have taken to using the airlines’ overbooking practices to their advantage, strategising ways to get bumped from flights to get cash, flight vouchers, or free hotel rooms. One Thorn Tree traveller is hoping to help fund a trip through Central and Eastern Europe by busking, others hope to get a little cash and experience by working on farms, some are charging it all to a credit card and other are open to suggestions.

Travel blogging, if you’re dedicated, talented, skilled at networking and lucky, can be a way to raise funds, or at least, get you what you need.

Two Guys Around the World, winner of the 2009 Lonely Planet Travel Blogger Awards for Best Travel Blog, hope that readers find their adventures sufficiently entertaining to prop up their travel budget. From their homepage you can watch their fluctuating (but currently dwindling) bank account balances as audience donations nudge them along.

Bloggers like NomadicMatt, whose posts frequently appear in Lonely Planet’s Blogs We Like, have managed to monetise their blog to a level that it more or less pays for their travels.

We also asked around the office for stories. One colleague tells of a friend who made his way around Europe joining different religious groups along the way for a free bed and free food. Another told of a friend who shaved his head while backpacking around China. Locals would invite him in for meals wherever he went because they mistook him for a monk and charity toward monks is considered lucky.

One enterprising traveller took a suitcase worth of Blundstone boots from Australia to the UK, set up shop at one of London’s street markets with a 400% markup (they were still cheaper than the locals could get). Putting sponsor logos on your gear (and body!) also came up. Arguably the most committed effort came from someone who lugged a 40kg spanner around North and West Africa, fixing cars in return for food and lodging.

What are your stories? Have you done anything unusual to support yourself while travels (before or during)?

Hiking Through Torres del Paine, exploring the bottom of the worl on horseback...

Great travel journal of an ABC news reporter... really recommended unfortunately we cannot copy any part of the text to give a taste, so you should CLICK HERE to go to the source and read the article.

Ecocamp Patagonia Suite Domes

Suite Domes are comfortable 28mt²/ 300 ft² tented igloo-type double domes built the same way as the ancient native Kaweskar’s dwellings. Its structure produces minimal environmental impact while providing an efficient thermal and wind resistant unit, with great exposure to nature in the most magnificent Patagonian setting.
Each dome has a private bathroom, comfortable double or twin beds, and it is heated by a modern low-emission wood stove. In addition, every dome has its own composting device to process waste. Electricity is generated with a micro hydro turbine and solar panels. Suite Domes

Ecocamp Patagonia is Family Friendly

Families are welcome at EcoCamp
We strongly believe that hiking is an activity that should be shared among all family members, creating a strong bonding through a healthy activity and opening youngster’s minds to some of nature´s most expressive manifestations on earth. We hike with our own families here and we invite you to do likewise. EcoCamp has two 16ft triple domes that can be adapted to fit a family group up to 6 members.

NBC: Let’s go glamping! Glamorous camping, that is

Here’s a guide to camping in comfort and style without busting your budget.




In icky economic times like these, many of us have this much in common:

• No matter how cash-strapped we are, we still want to go on vacation.
• We don’t want to spend a lot of dough on said vacation.

If this is sounding familiar to you, then why not go glamping this summer?

Continue reading here!