Explora launch new lodge buyout programme
In what has been described as a first for Latin American travel companies, Explora are launching a full lodge buyout programme, with the added option to fly by chartered private jet.
With safety at a premium when planning trips these days, Explora’s wilderness vacation lodges are perfect for those who want to escape from it all, being located in the most remote destinations in South America. And Explora’s buyout program is offering lodges in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru, El Chaltén in Argentina or Torres del Paine, Easter Island, or the Atacama in Chile.
Included in the buyout (for a cool $20,000 per day) are transfers to and from the airport, meals, beverages, a selection of explorations especially tailored by Explora, and exclusive access to all of the lodge’s facilities. Meanwhile, the private jet service, available for groups up to 15 people, will reassure those who wish to remain isolated from possible infections. Models include Citation Sovereign and Bombardier Global Express, and larger planes are also available on request.
Routes that will be available on-demand include Sao Paulo to Easter Island, Atacama Desert, and Patagonia via Santiago; Patagonia via Buenos Aires or Santiago; or direct flights into Cuzco from Peru. Lodge-wise, explora El Chalten in Argentina is set to open in January 2021, with Uyuni, Bolivia lodges to follow later in April.
Explora was born after its president and founder Pedro Ibáñez decided he, initially, wanted to make Chile better known to the world. “Some impulses can never be cured,” he says, referring to the itch to cover as much ground as possible – an urge Explora facilitates and satisfies when it comes to travelling in this part of the world.
Having travelled throughout Chile and the surrounding region throughout the 1970s and 80s, he created Explora to be a travel company with a difference, based on in-depth remote South American surroundings, up-close interaction with local culture and nature, and sustainable development.
As Pedro describes it, he felt his travel company had to meet two particular requirements: firstly, it had to do justice to what already existed and not follow the path of traditional tourism (“Chile has very special .characteristics which are best appreciated by experienced travellers who are able to discern the uniqueness of its environment”); and secondly, he wanted tourists to experience Chile the way the locals did – “combining interaction with nature and local cultures with relatively demanding physical activity, which is necessary if you want to see the best of what the country has to offer.”
Back then, he says, nobody was offering a service quite like it. Now, of course, travellers can take their pick from a raft of experiential high-end travel operators. But at that time, “we had no choice but to invent it”. And thus, Explora was born, with its motto: ‘luxury is about the experience, not appearance.’ As Ibáñez says, “In a world where imitations proliferate, we offer the luxury of getting close to something in its original state.”
Today it owns and operates hotels and Travesías in seven remote destinations of South America. Its first hotel was explora Patagonia, situated in the Torres del Paine National Park, a world biodiversity reserve. It was followed the next year by explora Atacama, located in the ayllu de Larache, at an altitude of 8,200 feet. In 2007, explora Rapa Nui was opened on a remote volcanic island; while 2016 saw the inauguration of explora Valle Sagrado, in Peru.
Say Explora, “We believe remote areas aren’t just far away. They are a chance to withdraw and detach from everyday life, observing our existence from afar. The distance seems to reorganize the different aspects of our life, putting them into perspective, widening our horizons and filling us with fresh, new ideas.”
Private jet charter rates start at $180,000 for a roundtrip for up to 9 travellers from Miami, with internal connections to explora. Express immigration service is available for private jet travellers arriving in Chile, Peru and Argentina.
Read our review of the Explora Patagonia lodge here