Feedback on Sentir Patagonia?

I have read a lot of reviews about Whales Patagonia and Huinca Travel. However, I can only find one person who mentioned the above company, and it was in 2002 I believe. The tour I am considering is in Puerto Madryn.

I would like to hear from someone who used them more recently. Has anyone used this company?

in 2006 (Feb.) we booked with WhalesPatagonia for P. Madryn

new van, driver, guide (excellent English: Marco)

but am not sure if the website is still working

recommendation: yes

Thanks. I know there are great reviews for Whales Patagonia and Huinca.

I am hoping someone has feedback on Sentir Patagonia.

Hi Costaljen>

I got a message from PalmettoGirl that you had returned from your cruise and would recommend Sentir Pategonia. Is this accurate? I have booked with Diego a private tour for 4 for March 1st to Punto Tomba. Any advice would be appreciated. It is not too late to cancel if you think I am making a mistake.

Thanks in advance

swing2fast

I would NOT hesitate to recommend them. They were wonderful. It is amazing people on here aren't using them. They were waiting by the time the ship was cleared for us to get off. We got off, jumped in their vans, and we beat the buses and everyone else there.

Afterwards they offered to do a walking tour around the downtown area if anyone wanted to buy anything.

It was great.

I would NOT hesitate to recommend them. They were wonderful. It is amazing people on here aren't using them. They were waiting by the time the ship was cleared for us to get off. We got off, jumped in their vans, and we beat the buses and everyone else there.

 

Afterwards they offered to do a walking tour around the downtown area if anyone wanted to buy anything.

 

It was great.

Thank-you so much! Sounds like a winner. What time did you start? We arrive at 7AM and I thought maybe we should let the ship clear and perhaps start at 8:30/ What do you think?

I see you are really active on Cruise Critic boards- just to let you know we appreciate your efforts!

Terry(swing2fast)

I always try to be one of the first people off at ports if I have a tour. My plan is to even always be ready in case we can exit early.

I do remember the ship did not even announce they were cleared in that port, but others saw people getting off the ship. I got off immediately before they had even mentioned it.

I would definitely get out as early as possible. There will be a huge row of buses there that will be going too. We got there long before the crowds. We also told the van driver we didn't need to stop for the bathroom. I mean it wasn't THAT far, so nobody wanted to stop. I would beat the crowds.

Hi, Coastaljen. It is good to see you back on the South America board. We leave soon for our cruise, and I know you said you had booked Christian as your guide in Santiago and Mariana in Buenos Aires. Can you please share those experiences? Would you recommend both? We did read your positive report from Santiago. Thanks, Jen for your helpful insight on this board.

OK Here is my honest report.

Christian is absolutely wonderful. He is very professional, and he was waiting when I arrived at the airport. I would not hesitate to recommend him.

One couple did have a small misunderstanding about a cost on a pick up and half day tour with him. It was not a big deal, but to be safe, I would bring the email (if you saved it) on what you are paying (if you are doing some sort of combination airport pick up and tour).

I did do a full day tour with Christian and the couple the next day, and we agreed it was wonderful.

The only thing I would be careful with is that he sometimes has others help him. He told me up front FROM THE BEGINNING that he could not do the tour/transfer to Valparaiso that day. However, his brother Jose could do it. The other couple and I were not that satisfied with Jose. Jose does not know English or else he is just so shy he doesn't feel confident enough to use it.

At the same time another couple contacted Christian after I had booked with Jose, and Christian found them someone named Juan to do their tour/transfer, and they were very pleased.

My only caution is that if he told you he was busy, and told you that he found you someone else for a tour, be sure to double check that the person knows English.

Hopefully, this doesn't sound negative. I would use Christian again in a heartbeat. I just wanted to let you know that I don't think his brother is as fluent in English as Christian thinks.. or .. he was EXTREMELY quiet so maybe he didn't feel confident enough to answer questions or talk. However, I was told as soon as I asked for the tour that his brother would be the one who could do it. I just hadn't thought to say I really needed an English speaking person.

Enjoy. I wish I were going again.

Thanks, Jen, for the heads up. You didn't mention your tour with Mariana in Buenos Aires. Was that a positive experience?

I just returned from the Jan. 5 Star Princess sailing. My husband and I had a wonderful tour guide from Santiago to Valparaiso. His name is Mauricio Molina - info@bestourchile.com. I have never booked a private tour before and we were so pleased with our day. Mauricio answered all my emails promptly and spoke excellent english. I wanted to have lunch at Indomita winery and he made the reservations.

This was our wonderful day. He picked us up at our hotel about 10:45. Since our lunch reservations were for 1 p.m., he offered to show us around Santiago before we headed to lunch. We were delighted because we arrived the day before and didn't see very much of Santiago except around our hotel. We got out the van a few times to visit several places and then headed to Indomita. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and then we were off to Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar. Mauricio suggested that we check into our hotel and then continue the tour. This was great because we dropped off our luggage, freshened up and then continued up the coast to see the beachs. We got out a few times to see the ocean and beaches which were beautiful - and very busy. From there, we headed back to Valparaiso and had walking tour of the area and a ride in the funiculars. There is a mix of homes, restaurants and shops and small hotels in this unique area. We loved it.

Mauricio spent a full eight hours with us and dropped us at our hotel at about 7 p.m. He is a very nice young man and with his tour, we were able to see so much more than we ever could on our own. I recommend him highly. I believe he also does airport transportation but our hotel had arranged that for us.

Mariana was WONDERFUL. I was there on a Sunday, so there was no traffic. Other than a brief bus ride, we power walked from 9-6 p.m. The ends of my toes almost fell off by the end of the day. She would have been willing to do a car or taxi or whatever, but I said I wanted to walk.

The night before we got to Buenos Aires an English couple asked for her contact info. They called her the morning we went on a tour, and they booked her for the next day. They said she was absolutely wonderful, and they both were able to sleep all the way on the plane ride home. ;)

Thanks, Coastaljen. Your input here really helps. Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

i have read a lot of reviews about whales patagonia and huinca travel. However, i can only find one person who mentioned the above company, and it was in 2002 i believe. The tour i am considering is in puerto madryn.

 

I would like to hear from someone who used them more recently. Has anyone used this company?

we recently used sentir patagonia to take us from puerto madryn to punto tombo. We worked with diego alende via internet - and found his company to be reputable and responsible. They met us with signs at the pier, the vans they used were rather new....we were most impressed with the driver. He was cautious and very skilled. Punto tombo was such a happy place -

I had the same experience in December. :-)

Coastaljen.....

Do you have a web site for sentir patagonia and for the tour guide in BA? We just booked a cruise leaving BA on 12 April so I am scurrying around to find tour guides.

Thanks

walkingba@gmail.com is the one for Mariana. She gave me the day long walking tour. I would definitely use her. I recommended her to someone else, and they also enjoyed their tour.

I don't have the email for Sentir handy, and I am leaving on a two week trip tomorrow. They have a website on the internet in Spanish. However, if you email them, they will reply in excellent English.

http://www.sentir-patagonia.com.ar/

I took a tour with Sentir Patagonia to Punta Tombo in January '09. The arrangements were made by Campbell Soup on this board and I was a "ride along." The tour was very good and reasonably priced. I had the priviledge of walking back through the penguin reserve to the front gate with our guide and he was very knowledgeable about penguins. He was equally versed in the local history (i.e. Welsh migration, environmental and geographical issues) and an excellent English-speaker.

The ride to/from the point is long and there's not much to see between it and Puerto Madryn, so be prepared for uncontrollable napping. OR bring a book or a great chatting companion.

Hi:

I want to book a tour with Sentir Patagonia for 4 people and I am concerned about the car he wants to use. He says it is a Peugeot Partner and will hold 4 passengers and the driver comfortably. Has anyone taken a tour with them in this vehicle? I just want to make sure we are not squished in the car for the long drive to Peninsula Valdes.

Thanks,

Arlene

Unfortunately we had not pleasant experience with Sentir tour. We just returned from the cruise with Norwegian Sun. On February 26th we had stop in Puerto Madryn. Six months ago we joined a group organized by one of shipmates with Sentir Patagonia to Peninsula Valdes. On August 17th I received confirmation from Diego from Sentir that we have a reservation. On arrival date we went to pier and found the group, however our names were not on the list. I showed Diego e-mail with his confirmation and he promised to solve the problem. On the list I found the people from our roll call, including the couple that joined the group just several days before the cruise (which Diego definitely mistakenly included to the full group already). He called another driver and send us and another couple that didn't have proper reservation with this driver. It was compact car with altogether 5 people in long trip, which was already not very convenient. Additionally, our driver was very nice and friendly women, but definitely not experienced guide with limited English. So after the tour I compared our impressions with other group and found that we saw and heard much less than them (just several seals and sea lions from far distance, and some small group Magellan penguins). Diego reduced price per person for $10 per person, but we really would prefer to pay full price for proper tour, and not for some relatively boring and tiring trip. I understand that mistakes could happen (which is already quite unfortunate), but in this case he was supposed to check who booked the tour earlier, and to solve the problem with the couple that he included by mistake.

This day and tour was the worst day of the whole cruise.

I am thinking about booking with them for our cruise next year. They were recommended by someone I met on another cruise who used them this year. She went to the peninsula. I would like to go to Punto Tombo but hesitant because of the drive. For those who went there, is it worth the drive?

I am thinking about booking with them for our cruise next year. They were recommended by someone I met on another cruise who used them this year. She went to the peninsula. I would like to go to Punto Tombo but hesitant because of the drive. For those who went there, is it worth the drive?

I have not used this company. We are on a 1-18 SA cruise and will use the cruise line to go to Punta Tombo because of the short time in port and the LONG travel time to get to the penguin colony. Not worth the risk of missing the ships deadline to be onboard :eek:. If you have 10+ hours you could make it. We only have 9. And yes from what I have read it is worth the trip.