I went to the Chilean region of Northern Patagonia for an adventure that I will remember for the rest of my life. Fly fishing in a river with water so clear I could see every stone on the bottom, taking a helicopter ride over a mountain to land by a glacier lake for some wine and cheese, and rafting world-class rapids in a canyon straight out of Tolkien on the Futaleufú river. I recapped every day’s adventures while sitting in a wood-burning hot tub and sipping a glass of Chilean Pinot Noir. It was the kind of experience that becomes part of who you are, and even months later I’m still shaking my head at the memories with a mix of awe and disbelief. Chile is a country, a culture, a people, and a landscape that will change you—if you’re open to it. And I can’t imagine a better way to experience it than with the bespoke luxury experience that I had at the Rio Palena Lodge.
Getting There
I’ve seen the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, but Chilean Patagonia is still the most remote place I’ve ever been. From where I live in Charleston, it took me four flights—one in a small prop plane—and a two-hour drive on mostly unpaved roads to get to the Rio Palena Lodge. There is a closer airport that can shorten the drive to thirty minutes, but it requires perfect weather and a game-time decision by the pilot. It was not accessible on either of my travel days, so we got a shorter flight on the tiny plane but a longer drive.
The flight in the prop plane was a stunningly beautiful lake crossing, and the drive, while bumpy, felt like a Jurassic safari. I have never been to a place that has given me quite the same feeling. The presence of man and animals both feels minimal. There are no natural predators, and most of the wildlife was brought there to ride or to graze. Northern Patagonia, where the Rio Palena Lodge is located, is far lusher and greener than the starker Southern portion home to Torres del Paine national park.
The Concept
There are thirteen lodges owned and operated by Eleven Experiences around the world, from Chile, to Iceland, to Colorado, to New Zealand, to the French Alps. The company name is a reference to the mockumentary Spinal Tap, in which the band brags about having amps that go beyond ten to eleven. In other words, over the top. Designed to provide small groups with unmatched adventures—often involving helicopters—Eleven lives up to its name.
The Lodge
After four flights and a long drive, a destination would have to be very special to live up to that journey. Walking through the lodge, past a cozy fireplace with logs glowing inside and onto the front terrace facing the Palena river, I instantly knew the effort of getting there was beyond worth it—even if I only had one night to spend there. Luckily, I had four nights—the recommended minimum stay for this property. It’s a vibe and a view worth traversing the world for, and that’s before you even get to the experiences.
The lodge itself has a Ralph Lauren luxury feel about it. Leather couches by the fire, lots of wood and stone. There’s a dining room with one long table where guests share meals, and a bar with a stone fireplace and a chummy bartender who is there every evening until 1:30 a.m. My room had a window facing the river, a plush king bed, closets built into the wood paneling for all my layers and gear, and a very luxurious bathroom. It was exactly what you would dream up for a riverfront lodge in Chile. All the luxury you could want, but nothing there was just for show.
On my bed each night was an itinerary for the next day. Throughout my stay, the housekeeping staff would come and go like ninjas. I would never see them, but my room would always be perfect. The bed always turned down at night and always a fresh bathmat folded neatly by the shower—and tromping through mountain moraine and rivers every day meant I took a lot of showers. Trini in the front office, the Experience Planner, was constantly monitoring the weather or talking to the guides or the helicopter pilot over her radio. Always ready to shift plans as the notoriously unpredictable Patagonia weather changed, swapping morning plans for the afternoon plans so we could maximize every minute we had there.
Chilean Hospitality
To deliver a gourmet meal three times a day, hundreds of miles from any market or grocery store, is pure supply chain wizardry. And yet they make it happen here with logistics that are all but invisible to guests. Every meal was exquisite; breakfasts with freshly baked pastries and fresh-squeezed juices and refined three-course lunches and dinners. Conversations at the table with the other guests got livelier as the nights went on and the wine flowed. On the asado night, when all the guests have a traditional Chilean barbecue experience, even the guides are there to eat and drink with you—a rare and cool thing at a luxury lodge.
Whenever you want to use them, the wood-burning hot tubs and wood-burning sauna are ready. This is because staff track your itinerary and anticipate when you’ll want to use them, slipping out to stoke the fires so they’re just right as soon as you want to slip into the hot tub to watch dusk turn to dark over the river. Outside by the sauna and hot tub, and throughout the lodge, there are little mini fridges hidden behind cabinets where you can help yourself to sparking water, iced maté, and Chilean beer. Wherever you are, service will subtly appear. You might be at the hot tub and the bartender appears to ask, “How about a glass of wine or a Pisco Sour?” Don’t mind if I do. And if you’re not thirsty, you’ll be back to your solitude in seconds. “We can make it as wild or as tame as you want it to be,” says Nick Jenkins, the lodge’s head guide. If you have a buyout and want to turn the lodge into a party pad, you can do that. If you want to keep it chill for late night conversations by the fire, you can do that, too.
The Adventures
Two helicopter-assisted activities are included in your stay at Rio Palena, though you can buy more flight time if you want. The heli adventures might include a trip to a remote stretch of river in pursuit of giant brown trout where few have ever fished. Or it could mean a trip to a mountaintop glacier lake named Cathedral for the mountains that surround it.
I went fly fishing from a raft, and I also spent a day wade-fishing in the Palena. The hours melted away as I stood in the cold flow of the river, working the banks with my friend and fellow writer Bill Kearney. A full rainbow appeared arcing over the valley, and at one point a gaucho crossed the river on one horse while leading another. Just that little moment of the crossing gaucho is a detail I will remember forever. We hiked on private land to the base of a massive waterfall, and I took my first helicopter ride to the glacier lake. The copter picks you up from the front lawn of the lodge and just hearing it coming in is enough to get your adrenaline flowing. You take off over the river, and within minutes you’re climbing over mountains and staring down at distant river gorges below. The ride was an incredible experience in itself.
Personally, the most incredible adventure I did was rafting a section of the Futaleufú river. The name is an indigenous word that means “Big River,” and it’s known for its turquoise water and internationally famous rapids. One of these rapids nearly capsized our raft on the way down, but the guides were pros, and we had safety boats in front and back of us. We wore dry suits, and the guides had a focus and a passion you felt you could trust your life to. No matter what was on the itinerary, knowing that I would always return to a hot tub, a stellar meal, and a nightcap (or four) in the bar was the perfect way to process the experiences we were having.
All-Inclusive Rates
Individual room rates are $4,020 for two people with a three-night minimum—including all meals, guides, activities, two helicopter rides, and ground transportation. A full buyout for up to 16 guests is $29,730 per night.
Final Thoughts
True to the Spinal Tap reference at the heart of Eleven Experiences, this trip moved the dial for what constitutes a trip of a lifetime for me. Just looking through pictures for this story helped me relive it again, and in some ways, I still can’t believe it really happened. As if the trip exists in some dream state. There is almost too much to fully take in, in the moment, and so it takes a long time to fully process the experience.
Now and then I am still struck by vivid snapshots of moments from the trip. Walking through a field in fishing waders and coming upon a herd of wild horses. The weightless feeling of the helicopter as we climbed through the clouds. Looking back at the smile on the face of our rafting guide for reassurance after a wild rapid put us through the ringer. Or just the quiet flow of the river at night, watched from over the wooden rim of the hot tub. These are my souvenirs.
A visit to the Rio Palena Lodge is a luxury experience with a luxury price tag. But, for the opportunity to create core memories in one of the most incredible places in the world, doing things you may never get a chance to do again, with this splurge you’ll acquire memories to draw on for the rest of your life.
Patagonia Packing List
I was warned beforehand by the Rio Palena planner that I should only travel with carry-on bags to ensure all my gear arrived with me. I had to be extremely thoughtful about what I brought along on the trip, and these are the highlights of my Patagonian packing list.
HoverAir X1 Pro Max Drone – For a trip where I don’t want to step outside the action to control a drone via controller, and a trip where I need something very small for carry-on bags, HoverAir is my favorite autonomous drone. With this new pro model, I can get up to 8K footage and it can operate over water—perfect for fly fishing—and it fits easily into the front zip pocket of my waders. I was even able to hand launch it from a raft and it returned to my hand perfectly. When you’re out on an island in the river, the ability to just launch it from your palm and get a 360-degree aerial shot of you and your fishing pals, or to have it follow or track you as you wade through the river, captures some of the magic of the setting to share with others back home.
OM-3 Camera – My go-to travel camera, the weather sealing let me take shots in the waterfall mist and the vintage good looks are not only a conversation starter, but a cool accessory when you’re sitting around the table at the asado dinner. Often, I have to choose between a bigger sensor of a mirrorless camera and the smart brains of an iPhone camera, and the OM-3 has both in one package. The computational modes let me take pictures with a bright sky and dark mountains without over or under exposing either, and the built-in ND filter lets you slow your exposure to take buttery smooth shots of waterfalls and rivers.
Insta360 X4 – When I don’t want to have to aim a camera because I don’t know exactly where the action will be, I always use this 360 cam. Press record and it takes in everything, in the air or underwater, so you can just shoot your experience without thinking about framing and then find the camera angle you want when you get home.
Hardy Marksman – This beautiful fly rod was fully worth toting on all those flights. The subtlety it gave my casting help me land flies and nymphs in the tightest spots without snagging the submerged logs, whose eddies create the perfect spots for trout. Hardy’s 1912 Perfect Fly Reel is a work of art that even my American guide, Brett, was swooning over. I used Scientific Angler Amplitude Infinity Textured fly line, a line versatile enough for trout that suits a range from massive browns to little rainbows, where you need to cast a broad array of fly types, weights, and sizes.
Danner Mountain 600 Leaf GTX – These light hiking boots are as comfortable as running shoes but sturdy enough to hike on the spongey Chilean forest floor and the slippery mountain gravel. They didn’t leave my feet for any of the dry adventures and were my travel shoes for flying. For the wet adventures, I used the Danner Rivercomber water shoes.
Huk A1A Performance Hoodie/Pursuit Sun Gloves – These kept kept my skin safe during the stretches of bright sun on the river, but also added a layer of warmth when the clouds rolled in and the drizzle came. I didn’t go fishing without them.
FJallraven Keb Agile Winter Trousers – These winter versions of a legendary trekking pant are durable where they need to be and flexible everywhere else. I don’t go on any adventure without a pair of Kebs in either the warm weather or this cold weather version.
Bajio Zapata Readers – These boast sharp polarized lenses I need to see through the glare on the river at the trout lurking at the bottom, and the magnification on the lower portion of the lenses lets me tie a knot or untangle a snag with precision. I never fly fish without them.
Kühl Cashmerino T/RYDR Pants – These were sturdy and breathable enough to hike in, and they look good enough to wear to dinner, so they quickly became part of my Chile uniform.
Poncho Flannel – I was not the only person at the dinner table in a Poncho flannel nearly every night, but great minds think alike. With a little stretch and a little warmth and a resistance to wrinkling, I traded off two of these nightly at our dinners.
Rab Downpour Jacket/Microlight Down Vest – This combination was perfect for the fall weather in Chile. The vest doesn’t have a hood so I could wear it with my Huk fishing hoodie, and when the afternoon showers came, the light waterproof jacket kept me dry on the river and hiking in the woods.
Nuyarn Merino Underlayer – For hiking and for hanging around camp, a thin base layer was critical in Patagonia. I’ve become a big fan of Nuyarn: a moisture-wicking, fast-drying and ultralight performance wool. My favorite underlayer in Chile was the Ibex Pro Tech Crew and Pro Tech Bottom.
Nocs Zero Tube Monocular – For spotting the South American Condors, I brought this along because it’s compact enough to fit in a pocket.