El Calafate Wine tasting tours 2019/2020

“My husband and I have traveled a great deal in Europe and Mexico and we agree that this was one of the best trips ever.

We worked with travel advisor Maria Szlafsztein through e-mails and phone calls and we’re very pleased with her service. She was very informative, helpful and quick to respond to our every inquiry. Maria really was invaluable in putting together this wonderful trip and almost everything about it ran smoothly without problems.

Our favorite hotel on this trip was the Cacique Inacayal in Bariloche because of its beautiful lakeside setting, restaurant and atmosphere. But we also really like Kau Yatsun Hotel in El Calafate.

Our least favorite was our stay at the Alden de la Selva in Puerto Iguazú. It was really isolated in its location and, due to its rainforest setting, seemed to have a mold problem. The food was not very appealing either. We would not stay there again.

We thoroughly enjoyed all the excursions, among them, the Argentine Experience, the Tango Show, Iguazú Falls, the day spent at Estancia Ombu. But probably my favorite was the Glaciares Gourmet cruise to see the magnificent glaciers of Argentina. It made for unforgettable memories.

All the guides we had with us during our trip were outstanding, very knowledgeable, fun and very accommodating. We have to mention Maria Cecilia Martire, Marcelo, Romulo Melo, Ezequiel Gonzalez, and Nicolás who drove us to Torres del Paine. We enjoyed our excursions with every one of them.”

“The places we visited were just breathtaking, and the Argentinians were very friendly and welcoming. It was one of our best trips ever and one we will remember and talk about for a long time.

After talking with Maria we knew she was very knowledgeable about her country and had lived and traveled around there extensively.

The booking process with Maria was excellent. She made many wonderful suggestions about which areas to visit, how long we should stay in each area, and which excursions would be best for us. She was also very prompt in answering our many emails.

My favorite excursion was the Marpatag Glaciares Gourmet boat trip. Seeing the glaciers up close was an unforgettable sight. The Gourmet lunch was excellent and we enjoyed the company of other travelers.

I would like to mention our guide in Buenos Aires, Ceci Martire. She was our very best guide, very knowledgeable and a lot of fun! She sent us emails throughout our trip to make sure everything was going as planned. Thank you, Ceci.

One negative thing that I need to mention was our all day excursion from El Calafate to Torres Del Paine. We expected to be picked up in a comfortable van for such a long ride, but instead we were picked up in a small SUV. This was too small for 3 adults in the back seat. And on top of that our driver decided to take a short cut over very bumpy gravel roads. This did reduce our travel time by 1 1/2 hours each way though.”

“We had a fabulous trip to South America thanks to Say Hueque.

Our hightlights have been the Iquazu Falls and the P. Moreno Glacier.
We have to favorite hotels - Toss up between the Jasy in Iquazu and the Pudu Lodge in El Chaltan. We liked the size of the rooms, the tranquility and the locations (quiet in the country) were very nice plus the balcony of the Jasy hotel.
Our favorite exucrions have been to Iquazu Falls and the Mendoza wineries. The falls were spectacular, and the wineries were very pleasant out in the country. Winery experience different from wineries in the United States. Also the P. Moreno Glacier.

Besides Patty, we enjoyed our guide in Bariloche (Frederico) and our Mendoza wine guide.. all guides were very knowledgeable. We particularly liked Frederico's enthusiasm for nature and his knowledge of Argentina's history, politics, geography, etc.

A page or two for us "English" speaking tourists, of useful phrases in the countries we visited would be useful. IE Bon Dia (good day) in Brazil, thank you, etc. And a page on paragraphs of common customs. what to expect, etc. in each country (what is polite, nor not polite, etc).

Jay and I give Say Hueque excellent grades for putting together a perfectly paced and interesting itinerary. We felt the amount of time at each place was appropriate. We felt safe the entire time, and understood that it could be a challenge. We thought the locations of the hotels were excellent!!! Close to everything we needed, clean and comfortable. We particularly liked meeting Patty in person and enjoyed sharing WHAT's APP pictures. The gift (bottle of wine) was delicious and thoughtful.

We will post our comments on trip advisor as well, and recommend Say Hueque to any one we know that may be interested in going to South America.”