Steppes Travel is made by the people who work here. Incredible holidays are made possible because of their vast travel experience and the great enthusiasm they bring to their work.
We carefully select our experts based on their knowledge, companionship and influence, ensuring that you can travel with the most knowledgeable leaders in the field.
The people who lead the way when it comes to those things which matter to us: exploration, the environment, women’s empowerment and education.
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AntarcticaRewind to 1981 (yes a long time ago) where, as a young and naive gringo ready to explore the world, I boarded a plane to Santiago, Chile. My Spanish was limited to “dos cerveza por favour”, but I was eager to discover a new continent and meet new friends – an adventure that has since become a nearly 40-year love affair.
I slept amongst the sand dunes of the Pacific Coast before, on discovering that my bivouac was not very waterproof and that I may as well have been on Camber Sands, making my way south to the iconic peaks of Patagonia. I have since travelled through nearly every country in Latin America many times each, including five journeys around the Galapagos Islands. Despite my numerous adventures around the continent, I have found that there are always new places to discover and unique experiences to be had. Yet, after all this time, it is still the people who remain the most magical draw – being warm, super friendly and exceedingly generous. All that is left to decide is, where to next? (Yes, in Latin America).
The Carretera Austral is one of the most remote and stunning off-piste road journeys in South America, if not the world. Starting from Puerto Montt, the 1270 km-long Carretera Austral road crosses over rivers, national parks, forests, fjords, glaciers and flower-filled mountains. It ends in Villa O’Higgins at the foot of the Southern Ice Field – also the largest in the world outside Antarctica and Greenland.
Mendoza is located on the border between Argentina and Chile, at the base of the highest mountain in the Americas, Aconcagua at an altitude of 6,962m. The views are stunning; from the lines of grape covered vines, the tall swaying poplar trees there to protect the vines to the stunning back drop of the snow-capped Andes. Where better to visit the wineries, many dating back over a hundred years, to sample many different grape varieties, particularly Malbec.
If, like me, you love wilderness and open spaces then the loneliness and vastness of the Pantanal will move you deeply. Yet there is far more to the Pantanal than openness – it is the world’s largest tropical wetland area hosting a number of ecosystems and covers up to an estimated 75,000 square miles. Importantly this means that it’s the best place in the Americas for wildlife – its open spaces make wildlife far more visible than in the Amazon rainforest.
Holiday Ideas
Scroll to discover my pick of great journeys in the Americas and Polar regions. From driving one of the world’s most iconic road trips in Patagonia to kayaking atop whale-filled waters in Antarctica, I hope that this small selection of holiday ideas inspires an adventure of your own.
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01285 601 784The Rest of the Team
With a combined total of more than 180 years working in travel, we are a small and immensely knowledgeable team of experts. Having driven vintage cars in Havana, climbed granite domes in Yosemite, snorkelled with sea lions in the Galapagos and camped in Antarctica, our passion lies in curating bespoke journeys for our clients, balancing our in-depth local knowledge with a penchant for picking up on the little details that make you tick.
Our knowledge and expertise sets us apart. So too our curiosity. A curiosity of the world and of you, and your passions. It is this that drives us to create a journey that is really bespoke to you, all the while ensuring we travel and operate sustainably.
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