By The UNCHARTED® editors · 4 min read
CAMPS WE LOVE
From rainforest to desert to glacier, these remote Outposts give access to the luxury of remote solitude. Combine two or more of them for an epic South American safari.
Yes, South America’s colorful, cosmopolitan gateway cities are well worth the stopovers. But for travelers like us, the continent’s most transformative experiences are to be found deep in the jungle, high on the steppe, across shimmering salt flats, and in the world’s largest waterfall system.
The staggering natural attributes of Chile and Argentina are nothing less than awe inspiring. Whether it’s tracing the path of ancient cultures in the rainforest, stargazing in the Atacama, tracking pumas in Patagonia, or trekking beneath towering glaciers, these five extraordinary UNCHARTED Outposts are shaped by their surroundings.
Stay in the heart of it all, with private guides, thoughtful design, and direct access to nature untamed. Here, luxury is about access: to the wild, the remote, and the very real.
Awasi Iguazú: Villas in the Mist of the Falls
IGUAZÚ FALLS, Argentina
Tucked deep in the rainforest just minutes from Argentina’s thundering Iguazú Falls, Awasi Iguazú feels like a secret hideaway. Spacious standalone villas blur the line between high-end comfort and raw immersion in the tangled vines of the towering jungle. Here, howler monkeys serve as your morning alarm and toucans flash like sparks in the canopy.
Bike rides, boating excursions, private guides, and 4x4s — standard at all Awasi properties — reveal a side of the region few ever experience: moss-covered prehistoric ruins, meaningful encounters with Guarani communities who know the land, and priority access to the falls. The Relais & Chateaux restaurant is a welcome amenity.
Awasi Atacama: In the Land of Fire and Salt
ATACAMA DESERT, Chile
Set against the surreal—and extreme—backdrop of northern Chile’s Atacama Desert, with cracked salt flats, steaming geysers, and lunar valleys stretching toward volcano-rimmed horizons, Awasi Atacama is an oasis of understated elegance. Built within adobe walls in the desert village of San Pedro, its 12 suites draw on local materials to create cool, earthy sanctuaries. With your private guide, enjoy unhurried exploration: sunrise over Tatio’s geysers, spotting vicuñas, flamingos, and desert foxes on horseback, decoding ancient petroglyphs, trekking through desert terrain, and some of the world’s clearest stargazing. You’ll also enjoy some of Chile’s exceptional wines.
Estancia Cerro Guido: Where Gauchos and Pumas Roam
Torres del Paine, CHILE
On a sweep of Patagonian steppe bordering Torres del Paine, history and culture are at the core of Estancia Cerro Guido, where old-world gaucho traditions meet cutting-edge conservation. Days are spent hiking, horseback riding, visiting archaeological sites, and deepening cultural understanding; nights bring woodsmoke, starlight, and the hum of a natural landscape.
This is a working ranch—say hi to the sheepdogs!—but it’s far from tamed: condors glide overhead and the jagged silhouette of the Andes looms on the horizon. At the heart of the estancia is an effort to coexist with the region’s apex predator: the elusive puma.
Awasi Patagonia: A Cinematic Escape
Awasi Patagonia is an immersion into one of the planet’s most spectacular wild places, in a private reserve in the shadow of the Torres del Paine mountain range. Here, you feel small in the best way possible, and in fully capable hands: “Awasi” means “home” in Quechua, and personal guides trained as geologists and historians design your trip around your interests, whether hiking to condor lookouts, fossil hunting, or ferrying to glaciers.
Fourteen discrete villas—complete with wood burning fireplaces—are scattered across a wind-swept lenga forest, dissolving into the rugged Patagonian steppe where guanacos graze, condors swoop, and pumas roam. It’s a cinematic escape where solitude is the ultimate luxury.
Explora El Chaltén: Into Patagonia’s Wild Heart
El Chaltén, Argentina
Explora El Chaltén sits at the secluded edge of the known world in a remote valley where granite spires, glacial rivers, and blue sky converge. The sleek, low-slung lodge is designed to disappear into the lenga and ñirre forests; its windows frame views of the Electric Valley and the towering Marconi Glacier.
But this private nature reserve isn’t a place for passive luxury; rather, it’s a launchpad for exploration, whether to nearby Los Glaciares National Park, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, or through kayaking, climbing, or daily guided treks cutting through raw terrain with condors wheeling overhead. At night, relaxation comes easy at the spa’s saunas and open-air hot tubs.
