By The UNCHARTED® editors · 3 min readAwasi is known for its intimate, all-villa lodges in some of South America’s most extraordinary landscapes: the Atacama Desert, Patagonia, Iguazú Falls, and now Brazil’s Santa Catarina coast and Argentina’s Mendoza wine country.
Each location offers private guides, vehicles, and tailor-made experiences, as well as extraordinary cuisine and a culture of sustainability. All of this makes Awasi an ideal partner in the UNCHARTED Global Safari portfolio of camps, lodges, and small ships that exemplify the best in bespoke nature travel worldwide.
At the helm is Nicolas Peluffo, who became CEO in late 2024. With a background spanning lodge ownership, hotel development, private equity, and technology, Peluffo brings a rare mix of skills—and a surfer’s spirit—to leading one of the most distinctive hospitality companies in South America.
We sat down with Nic to talk about what drew him to Awasi, the safari-style guest experiences on offer at the lodges, and his vision for the future.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
Q1: Nic, you’ve had a wide-ranging career before Awasi. How did you end up leading the company?
Q2: What makes Awasi unique compared to its competitors in the South America boutique lodge space?
It was very organic. My family’s property, Santa Catarina, on the coast of Brazil, was acquired by the group that owns Awasi. I met their team during that process and we connected instantly—shared values, shared vision. They first invited me to stay on as an advisor, but as I learned more, I realized this was what I’d dreamed of doing for decades. When they asked me to lead, I couldn’t say no. It wasn’t about money—it was about the chance to create something truly meaningful.
Our guests don’t come for marble floors or fancy rooftop pools. They come for silence, space, and reconnection—with nature, with others, with themselves. At Awasi, you stay in iconic landscapes that haven’t been manicured or staged. Patagonia, for example, makes you feel small in the best way possible. That authenticity is our greatest asset.
Q4: Our concept of safari travel extrapolates from the African model and typically involves staying in a succession of diverse places and having different adventures over the course of one trip. Is that how your guests travel?
Q3: How do you balance luxury and Awasi’s broader mission?
For us, the focus is purpose: drawing out the best of each destination, whether that’s landscapes, wildlife, food, or culture. In Mendoza, it’s wine and gastronomy. In Patagonia, it’s wilderness and wildlife. In Iguazú, it’s the rainforest and the falls. “Awasi” means “home” in Quechua—not just a home away from home, but like staying with your best friend who lives there and knows the place inside and out, and has everything covered.
Our lodges are positioned so you can experience five radically different biomes and cultures in two weeks. Logistics in South America aren’t simple, but the reward is immense.
"Our guests come for silence, space, and reconnection — with nature, with others, with themselves."
Q5: Awasi includes private guiding as the centerpiece of the guest experience. Why?
Q6: Conservation is increasingly important to our kind of travelers. How does Awasi approach it?
Our guides are everything. They pick you up at the airport, design your trip around your interests and fitness, and stay with you until you leave. Guests mention them by name in feedback—it’s all about the guides. We run the Awasi Academy, where they learn from geologists, ornithologists, historians, and more. They’re like our Navy SEALs: deeply competent, passionate, and able to make every moment meaningful.
Across our five properties we protect more than 7,000 acres. Having only a handful of rooms on vast land is conservation in itself. We prioritize sustainability, renewable energy, and hiring locally. But beyond bullet points, it’s about genuine values. You can’t fake it—guests and staff know the difference.
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Awasi
Iguazú
“Iguazú’s wild heart, your private retreat.”
“Our guides are everything — the bridge between guest and place, turning every moment into something meaningful.”
Q7: What’s next for Awasi?
We like to think big but execute small. We have only 82 rooms across all our lodges, yet employ nearly 600 people. Growth will be slow and deliberate, focused on remote, iconic places where privacy and authenticity are possible. Whether we build new or acquire existing properties, it’s never about flipping assets—it’s about creating something that endures.
