| Greetings and welcome to Senderos' summer newsletter.
We hope you find there’s plenty of useful information
here. Please take a moment to scroll down or click below to
go straight to the individual hotels.
We’re very proud to introduce representation of two
new partners, both unique, quality products; Pousada Vida
Sol e Mar, south of Florianopolis in Southern Brazil, the
pioneer of Brazil’s Right whale watching; and, the privately
owned Suasi Island on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca,
now managed by the Casa Andina group. See below for more information.
As ever, do let me know if you have any questions,
require brochures or images,
or would like to arrange a presentation.
Senderos Partners are:-
Pousada Vida Sol e Mar, Brazil –
whale watching season begins
Suasi Island, Lake Titicaca, Peru
– Casa Andina and changes
Tambopata Research Centre, Peru –
Refugio Amazonas
Puyuhuapi Lodge and Spa, Chile –
new website coming soon
Brazil's north east, Olinda to Fortaleza–
Cariri Ecotours
Pousada Picinguaba, Brazil– Hip hotels
Estancia Huechahue, Argentina –
www.huechahue.com coming soon
Pousada Vida Sol e Mar, Brazil (www.vidasolemar.com.br
/ www.senderos.co.uk/partners_vidasol.htm)
 Vida
Sol e Mar (Life, Sun and Sea) directly overlooks Praia do
Rosa, one of Brazil’s most beautiful beaches, just 1
¼ hours from Florianopolis. Owned and run by the Litman
family, the charming and friendly 31-room hotel also hosts
the Right Whale Institute, which promotes the preservation
of the Southern species. Mid July to the end of October boat
trips accompanied by a biologist, leave from nearby Garopaba.
Observe and experience up close this leviathan of the deep
that can reach 17 metres in length!
Other activities include visiting historic Laguna (where
dolphins herd shoals towards fishermen’s nets), surf
(or learn to at surf school), windsurf, horse ride, and walk
in the Atlantic rainforest. It’s also a wonderful place
to do nothing at all!
Suasi Island, Lake Titicaca, Peru (www.casa-andina.com/suasi)
Built with local materials of stone, adobe and totora reed,
this Casa Andina Private Collection hotel nestles on the small
private island of Suasi. More than just a place, this is a
unique experience of the high Andes! Sheltering below a hill
of flower-strewn terraces, Suasi operates entirely from solar
energy, the vastness of Lake Titicaca can be observed from
every one of its 25 rooms, and the 106 acres are also home
to the four South American camelids.
Casa Andina has made a number of changes to the Hotel in
the last few months: -
 The rooms have been renovated
in line with the Private Collection style. All the hotel’s
furniture is new, its rooms re-carpeted and bathrooms remodeled.
As of July 05 12 rooms
have increased to 24 + 1 suite. In the coming
year the number of suites will increase to 6, bringing the
absolute maximum of rooms to 30.
Casa Andina has opened
an Andean Cultural Interpretation Centre
within which there is a small museum and an excellent library
(aiming to be the foremost library of Andean culture!).
This is also where Martha
Giraldo, the island’s owner, continues to give
talks on Lake Titicaca and its culture. She supervises the
library, and takes care of the island’s crops and camelids.
Suasi has a totally renovated
restaurant and a new bar. The menu is entirely
new, and based in novoandina cuisine. Prepared by
one of Peru’s best chefs, it fuses Andean ingredients
with cutting edge cooking techniques.
The hotel has new canoes
for guests to paddle around the island, and a new motorboat
for faster transfers and in case of emergencies.
2 new chimneys have been
installed bringing the total to 3, and as of September 2005
the island will have a small, exclusive, Andean style spa.
A gallery of photos
of Suasi can be seen at www.casa-andina.com/suasiphotos
This September 11 – 13, just prior to Travel
Mart Latin America, we are organising a familiarisation
trip to Suasi for tour operators. If you are coming to Lima
and would like to join us please contact simon@senderos.co.uk
Tambopata Research Centre (www.perunature.com / www.senderos.co.uk/partners_tambopata.htm)
“Thank you and Rainforest Expeditions for a wonderful
trip! Everything went perfectly. I have traveled to many destinations
through out the world and I have to say that Gilbert was one
of the best guides I have had and that the Rainforest Expedition
staff at both Posada Amazonas and TRC where top notch! My daughter
cried the day we had to leave there. Oh, AND we saw a jaguar!”
Refugio Amazonas, Rainforest
Expedition’s (RFE) new 24-bedroom lodge located on the
Tambopata between Posada Amazonas and Tambopata Research Center,
opens with 8 rooms on August 15th. Although originally built
to absorb Posada Amazonas’ huge waiting list, Refugio
is taking on a life of its own. For one thing we have confirmed
the presence of parrot (not macaw) clay licks,
a lake with giant river otters (1½ hours
walk from the lodge) and a great farm nearby. We were kind of
expecting to find those. What we weren't expecting (a very nice
surprise!) was a beautiful old growth patch of Brazil Nut forest
complete with camp. A few minutes walk from the lodge is a patch
of Brazil Nut forest that has been harvested
for decades (if not centuries) where the precarious remains
of a camp used two months a year by Brazil Nut gatherers can
still be experienced. We’ll be demonstrating the whole
process of the rainforest's only sustainably harvested product:
from collection through to transportation to drying. Our guests
will even have to wear hard hats to avoid the hard shell nuts
on their heads!
Refugio will be priced identically to Posada Amazonas. With
one more activity (the Brazil Nut excursion) it is ideal for
4 day / 3 night programs. Its location one hour and thirty
minutes upriver from Posada Amazonas also makes it the ideal
stopover for TRC programs. 3 day / 2 night tours will still
be best served from Posada Amazonas. For detailed programs,
tariffs, and photos (to come soon), contact RFE.
Please contact simon@senderos.co.uk
if you are a tour operator attending Travel Mart
in Lima and are interested in attending our Tambopata fam
trip (space limited).
Puyuhuapi Lodge and Spa (www.patagonia-connection.com / www.senderos.co.uk/partners_puyuhuapi.htm)
 “When
a dream becomes real, and that reality is paradise, you’ve
found Puyuhuapi. Please let it be conserved like this for ever!”
Benigno and Angeles, Jan 2005
Puyuhuapi Lodge and Spa will shortly have a new website,
due for launch in the second half of August.
The hotel remains open over the winter, but our 2005/6 season
of programs (including the catamaran to Laguna San Rafael)
starts properly on the 15th October - we
can’t wait!
Puyyhuapi Lodge’s vision is "To
deliver experiences in a space of wild beauty; a place of
fjords, native forests, rivers, waterfalls, mountains and
glaciers. We receive all travellers that venture to this uninhabited
corner of Chilean Patagonia, where birds, porpoises, and sea
lions roam, and offer the necessary ingredients so that each
visitor may discover their own secret, South of Silence".
Senderos Highlights by Land Rover - ecology, landscapes
and culture of Brazil's North East (www.caririecotours.com.br/ingles/senderos.htm /
www.senderos.co.uk/partners_brazil_ne.htm)
“It was wonderful. We really, really enjoyed it.
The highlights for me: long walks along the beach towards
Pipa, Pai Mateus (in the middle of nowhere - wonderful), and
the room in buzzing Olinda (wow!). The timings were perfect
– the beach bit was just the right length. I really
enjoyed Rio but much preferred the time in Northeast.”
Helen, UK
Cariri Ecotours (www.caririecotours.com.br)
operates quality, fully guided tours in much of Brazil’s
North East including Olinda, Cariri, Pipa, Natal and Ponta
do Mel.
These are exciting and busy times for Filipe and Cariri Ecotours,
and while maintaining a keen interest Eduardo is enjoying
finding more time to devote to the Manary Praia Hotel and
his forthcoming photography books.
The Northeast - Cariri, Ingá, Natal and Genipabu –
was enthusiastically reviewed recently in an Italian online
travel publisher, www.mondointasca.org/reportage/?articleID=590
Please note that as of June Manary Praia’s telephone
number changed to +55 (0)84 32042900
Pousada Picinguaba (www.picinguaba.com / www.senderos.co.uk/partners_picinguaba.htm)
 "Paradise
Is Chilling In a Naturally Glorious Unspoilt Awesome Brazilian
Ambiance. Emmanuel, Pega Leve and todo mundo do hotel, thank
you for a terrific stay, which was always destined to be too
short. Exquisite in every detail, this hotel is very special.
A la prochaine!" Ted and Andrew, UK
We are very proud that Pousada Picinguaba has been selected
by Herbert Ypma as one of the best 80 "Hip Hotels"
of the world and as such to be included in HIP HOTEL
ATLAS, a spectacular large-format 528-page book to
be released this October. Ypma is the famous author of HIP
HOTELS, an editorial phenomenon with over 8 million copies
sold.
Picinguaba’s manager Krizia Naegele
(a graduate from the Hotel School of Lausanne) has settled
in well and is loving her life at Picinguaba.
Estancia Huechahue (www.senderos.co.uk/partners_huechahue.htm)
"Brilliant riding, great bird
watching and fabulous warm welcome – we can't wait to
be back!" Marian
& Simon, UK.
The long awaited www.huechahue.com
should be up and running by the middle of August.
Jane and Yvonne have
been sorting out the exact route for the new trek
next season. Jane says “We’ll be setting out from
Huechahue and riding into the mountains, starting out along
the route we take with the cattle when we go to the summer
pasture. We can do this trek from early November onwards and
the first one will be on 3, 4, 5 November and is included
in our program running from 30th October to 8th November.
The Quincho
is coming on - it will be done in 2 stages over 2 years so
we don't run the risk of starting the season with it half
finished and builders everywhere.”
Plans for building development
on the summer pastures have leapt forward with the result
that this November will be the last time we drive the cattle
up there. We've been going there since 1960 - so it will be
an occasion! This cattle drive is included
in our program running from 12 to 20 November.”
|
