Patagonia Safari - Information
Contents
1. Two Weeks in Perfect Patagonia 2 Week Photo Safari with Chris Bray Photography We hope this document will answer many of your questions about your upcoming photo safari to Patagonia If you still have further questions after reading this of course feel free to email us at safaris ChrisBray net Phone Reception amp Internet Free wireless Internet will be available at the restaurants attached to some of our accommodations and so while you shouldn t have a problem keeping in touch via Email wouldn t plan on accessing it every day As far as mobile reception goes if you really need to be contactable via phone the best option is to set your mobile up for global roaming before you depart To do this all you need to do is call your mobile service provider and ask them to turn it on before you leave your home country It might not be a bad idea to re record your voice mail message before you go too just so if anyone does try to contact you they know that your busy having fun in Patagonia To avoid substantial data roaming fees it s a good idea to turn data off on your phone when overseas and keep calls short Power Electricity There will be electricity to recharge your cameras laptops etc each day The mains power plug is the same as the Australian one The general routine will be that once we get back from a morning or afternoon s photography you will want to download your new photographs and put your laptop2. but the 1 4x tele extender only reduces the f stop by 1 stop so you could get AF with a lens f 4 or faster as it will become an f 5 6 or faster SO usually recommend people if they want a tele extender to go for the 1 4x tele else many of your lenses won t AF anymore unless you have a damn expensive fast lens which can be a big pain You DON T NEED a tele extender for the Patagonia trip but it is a good tool to pull out to give you that little bit more reach sometimes if you have one Keep in mind that you can always borrow camera equipment from hire places in Australia so if you re not interested in purchasing your own perhaps look into how much it would cost to hire Remember though that if your longest telephoto lens is only an f 5 6 lens then even if you just use a 1 4x tele you still wont be able to AF not that manual focus is impossible to use it just slows you down a lot Camera Body Again it s more important to have a good telephoto lens than a brand new camera body however if you are looking to upgrade your camera body here are some simple guides If you don t own a camera yet and are only looking at an entry level camera then the Canon 650D or 60D are great and record HD video too as do the others we will now look at Looking at the mid range enthusiast level cameras which the majority of safari travellers will be using currently I d say the best ones to look at in increasing o
3. people find it great to bring them both with a long lens attached to one and a wide lens attached to the other this means that you don t have to change lenses so much it s faster and also provides redundancy backup should your camera fail Unlikely and we ll bring a few spare Canon 600D s with us just incase any of your cameras do die If you have a little compact point and shoot camera for your pocket that might come in handy too bl ae Again if you only have one camera that s totally fine d fr y Memory Cards amp File Storage While you should certainly be practicing restraint and only taking photos that are worth taking you ll still need LOTS of memory cards and it might also be a great idea to bring some kind of data backup system A laptop with an external hard drive is good as with the laptop you have the big advantage that you can look at your photos each night see how they turned out learn from them tweak them put them online etc but has the disadvantage of being heavy and delicate to bring and just one more thing to keep charged If at all possible though you will really appreciate having a small laptop with you a MacBook Air would be ideal and more useful than an iPad Another option is using a portable media storage device like a Wolverine PicPac II 320 GB Digital Camera Backup System that is basically a hard drive and a card reader built into one that just
4. and camera on to charge To make this a quicker process we suggest bringing a power board that has a surge protector inbuilt so you can charge all of your electronics at the same time Surge Protectors are a very good idea when traveling overseas While we ve not had any bad experiences a blackout would not be surprising and so using a surge protector when charging things like a laptop will help prevent any electricity spikes damaging your electronics Language Spanish is the national language of Argentina We will have local guides on the trip that will soeak Spanish as well as English Even still you may enjoy bringing a small pocket phrase book to learn some local words Here are some common words and phrases to get you started Thank you Gracias Yes Si No No Hello Hola Please Por favor Medical Information Closer to departure we will email you a medical information form that we will ask you to fill in and email back to us It s not that we re personally interested in what medication you take but if you are involved in an accident and end up in hospital for some reason we would need this information on hand to give to the doctors So please fill the medical form honestly and openly with this in mind Sea Sickness There are a few boat trips involved with this safari so if you know you get sea sick easily then remember to pack some anti sea sickness tablets ginger pressure bands or whatever it i
5. e And just for the plane flights etc it might not be a bad idea to have the latest influenza vaccine injection too it d be devastating if you were too sick to enjoy the experience just because you caught the flu on the way over Travel Insurance Chris Bray Photography will not be liable for any damage to your camera equipment nor your personal health or wellbeing We require that you take out travellers insurance for these two weeks not only will this cover you and your gear but if you needed to pull out at the last minute you should be able to get a refund from the insurance company which is great Remember we have a wonderfully friendly travel agent Jacqui working for us who is more than happy to help find you the best deal Suggest things to bring e Clothes Obviously but see detailed clothing section below e Raincoat just in case e Sturdy comfortable closed in walking shoes and a pair of sandals or thongs e Head torch torch e Sunscreen e Sunglasses polarized will be best e Lip moisturiser with Sunscreen i e Blistex e Travel alarm clock or smart Phone e Personal medication if applicable e Camera backpack daypack something big enough to carry all your camera gear in and a rain jacket etc ideally a sturdy brand like Lowepro e Tripod we ll try for some star trails painting with light etc e Happy snap camera or even a GoPro camera optional e Snap lock bags for easy rain
6. ats Washing Don t worry you wont have to bring 14 shirts and 14 pairs of undies You can do washing or have it done at the various places we go to There are laundry s in the villages we stay at for the first week ish and the last week ish Safety in Patagonia In general crime is not a problem in the Patagonia so there is little to be concerned about Pre and post trip youll need to take care when travelling in the main cities especially places like Bones Aries watch your camera very carefully and always have it strapped around you Don t take chances Checked in Baggage The general rule for traveling anywhere should always be that as much as possible bring all your critically important stuff with you as carry on luggage this includes camera chargers etc anything that would ruin your safari completely if it was stolen or if your main baggage was delayed etc Unlikely of course but it provides peace of mind if you carry your genuine essentials with you Money The currency in Argentina is the Argentine Peso ARS It s best to use a credit card at an ATM when you need se some cash there will be ATM s at the first and last village that we visit It s a very cash based society and credit cards amp travellers cheques are not widely accepted as day to day payment Don t for get to let your bank know that you will be overseas for two weeks if your bank is unaware that your in Argentina they mig
7. be quite as sharp But yet you get what you pay for and this is certainly Tele extenders Tele extenders are affordable little spacer still a superb lens and great value for money lenses that go between your camera and your telephoto lens to ca make the lens longer to extend the focal length of your x e longest lens You can get various sizes but commonly you can Canon get a 1 4x extender or a 2x extender that will multiply the focal n EXTENDER EF 1 4x I length of the attached lens by 1 4x and 2x respectively So a 2x mw tele extender on a 100 400mm lens turns it into a 200 800mm epic lens However there is a catch 1 You may loose a little image clarity 2 You wont be able to scroll down to such small f s anymore as tele extenders reduce the maximum effective aperture of the lens and 3 You may LOOSE THE ABILITY TO AUTOFOCUS your lens You ve got to be very careful with tele extenders and Auto Focus AF My understanding is For AF to work the max effective aperture of the lens amp extender combined must be at least f 5 6 or a slightly more tolerant f 8 for pro 1D series cameras The 2x tele extender reduces the max effective aperture by 2 stops F scale increasing by 1 stop at a time goes like this f 1 4 f 2 f 2 8 f 4 f 5 6 f 8 So for the 2x tele to work on a normal camera the lens you re attaching it to would need to be a f 2 8 lens or faster ie bloody fast amp expensive
8. hs etc Long sleeves and full length pants will help keep the sun off and are a great practical idea You ll find that your main clothes will be a couple of lightweight loose pairs of full length safari pants or shorts and similarly loose breathable tops It would be ideal if these clothes were naturally earthy pastel colours we don t want to frighten the animals Don t forget to bring a few warm layers like an Icebreaker base layers a fleece and a raincoat too It gets really cold during the early mornings when we are waking up and getting ready to photograph it can be between 5 and 10 degrees in the morning and can reach to a maximum of 22 degrees Celsius during the heat of the day So be prepared to layer up You might also want to bring something smart casual to wear for dinner on some nights when your re sick of living in your safari gear and have enough time to change but remember we re here to see things not be seen Remember less is more Think long and hard about what gear to take as you don t want to be lugging too much stuff around The safari vehicle has limited storage capacity And last but not least don t forget a hat Make sure it s a wide brimmed hat and ideally without too stiff a brim and certainly not a peaked baseball cap as these stiff brims get in the way when you try and hold your camera up to your face A draw cord on your hat is not a bad idea either as it can get a bit windy on the bo
9. ht suspend your credit card the first time you try to use it making it very hard to get any money out at all Luggage Bag It s always best to bring your non camera gear clothes etc in a soft bag such as a duffle bag or backpack with wheels might make it easier please don t bring a hard suitcase as they are awkward to stash away You need to be comfortable carrying your own luggage so pack light We have very limited space for luggage in the Safari vehicle so please only one check in size bag per person Flight Information amp Connections We strongly suggest you book your flights through our recommended travel agent Jacqui Smith Jacqui itstravel com au If you chose to book your own flights please email me your suggested flight itinerary before you book In summary we strongly recommend that you fly into Trelew Airport in the afternoon evening on the first day of the safari on the flight listed below There is no point arriving in Trelew the day before the safari starts because there is not much to do in Trelew and the town is a long way from the airport if you want to overnight somewhere to break up the long flights perhaps over night in Bones Aries You will need to fly out of Comodoro Rivadavia Airport on the morning on the last day of the safari Jess and will be leaving on the last day of the safari too to head direct to Galapagos to start the next safari so this is the only day that we will be offering airp
10. mera will probably be fine But if you are in the market for an upgrade you really can t go past the Canon 24 105mm USM IS L 1 4 My favourite all rounder workhorse lens Telephoto Lenses Most of what we will be shooting will benefit from a good long telephoto lens the ideal focal length you would want to totally maximise your experience in Patagoniais 400mm However that s not to say that you wont get awesome shots on most subjects even with a 300mm if that s all you have I d hesitate against using anything shorter than 300mm though as your longest lens The ideal wildlife lens that we recommend is Canon 100 400mm EF 1 4 5 5 6 IS USM L RRP DCW 1 999 You will be able to pick one of these beauties up for about 1 400 on e bay at the moment but they might not come with an Australian warranty But this lens will give you superbly sharp and zoomecd in big full frame shots and its image stabilisation is great Remember the longer the lens the more important it is to have image stabilisation The other seriously long telephoto lens which is a little cheaper than Canon s 100 400mm is the Sigma 150 500mm 1 5 6 3 DG OS HSM RRP 1 200 Now this lens is great for those who can t afford the Canon telephoto lens it goes to a whopping 500mm which is fantastic but unfortunately it s not as fast not as small an f the OS optical stabilization does not work as well as on the Canon lens and the images don t tend to
11. ocket blower hand held air puffer to carefully blow any such dust grit off your sensor but of course you only attempt this in a nice clean room OTHER GENERAL POINTS TO NOTE e The exact order of the itinerary above may be shuffled around and tweaked due to weather etc but you can rest assured that we ll be working flat out to get you to all the best places for the best photos possible e The accommodation available to us in Patagonia is not luxury though when we stay in chalets they are beautiful All accommodation is perfectly functional and clean there s hot water electricity comfy beds etc but it s not the Ritz or the Hilton ok However we won t be spending much time in our rooms anyway just to sleep Some of the villages we are staying at are quite isolated and do not have many tourists therefore there are actually no extravagant 5 star accommodation available e Wireless Internet will be available for free at the Paradise Hotel where we stay for the first week paid wireless at the Indallo Inn stopover and again at the Chalets however there is free wireless down the road in the Dolphin Center e We will form our own private group while there will be some locations where we share a common dining space etc with others when out and about we will have our own guide and all boat trips and daytrips are private and will be just us and our guide e Most meals are not included with the exception of the feast
12. on day 12 and a few other occasions so all other meals and beverages must be purchased at your own expense This frees you up to spend as much or as little as you wish on dinners etc at each venue As an approx guide expect 10 20 US for a good steak or seafood main beer is about 1 50 2 50 for a big 1 L bottle and a bottle of wine about 15 bottle e Accommodation arrangements vary for each location however it is all twin share So if you re booking on your own then expect to share a room with someone else and if you re booking as a couple then we can organise a double bed rather than two singles just let us Know For solo travellers we can t guarantee that we ll always be able to have you sharing with someone of the same sex it depends on the gender split but we do our best If you require a room to yourself we can investigate which locations we can organise you a single supplement at an extra fee but on all our past safaris the rare occasions when people have organised single rooms they have said they regretted it once on safari feeling lonely when looking at all the amazing friendships that spring up between other roomies We have far more people traveling alone than together When we stay in the gorgeous private Chalets from Day 11 to 15 each Chalet has two bedrooms therefore two people in each room so four people to a Chalet a bathroom kitchen and lounge room e Patagonia is a big place and when we shift our base
13. ort transfers our accommodation is about 4hrs drive from the airport so it will be a very early start unfortunately but I m sure you can sleep while we drive These are the flights that you will need to be booked on Saturday 26 of October 2013 with Aerolineas Argentinas AR 2866 Aircraft Embraer 190 Departure 19 30 Buenos Aires Argentina Arrival 21 30 Trelew Argentinas Saturday the 9 of November 2013 with Aerolineas Argentinas AR 1833 Aircraft Boeing 737 800 Departure 8 35am Comodoro Rivadavi Argentina Arrival 10 46am Buenos Aires Argentina Argentinean Government Reciprocity Fee The Argentinean Government has introduced a Reciprocity Fee Rate costing USD100 which needs to be obtained before arrival and can be done at the following website http www migraciones gov ar click the USA flag for English version then scroll down to find the Reciprocity Rate link Without this you will be refused entry into Argentina CAMERA GEAR Where to begin What Lenses to bring In an ideal world you d want a good wide angle zoom lens for landscape shots a standard ish zoom lens wide ish to Zoomed in ish for the every day kind of shots and a fairly serious telephoto lens probably also a zoom for all the wildlife shots However you DO NOT NEED TO GO AND SPENDA a oa FORTUNE ON LENSES to get amazing photos We get very Ear n close to most of the animals in Patagonia Even some
14. proofing camera gear e Spare camera batteries Even though you will be able to recharge your battery each night it s not a bad idea to carry a spare in case there is a blackout and you can t recharge or more likely if you take so many photos some days that youll run out of your main battery mid shoot e Plenty of memory cards to store your pictures on perhaps even a portable hard drive and laptop to back them up onto There are portable media storage devices that download from your card to inbuilt hard drive automatically for you however we do not recommend these devices as we have seen too many fail You will enjoy having a laptop with you as it enables you to see and learn from your photos as you go tweak a few put them online etc Something like a MacBook Air is ideal more useful than an iPad e Your camera s user manual just in case even we really can t work something out on your camera e Camera sensor cleaning equipment such as an air blower optional at your own risk e And last but not least don t forget your camera and lenses ideally with UV lens protectors on the front of each filters polarizing filters might be great to have especially for wide angle lenses Clothing You will need some comfortable lightweight Safari clothes to allow for ease of mobility to get down low for interesting shots to climb in and out of boats etc Pockets are useful for things like lens caps lens clot
15. rder of price and awesomeness are the Canon EOS 60D then the 7D Up from there you get into full frame cameras including the 6D and the 5D mk III both amazing cameras but realise that with a full frame camera your lenses don t seem as zoomed in Sub frame cameras make your lenses seem about 1 6x more zoomed in which can be great for wildlife so don t fall for the trap of thinking that a full frame is always going to be better for you Think long and hard between a 5D mk II and a 7D I d go the 7D for various reasons the fact it s not full frame is actually a good thing for wildlife shooting as we just said the 7D also has an in built flash can take up to 8 pics sec in burst mode for when the sea eagle swoops and snatches up the fish from the lake compared to 3 9 pics sec of the 5D mk II etc The 5D mk III though blows the 7D out of the water After the 7D 6D 5D s well if you want to step into the professional range of cameras then you re looking at the Canon 1D mk IV ora 1D X If you are looking at up grading your canon body feel free to shoot us and email at safaris ChrisBray net and we an help you out Remember that Jess and don t make a cut out of what you end up purchasing or have stock we re tying to sell off unlike the guys at some camera stores ws iene se a gt OPES aai Bringing Multiple Cameras If you happen to have two cameras don t worry if you don t it s kinda a bit excessive some
16. rest of the payments are split over various payment deadlines all of which become non refundable if you pull out after a given payment date except for the last sizeable chunk which is refundable unless you cancel within 45days prior to departure irrespective of if we manage to fill the spot later When making this payment please email me your flight details and a copy of your travel insurance Other Questions If you ve any burning questions or uncertainties please just let us know Cheerio Chris amp Jess www ChrisBray net safaris ChrisBray net Mobile 61 0 402 839 929
17. s that you find works for you By the way when go sailing use 15mg Stugeron tablets which buy online from Canada seems to be the only stuff that works for me and Jess uses transdermscop scopolamine 1 5 patches the benefit of these being you don t loose the medication if you do become sick but they are quite serious drugs and we re using them for sailing through some of the roughest oceans in the world in a very small boat on this safari its mostly all within a big bay which is usually very calm Immunizations There are several nasties that you will want to be immunised against in Patagonia Obviously Jess and are not doctors and so it s best to consult your travel doctor and work out what immunizations are best for you however after doing some research and discussing with our doctor below is a starting point e Hepatitis A injection last s a life time definitely worth getting Many of you may already have this e A Tetanus injection is also worth getting they last about 10 years so check when you last had a booster shot and in Australia the Tetanus shot is free and also contains a Dyptheria immuniser in the single injection Yay less needles Diphtheria amp pertussis vaccines can be added to the tetanus vaccine Because many adults no longer have immunity from childhood vaccination travellers to less developed countries are advised to have a tetanus diphtheria amp pertussis booster
18. sucks off the photos from your card onto it s inbuilt hard drive without the need for a laptop These are good in theory however you can t see your photos very well and not at all on some of them and you will want to learn how they work before you leave To be honest we do not recommend these devices as they are confusing and we have had several of them fail on safaris Some people simply opt to bring enough spare memory cards that they don t even need to copy them onto anything you ll just have to get good and ruthless about deleting your less good photos every evening just by peering at them on the back of your camera which is hard As a ballpark figure you will need anywhere from 30GB to 50 GB of storage space for the two weeks assuming you re shooting in highest quality JPEG mode If you re shooting in RAW mode or additionally shooting large amounts of HD video then you might need more storage perhaps up to a whopping 200GB if you re totally crazy To avoid the risk of loosing your images if a memory card fails or something you should try to always keep two copies of your photographs For example use a laptop and two identical external hard drives and each evening download my photos onto the first one drive then copy them additionally to the second one before deleting formatting the memory card just in case Dust amp Camera Gear Changing lens out on safari can be a challenge Perhaps invest in a R
19. there ll be some driving one day in particular Day 9 is almost 7 hours of driving when we relocate to the chalets It evens out though as we stay in the same place for the first week and once we reach the chalets we stay there for the remainder of the trip e Level of fitness Moderate You do need to be able to get in and out of boats and survive a morning or afternoon walking around taking photos carrying your camera bag on your back negotiate rocky terrain etc e This is Patagonia we re going to there may be occasional power outages etc but it s all part of the experience and I m sure you ll Survive e The price does NOT include flights from your home town to Trelew Argentina nor your return flight back home from Commodoro Rivadavia Argentina However flights from Sydney to Buenos Aires Argentina average around 2 500 return but if you book early you can get them for more like 1 800 We have our own travel agent who is more than happy to help answer all your questions and help you find and book the best flights travel insurance etc e We do not loan out our own camera equipment for this trip We will bring a spare camera or two just incase but be prepared to be fully self sufficient regarding your camera gear tripods etc e You MUST obtain your own travel insurance but again our travel agent can help you with this e A non refundable 1 000 deposit is required at time of booking to reserve your place e The
20. thing L like a twin lens kit wide to normal and normal to telephoto will cover your bases however some animals are small especially birds and some are harder to get close to so a good long telephoto lens up to say 300mm or ideally even 400mm will sometimes make the difference between a good photo and an amazing photo So if you are thinking of buying one special lens for this trip make it a telephoto zoom lens and if you re tossing up between spending some s upgrading the body of your camera or buying a telephoto lens instead buy the telephoto lens 8 d have written down a few suggested lenses below the specs and the RRP please note the RRP is from Digital Camera Warehouse and prices do vary between different stores so shop around Also keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with getting a good second hand lens from e bay assuming its in good condition If you have other creative lenses like macro lenses or fisheye lenses bring them along as well it s always fun to have a play with different angles Wide angle Lenses for Canon Cameras Canon EF S 10 22mm 1 3 5 4 5 RRP 939 Great very wide lens for sub frame cameras that s basically any camera except the 1D series or the 5D mk II Canon 17 40mm 1 4 L USM RRP 949 Canon 16 35mm 1 2 8 L USM RRP 1 929 My favourite Standard Lenses You wont be using a standard lens that much so to be honest whatever came with your ca
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