About Us
About Our Trips
Custom Tours
Short Trips
The Team
About BlueGreen Adventures
Run by the original founder Lian Hayes and her partner Claudia Herrera, BlueGreen Adventures specializes in authentic travel to Chile and Argentina with a focus on Patagonia. The company was founded in 1997 in southern Chile’s magnificent Torres del Paine National Park. Since those early days it has grown and evolved while staying true to an ethos of organising well-planned, authentic and unique holidays.
Why choose BlueGreen Adventures
We are an independent, owner-managed Anglo-Chilean travel agent/operator with over twenty five years experience. We can help you discover the real south.
As a small, locally based niche operator we are able to ensure a highly personal service which offers numerous advantages. We bring an intimate knowledge of the region providing unique insights and tailored experiences.
Our personalized approach ensures your specific needs and preferences are meticulously addressed creating a more meaningful and immersive journey. Carried through to its conclusion by our experienced logistics personnel and team of conscientous guides you can rest assured that you are in safe hands.
We foster strong relationships with local communities and build lasting relationships with local providers. We promote cultural exchanges and support sustainable tourism practices. We endeavour to stay off the beaten track and we do not subscribe to practices that exclude local community involvement and contribute to over tourism.
We promise attention to detail and flexibility. We take genuine care of your travel arrangements which leads to a richer more authentic experience. We are contactable and accessible throughout your trip giving you the reassurance and security of open and regular communication.
By supporting the local economy, together with our local partners, we offer experiences that positively impact the people and places we treasure.
Need help? Contact our local travel experts
Introducing
Lian Hayes
Founder, International Sales
Lian’s primary job is to ensure every client’s trip runs smoothly and that BlueGreen Adventures continues to offer innovative, authentic and well planned itineraries.
After 10 years spent managing key accounts for a large news agency in the City of London, she decided there must be more to life and headed to South America. After time spent in Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina it was southern Chile that captured her heart. Her passion is horse riding and she has been riding most of her life. Nowadays she spends more time at the laptop and less on the pampas, but wherever she is, her number one concern is maintaining BlueGreen’s trademark of authenticity, quality and uniqueness. English, Spanish and some French spoken.
Claudia Herrera
Owner-manager, logistics & operations
Claudia studied tourism at the Universidad de Magallanes in Punta Arenas where she was an active member of the University Mountain Team. In addition to climbing famous peaks she learnt a lot about the Patagonian environment.
Claudia is truly an expert in the region. Testament to this are the five years she spent working as Administrator and sub-Administrator in Refugios and Park shelters including Grey, Pehoe and Dickson. She has spent the past fifteen years managing trip logistics, operations and guides and running the local office in Puerto Natales.
The warmth of her personality combined with her unending professionalism endear her to everyone she meets.
Francisco Barria Barrientos (Panchi)
General Manager, Chile
A Patagonian native, Panchi is the cog of the BlueGreen wheel. Professional, well organized and unflappable he has the ability to handle a multitude of different tasks while maintaining a smile on his face. Committed to BlueGreen’s ethos of maintaining trip quality while showing sensitivity and support to local people wildlife and places, Panchi is a true Patagonian spirit.
His experience in the park covers just about its entire range having spent the last 20 years cooking for groups in every corner.
Guides, drivers, porters, cooks
For Patagonia trips, your companion and guide is an experienced leader. All of our guides, drivers, cooks and support staff are local and have worked in the area for a number of years. They are experienced, knowledgeable, safety conscious individuals who are passionate about what they do and who are very proud to share their wonderful country with visitors. Many of the guides leading our Torres del Paine trips have been us since our inception and they are very much part of the BlueGreen family.
Every guide that enters Torres del Paine with a local agency must have their WFR (Wilderness First Responder) certification or some form of first aid accreditation that the Park authorities (CONAF) deem acceptable. Without this guides cannot get the CONAF accreditation to work in the Park as a guide, according to their speciality whether that be hiking, riding, kayaking etc. All the guides employed by us have the CONAF accreditation to work in Torres del Paine and they all have their first aid qualification.
With groups over a certain size, the guide will have an assistant and with camping groups of a certain size in certain areas, he will also have a dedicated cook. All our trips are escorted and guided throughout unless otherwise detailed on your itinerary
Cooks
Our cooks can literally work magic. The meals they can conjure up in the remotest locations with, sometimes, limited ingredients is legendary. We provide dedicated cooks for our ranch stays in some of the more isolated locations outside of the Park. We also provide a chef at some of the campsites outside of the W trail (where permitted) which is often a culinary highlight for our guests. Introducing visitors to some of Chile’s most famous dishes, including the classic asado where lamb is roasted over an open fire, they take great pride in their craft.
Drivers
Our drivers are all experienced on the Patagonian roads and they all carry the required certifications to carry passengers. As with the rest of the guiding team, they are a fundamental part of the success of a trip and are extremely knowledgeable on the local area and its customs. They often possess other usefull skills such as guitar playing, photography, singing or dancing – all of which adds to the character and local flavour of your Patagonian experience.
Porters
Many of our multi-day hiking trips in Torres del Paine such as the W and Circuit trails are supported by a team of hard working, nature loving Patagonians most of whom were born in the region and who possess a wealth of mountain experience with an intimate knowledge of all the trails in the area. Their job is to carry cargo from one site to another always ensuring they cause minimal environmental impact. Fit and strong the porters are crucial to the development and success of our trips whether for scientific purposes, tourism or sports within our region.
For trips outside Patagonia, we support and partner with other local experts and niche companies who also employ local staff. These companies have the same ethos as BlueGreen and work to the same high standards we do.
About our trips
Learn about the plants, the flowers, the wildlife, the local people, the history, the mountains and the landscape from the mouth of a local. Get off the beaten track away from the main tourist routes and into the real Chile. Witness impromptu horsemanship and cattle wrangling demonstrations. Climb unnamed mountains to remote Indian burial sites. Meet local families and eat Chilean food cooked by a native. Feel the incredible warmth of the local people and learn what is not printed in any guide book.
Trip type
We specialise in bespoke travel where individuals, couples, families and groups can pick our brains and fashion their dream trip. We also offer a selection of scheduled group tours where solo travellers and couples can join an existing departure.
Custom & short trips
Measuring 4300 miles from top to tip, Chile is one of the most diverse countries on earth, its landscape ranging from scorched deserts in the north to icy wildernesses in the south. Torres del Paine alone has over 160 miles of trekking, riding and biking trails. Why limit your visit to just one area? From the Atacama to Tierra del Fuego, and with side trips to Argentina and Antarctica, we can suggest a series of compact adventures and experiences to help you cram in as much of it as possible.
We cater to all levels in terms of fitness, experience and age and we can design a bespoke itinerary for 2+ people.
With over 25 years experience of crafting bespoke itineraries we treat every journey as a unique adventure – just as we would for our own family. Our small size means we make it personal.
As an operator with a local base in Patagonia, the majority of the trips in and around Torres del Paine are operated by us. Where geography and logistics prevents us, we occasionally work with local experts and niche companies in other parts of Chile and Argentina, all of whom have the same ethos and work to the same high standards we do.
Bespoke holidays
We aim to provide you with the trip of a lifetime, an unforgettable encounter with astonishing landscapes and the people and wildlife they sustain. However you choose to experience the south, we can tailor a trip to meet your needs.