What Gear Should I Bring?

Once you have confirmed your booking with us, we will provide you with a packing list. However, in summary here are a few tips…..

Clothing

We recommend that you bring layers of clothing (it can be cold in the mornings, warm in the middle of the day and cool in the evenings). Windproof layers such as “windstopper” fleece fabrics help to keep the chill at bay. Waterproof pants are also helpful when we go to the beach in the mornings as the waves will have made the pebbles wet. We believe in comfortable and practical clothing but request that you bring items that are also muted in colour (so you blend in and don’t disturb the wildlife). Browns, greens, blacks are the best (but don’t worry you don’t have to wear camouflage patterns if you don’t want to!).

For your shoes, we recommend comfortable hiking shoes or boots (those with high ankles help keep the pebbles and sand out of your footwear) and a pair of comfortable shoes for in the evenings. If you are visiting us during the cooler parts of the seasons, you may wish to bring some cozy slippers.

Sitting on the beach can be cool, so bring layers, including a warm hat if you tend to get cold. © La Ernestina.

The mornings can be cool and you will be sitting on the ground, so be sure to bring warm layers that you can remove as the day warms up. © La Ernestina.

We dress in tidy casual clothes for dinner.

Binoculars

We highly recommend that you bring your own binoculars. It is worth investing in a good pair. Poor quality binoculars are like poor quality glasses – they are bad for your eyes and can give you headaches. Even if the orca strand right below El Faro(The Lighthouse), binoculars will help ‘bring the event to you’.

Anyone can learn to use them – there are some great tutorials online but we are also there to help and can show you some simple tricks. There is (sometimes) a single pair of spare binoculars available at La Ernestina during our excursions, but remember that there may be other people there who want to see something at the exact same moment that you do, so you may miss out if you are relying on using them.

One of our guests on a brisk morning, sitting on top of the Land Rover, using binoculars to scan for orca (he found them shortly after this photograph was taken!). © La Ernestina.

Camera Gear

It doesn’t matter if you are just wanting to take a snapshot using your phone or if you are a professional photographer. La Ernestina has the opportunity for you to take that magical shot.

Photographing swimming penguins at Medina Bay, one of the exclusive beaches you have access to when staying at La Ernestina. © La Ernestina.

Want to know what Camera Gear you should bring? If you are a professional photographer, you already know the answer to this ! But if you are new to wildlife photography, the answer is still the same; bring a range of lenses. If you have longer lenses (e.g., 400 mm +) these are helpful under certain circumstances, but as each photographer has individual styles, we suggest you bring lenses you like and are familiar with. If you are using longer lenses we suggest you also bring your tripod (some folks prefer a monopod). The winds can be strong at Punta Norte so a sturdy model is highly recommended.