Marcelo Schaffer, committed to rewilding and conservation, co-founded PATA Lodge, with “responsibility, regeneration, ecosystem and connection” at its core.
PATA Lodge is an ecotourism project in Chilean Patagonia, where guests experience the region’s gifts in all forms: people, gastronomy, nature, and the simplicity that surrounds them. We touch base with Marcelo and hear the latest from his world.
Where are you at this very moment and what are you looking at?
At the moment I am in my office on the second floor of the Quincho, our restaurant and social area, where I have a view of the Futaleufú river and the orchard of fruit trees. Behind all of that, I see snow capped mountains and the first colours of the spring coming.
How did you first arrive in Futaleufú, and what led you to discover the location for the project?
My partners and I were looking for a place to start a conservation and positive impact project, which was inspired by the story of Douglas Tompkins and Yvon Chouinard and the legacy they left in Patagonia.
It’s incredible to see how the story of two adventurers ended up becoming one of the largest private conservation projects in history, Tompkins Conservation, and one of the most sustainable companies on the planet, Patagonia.
What is special about PATA and its community?
Here we have a project that aims at impact and regeneration before economic return, and fostering this mission we have four main axes which are: Conservation, Education, Real Estate and Hospitality.
What unites the people involved in the project is the common purpose. Its high time we changed our relation with Earth.
Tell us about wellness at PATA. What might a week-long retreat look like?
The intention here is always to reconnect with the surroundings and the people, a place where we try to create synergy, a key word for the moment we are living in. Here we breathe pure air filtered by ancient forests, the water is clean and drinkable everywhere, the food is organic and locally produced. It really is a paradise lost in the middle of the Andean valleys.
A week-long retreat at PATA Lodge is one of rest, reconnection and an embrace of slow living. As you ground in, the property opens itself to you, and you to the rhythms of your surroundings. We often hear our guests describe their time here with the words: serenity and harmony.
Our mantra is:
We are the luckiest humans that ever lived. We were not supposed to be here. Mathematically.
We are lucky to have been born at this time.
We are alive at exactly the right time to change everything for the better.
It’s time to regenerate, to reconnect.
It’s time to relinquish.
Once we realise how fortunate we are there is only one thing to be done, give back.
We believe it’s a moral and ethical duty.
Fast forward twenty years, how would you hope PATA to have evolved?
The number one intention is to grow the conservation areas each year, every guest received, every lot sold and any other financial input has this as its objective.
May PATA´s project be an economic model of reference for people who want to treat Mother Earth with the respect it deserves.
That when we leave this existence, it will be better than when we arrived.
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Describe a typical day on the property for guests?
A typical day for our guests is waking up in this beautiful valley, eating breakfast prepared with local ingredients, products from our vegetable garden and orchard of fruit trees, honey produced by our bees, juices made with the purest water, eggs from our happy chickens. All farm to table.
The intention here is for guests to feel at home, welcomed by the owners of the project who are always around.
Our region offers a variety of activities immersed in nature. The Futaleufú River is one of the most beautiful and is one of the top three in the world for whitewater sports.
There are hikes for all tastes, both locally and throughout the country should you continue on after a stay with us, and plenty of cultural activities with the locals. Or simply grab a book and enjoy the river beaches on the property. Disconnect from electronics. Reconnect with nature and people.
Share an interesting fact about the native environment:
Patagonia is known as one of the places with the lowest population density on the planet, a place where there is still pure water and untouched forests. Pristine nature is hard to find these days, all you find here is waiting to be explored.
When not at PATA Lodge, where are you happiest?
Visiting my family and friends in Brazil and going to meet people that started projects like ours around the world.
What are you reading?
At the moment I am reading – A short story of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. I just finished Abundance by Peter Diamandis.
What playlists or podcasts are you listening to?
I love StarTalk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Poetry of Reality with Richard Dawkins. Moonshots with Peter Diamandis. Making Sense with Sam Harris
We have our own playlist at Spotify called PATA Lodge, I must say, it’s great!
We know you love to travel with your family – where is next on the agenda?
My kids want to go to Petra and Cairo really badly. Second option would be Lençóis Maranhenses in Brazil.
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