Mike and I at the geysers in Atacama.My husband, Mike, and I excitedly left the US last night for our much anticipated trip to Chile. We decided to fly LAN Chile. Both of us were very impressed with the services we received. I was mostly happy because I could play my own personal games of Tetrus!! I must have played for half the flight down. We arrived to Santiago early in the morning. It was a fairly painless customs process. We paid our Visa Reciprocity fee to enter into the country, and then went off in search of our bags at the baggage claim. We were so happy to see that they arrived. There is a taxi and airport shuttle stand at the end of the baggage claim. We were able to easily arrange a shuttle to the Hotel Orly. It only took about half an hour to arrive to our hotel in downtown Santiago. We LOVED the Hotel Orly. The staff was more than helpful and it was so clean. We could not check in right away, since it was 7:00 AM. So we set our bags down and went to drink coffee in the restaurant next door. They actually served espresso, not instant coffee. We came back to the hotel and checked into our room -- then proceeded to take a much needed nap. About noon, we met our guide to take a tour of Santiago. I highly recommend doing a city tour to give you a good perspective of how to get around town. Our guide was very knowledgeable and funny. That evening, we met some friends for drinks and dinner.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.
