• Today we returned back to Bariloche, but this time in a public international bus. The ride took 7 hours, 2 of them were dedicated to border crossing. By now we are expert on border crossing between Argentina & Chile.
• We returned to the Edelweiss hotel and got up upgrade to a very nice suite with lake view.
• Since we arrived relatively early, we strolled around the downtown street and bought very good dark chocolate. By the number of chocolate stores we realized how big of a deal the industry is for them. Weather was nice for a change.
• The dinner at the town outskirt El Patacon, where former president Bill Clinton dined, was fabulous. We got a welcome drink while waiting for our table. The restaurant has also a boutique at the entrance allowing customers to browse around and potentially buy something while waiting for their table. Maggie did not fall for the trick. The excellent quality and enormous quantity of the food were up to the place’s reputation. After eating a lot we still had about a third of the food left, so we took a doggy bag.
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.