Create your Trip Journal [click here]After a long night of travel, we arrive in Santiago around 10am. It is pretty hot. We walk around Bella Vista after checking in to the hotel. We have to go to bed early, as our flight is at 5:30am tomorrow morning.
After an early flight (which is longer than we thought and there was no food), we are hungry and ready to officially start the trip. After a little confusion with transportation, we take a taxi to the hotel in downtown Punta Arenas. We walk around town and through a market while waiting for our room. Went to a hamburger place for lunch and it was the worst!! Checked in and then took showers and walked around some more. Ate dinner across the street from hotel, which was pretty good. It didn't get dark until around 10pm...so weird!
We are up early and again a little confusion, as we never rec'd our welcome packet upon arrival in Santiago. We wait outside the hotel early, as we know we are supposed to get picked up for the penguin trip. A van pulls up and takes us to the office and then of to the pier for our trip in the Magellan Strait. Stopped to see some sea lions first and then landed on the Penguin Island. There are something like 200,000 penguins there and that is about it! Lots of noise and poop but, really interesting to see. After the trip, it is back to the hotel, pack it up and then a van picks us up for our drive to Patagonia. We were sort of told it was like 4 hours but, about 7-8 hrs later (we stopped for lunch and to pick up other people) we arrive. We first stop to see the Mildoon..which is a cave with a giant sloth. We then continue on to the eco-camp...which is AWESOME! Totally worth the drive. We check in, get our eco-dome and meet our group for a late dinner.
After a great breakfast and pack up of lunch, we are off to see the park. We are in and out of the van all day with our little group and really get to see a lot. Salto Grande Waterfall, Grey Glacier and Lake, lots of different lakes and tons of animals. It was baby time in the park so, we saw lots of babies which was cool. The best was on our way back to the eco-camp after a long day, I spotted a puma from the window of the van. We pulled over and our guide Nicholas was so excited. We then discovered it was not only 1 puma but 4! Took tons of photos and we bragged when we got back to the camp.
It was cold at night, much colder than we thought it would be. Tried to keep our fire lit but, that is a full time job!
Today we got to sleep in a little bit and then we were off for a day of hiking. Was really a great hike and not too challenging. Again saw lots of animals and our joke was to take pictures of them mating...we saw that everywhere...was pretty funny. Tonight was our last dinner with the group, as we were all departing the next day.
Left mid-morning for the long trip back to Punta Arenas. Stopped for lunch at the same place and then got to the airport to find that our flight was delayed. No food at the airport and we only got cookies on the flight so, we were starving when we got back to Santiago. Checked into the same hotel we stayed at upon arrival into Chile but, got a different room with no windows. Great to keep the street noise out but, there is no air-conditioning so, that kinda stunk. Went to a restaurant just downstairs from the hotel for dinner.
Got picked up around 9am for tour of the city. It is a much larger city than I thought. Saw lots of buildings and monuments all morning. Walked around on our own that afternoon and again had dinner near the hotel at an Italian restaurant. Was really hot and humid and then the power went out sometime during the night. Our room was miserably hot! We just opened the door to the hall and tried to make the best of it.
Flight to Easter Island was good and wow, you are really out there in the middle of the ocean. Again a little confusion upon arrival but, got to the hotel ok. It was a little rainy so, we just tried to relax a little. That afternoon was had a tour for a few hours and met the group we would be with for the rest of the time here. Our guide Sabrina was great and really took a lot of pride in her island. Even though it was rainy off and on, we got sunburned!
Went to several sites today and learned more about the moai. They really are interesting and there are so many polynesian traits but, then again some Incan as well.
Had a 1/2 day tour today and saw more of the top moai sites. We booked a dinner/show for the evening through the hotel. After showering and getting ready we went over to the show and after much going back and forth with a performer found out that they had no food! Went back to hotel front desk to get our money back but, they were closed. Ate in town (very late) and then decided to speak to desk in the morning before departure.
Got our money back from front desk from the non-existent dinner/show and flew back to santiago
took a van out to the wine region and visited Concha y Toro and Perez y Cruz. Both were really beautiful and we bought more wine than I think we needed but, hey...we were there! Ate lunch at a great place and had empanadas and steaks! The scenery was so different out here than in Santiago. Kind of like Napa/Sonoma, just drier. Learned all about Carmenere
Well, the end of the trip is here. We gear up for our long trip home, just in time for Christmas!
