Adventure Travel Photography Blog
What a day…15 miles!
After enjoying a nice though light breakfast of cereal, cheese and fruit we walked through town to the trailhead for Laguna Torre on the northwest side of El Chaltén. Cute homes and interesting iron sculptures lined the gravel streets. I particularly got a kick out of the camping area in someone’s yard just feet from the trailhead. Continue reading “Hiking Laguna Torre…Parque Nacional Los Glaciares”
We returned to the airport Saturday evening to take a flight to Buenos Aires. Things were rather uneventful until we landed in Buenos Aires late that night. We asked the information desk for the name of a hotel closest to the airport for our over night layover. It was suggested to go a new hotel, Hotel Aeroparque. After a visit to the ATM, we took a taxi that drove to a dark area by a parking garage and stopped. We looked at each other nervously and then David asked, “Where’s the hotel?”
EXPLORE!After enjoying a wonderful Christmas party at my Mom’s Friday night, we set out for our Christmas vacation to Patagonia. Our flight Saturday departed 9:50pm. When we tried checking in at AA, they couldn’t check our bags to our final destination because we were supposedly “unconfirmed” on the LAN portion of our flights. So eventually we just checked our bags to our first stop in Santiago, Chile where we had a long layover.
In the meantime, we made sure we were confirmed on our LAN flights to Buenos Aires and El Calafate. We were. Oh well..worse case we’d wander around Santiago wearing our backpacks and best case we’d find a storage locker. Fortunately, upon arrival, we found a guarded baggage room where we could store two bags for 10,000 pesos or about $14.
After deciphering the Spanish ATM, we grabbed a cab which is metered to Plaza de Armas. Following a combination of a few walking tours from GPSmycity.com, we soaked in the highlights. At the plaza we admired the Christmas tree art made from scraps and stopped in the nearby Santiago Municipal Cathedral. The cathedral, built in the mid to late 1700s, is one of the largest in Chile.
From the church, we passed through a pedestrian shopping area and a variety of markets. Our taxi driver pointed out the fish market, so we meandered through the building. Inside, restaurants offered a plethora of seafood plates. We enjoyed lunch at Galeon.
Moving on at a leisurely pace, we passed by a beautiful arts complex and walked through a fantastic park called Santa Lucia Hill. We got a little practice in for our hiking trip as we took quite a few old stairs up to the tower atop the hill. The tower provided a panoramic view of the city that was surrounded by mountains. We also enjoyed the fountains and relaxed in the shade on a park bench. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Luc%C3%ADa_Hill
From the park, we walked to the municipal theater who’s inaugural show, Ernani, played in 1857. Our final stop was La Mondeda Museum. The cultural center is located under Citizenry Square. It houses a small film center, craft rooms, a photography show as well as a museum displaying Samurai pieces. It was a neat place though relatively quiet and empty.
In fact, for a Sunday, we felt the historical downtown area was somewhat quiet, though after a long red-eye flight it was perfect for us. Perhaps everyone was shopping for Christmas in Bella Vista. TripAdvisor recommended visiting this neighborhood, but we didn’t want to rush around. Perhaps we will come back, as the European vibe and friendly people appealed to us. We particularly got a kick out of the traffic signals. When the light was about the change, the walk sign turned into a person running! For now, however, we returned to the airport to make our way to El Chalten via Buenos Aires and El Calafate. ETB
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Strolling Around Santiago,Chile
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As we began our breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant, an older lady passed by our table and asked, “Are you my roommates”? Puzzled, we quizzically looked up at her in silence. To which she added, “well are you on the boat?” We responded, “Yes, but we have our own room.” She replied, “Oh well, I haven’t met my roommates. Strange people are interesting.” Nicole and I weren’t exactly sure how to take that comment…were we strange? or interesting? and what made her think we signed up for a triple berth? Hmmm…I have promptly pegged her for the token, annoying shipmate…we shall see. Continue reading “Day Four – On the Way to Antarctica – Hiking Martial Glacier by Morning…Cruising the Beagle Channel by Night”
We started the day with our complimentary buffet breakfast, which I will politely say was not the greatest, despite the variety of choices…ham, cheese, bacon, eggs, cereal, and lots of pastries. Somehow I ended up with lemon milk in my frosted flakes, and we were served our coffee after we finished breakfast, but that’s ok. We weren’t hoping for a culinary delight. Just something to fill our stomachs before we ventured to the national park.
While I had been practicing my Spanish upon arrival in Argentina, trying to figure out how take a taxi from the hotel to town where you find a bus at a certain intersection that takes you the southern most National Park in World in Spanish was going to be a little much if I misinterpreted anything, so I resorted to English at the hotel reception. It’s a good thing…there were lots of tour company buses that transported hikers to Tierra del Fuego National Park from a parking lot by a gas station. Originally, I thought we were trying to get public transportation! Continue reading “Day Three – On the Way to Antarctica via Tierra del Fuego National Park”
5:30 am came too early, especially after never really falling asleep. We had an easy taxi ride to the airport (our cab driver loved Zorro), a long wait at the check in counter, a quick walk through lax security, a goofy experience at the cafe, and a full flight to Ushuaia (with an interim stop in Trelew). Continue reading “Day Two – On the Way to Antarctica…Second Stop – Ushuaia”
Our trip started with our plane delayed two hours which was a slight bummer as we ‘have much time to spend in Buenos Aires on our way to Antarctica anyway! The good news is, my awesome friend Nicole upgraded me to business class for our overnight flight, and the seats fully reclined! The business class seating area on a 777 is more complicated than a car. There is a glove box and the tray table comes out from the arm rest and from the seat back in front of us and connects together. Lots of other gadgets as well.
Our flight attendant was amazing. It’s been a long time since someone on AA was so nice. I was ready to tip her! The jet lag took affect when we landed. I had read about an entry tax but it sounded like we could pay it through a simple process at immigration…not so! We got booted out of the line and sent to a computer. After filling out the entire form and selecting the “add to shopping cart” button, the form promptly disappeared. Then our user names were taken. After back-paging through several screens, we retrieved our sign in page; however, we didn’t have a form according to the computer, so we got to reenter all of our information again! This time we made sure to click the “pay” button further down the screen versus the “add to cart” button. The good news is, it was so frustrating, we will not forget that we have paid the $160 entry tax for ten years!
EXPLORE!