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Published: January 16th 2019
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A busy 2018 is done and it’s time for the holiday I began booking before I left on the last one. When my father mentioned the only place overseas he is interested in visiting was Antarctica, I began investigating how to make it happen. As it turns out, to get there you pretty much have to go to South America. So back to Chile I go! This time, with dad.
Leaving on Monday morning, the flight to Santiago went very smoothly and actually felt quicker than last time. I’m not sure if the Dreamliner is faster, or if it was just my imagination. It was definitely worth paying extra to get a seat with more legroom though, and I actually got a pretty decent sleep for a change. I did think the food portions were a little on the light side, but I didn’t feel hungry at the end of each meal so I can’t complain too much.
We landed in Santiago only a couple of hours after taking off from Sydney. Getting through customs was straight-forward and before too long we were at the hotel. We are staying at the same hotel as my second stay in Santiago
last time (which I realise now that I never blogged about!), so it was nice and familiar.
After a couple of quick showers, dad and I headed out for a walk around Santiago. For me, it was visiting some of the same areas I went to last time I was there, but for dad it was something new. He seemed fascinated by the graffiti but mostly was just interested in seeing something new. Central Santiago hasn’t changed much in 4 years from what I could see, although there seems to be an underground car tunnel that is new… or perhaps last time I was here the drivers just didn’t use it.
After a bit over 3 hours of walking and looking around, we walked into a bar/restaurant near the hotel to have a drink and something to eat. Dad wasn’t too hungry, but as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast on the plane, I was starving. As we entered the bar, they told us there was room on the top floor. I would have been happy on the ground floor but in the end, I was happy they sent us up to the top floor. It was a lovely
outdoor area and we had a relaxing drink before ordering dinner. After eating, we decided to stay for another drink and I had my second Pisco Sour. By the time we finished, we were both ready to turn in for an early night.
The next morning, feeling much refreshed, I joined Dad downstairs for breakfast at the hotel. We had a hearty breakfast, which was good because we wouldn’t eat again until late afternoon. We headed out to the airport and caught our flight down to Puerto Natales. We arrived on time at the very small airport just outside Puerto Natales. The temperature was much lower than Santiago, but not too cold.
We were met at the airport by a man in a van, claiming to be from Patagonia Camp, where we would be staying for the next 4 nights. As luck would have it, he was telling the truth and we got here fine. But I did have a few moments of doubt because the camp is reasonably isolated and he never checked who we were!
We arrived at Patagonia Camp to a warm welcome and before long we were taken to our yurt. The yurts
here are nestled amongst the natural surroundings and it was lovely to sit down and listen to the light rain hitting the canvas. The Yurts really are “glamping” and it’s all eco-friendly but still very comfortable as you can see from the photos.
In the late afternoon, we headed to the “Puma room” for a briefing about the daily excursions and to choose what we were going to do tomorrow. Dad and I are going to go on an easy-to-moderate hike to Pingo lake. The next day I’m going to challenge myself with a hard hike while Dad heads off on a sight-seeing drive/hike tour. The final day here, we’re going to go for a horse-ride! It should be a lot of fun, so I’ll let you know how it goes!
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Santiago
What a lovely thing to do with your Dad :) Looking forward to reading more about Chile and your eventual trip to Antarctica.