Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 10 – Torres del Paine can be found here.
Back into the travel vortex once more – up shortly after 6 am despite our 9 am departure, woken once more by the sound of roller bags on the board walk. That will be us too, mere hours from now. Sigh.
We’d mostly packed the night before, so today it was simply a matter of grabbing breakfast and a sandwich, then finishing up the last few details – one of which was the not-so-simple matter of checking out.
For reasons I don’t entirely understand, the PIN pad system on EcoCamp Patagonia’s payment terminal was non-functional, so we were unable to pay via credit card and had to pay cash instead. We only have a limited amount of hard currency, so my wife was understandably irritated. Guess there might be a bank run in our future but given the sophisticated nature of the ATM scams in Santiago this was an unappetizing prospect.
But not today – instead we said our final goodbyes to EcoCamp and left shortly before our planned 9 am departure. We did see some guanacos, rheas, hawks and condors – but no pumas, sadly. Ah, well – doesn’t hurt to have a reason to come back one day.
Catching some rheas on the way out of Torres del Paine
And what was the final verdict on EcoCamp itself? We would highly recommend it, but with the caveat that this is more adventure-oriented glamping than a true luxury experience. Some elements – like the food – are truly exceptional, but you should also be prepared for the modest hassles – limited hot water, cold mornings in your dome – that come with staying at the ends of the earth.
And would we go back? Absolutely, and without question.
Hopefully they’ve fixed their payment terminal by then.
Back to the land of the internet, and our phones both blazed to life with hundreds of notifications. My wife had not checked her messages at all, while I limited mine to occasional e-mail checks at the reception computer.
Still, we were largely disconnected for the six days – which I think was a huge part of the experience. It was lovely spending time talking with fellow guests without everyone being on their phone.
Some of the EcoCamp guides mentioned that they expect internet access will reach the camp by the end of the year. I wonder if that will change the experience?
We arrived at the airport roughly 90 minutes after we set out – much faster than the outbound trip, but also with fewer photo stops. The line for LATAM stretched out the door, but we thankfully were able to check-in at the premium desk.
Still, we waited at least 10 minutes to drop our bags – though no overage charges, as my wife’s meticulous planning and luggage scale ninja-ing worked their usual magic.
Most of the wait was due to every group in front of us being over the weight limit and attempting to argue that they should be exempt from paying overage fees because they have XYZ status on Delta. It was a LATAM flight…
We did not see anyone succeed in avoiding charges but they did succeed in delaying the check-in process.
We had to wait until close to 11 am before we were able to go through security. No need to take out electronics or liquids, and we were soon seated in the terminal, waiting for boarding.
There’s a small cafeteria there with coffee, bottled water, snacks, and so on – very reasonably priced, too. A cappuccino and three sparkling waters only cost roughly US$9 – a fraction of what we’ve paid in other Latin American airports. (Looking at you San Jose, Costa Rica, and your $7 bottled water and $20 milkshakes.)
We were lined up for boarding before our plane even landed, but they managed an extremely rapid turnaround.
(This was not helped by the pair of tourists who must’ve taken at least 20 photos on their way from the staircase to the terminal. They took photos of the plane, of the mountains, of themselves, of themselves in front of the plane, of themselves in front of the mountains, etc.. It was genuinely painful to watch.)
No travellers were delayed in the making of this photograph
We were near the front of the line, however, and so were able to snag the requisite overhead bin space without any issues. This again is LATAM premium economy – which includes an empty seat between passengers – and we’re not the bulkhead this leg, so we’re able to spread out our bags and coats on the empty seats. This also means we have plenty of legroom.
We departed perhaps 10 minutes behind schedule, and we flew over some truly stunning scenery, including Torres del Paine itself:
And the Patagonian ice fields:
It wasn’t long before the meal cart came around, bearing vegetable chips and a credible roast beef sandwich:
I then put my head down for a quick nap. I’m finding the trtl neck pillow working better as time goes on.
At this point we’d begun our descent into Santiago:
Amazing the difference a few hours’ flight can make in terms of the terrain
The winds buffeted the plane briefly, but it was a smooth landing.
The same couldn’t be said for baggage pick-up, which took much longer than it did for our international flight. (But still only about 20 minutes, which isn’t terrible.)
Our driver was waiting for us with a sign with our name on it, and we were soon loaded into a van on our way to Cascada de Las Animas.
This time departing from fox zone instead of guanaco zone. Hard to believe we once believed it was llama zone… we were so naive (checks notes) 10 days ago
My wife and I first stayed at Cascada almost 20 years ago, and we’re curious to see what’s changed since last time. Already we can tell that the area will be much more built up.
It takes us about an hour and a half to make our way through Santiago rush hour traffic:
But buildings give way to beautiful – if stark – scenery:
Though the river also supports considerable agriculture:
We’re grateful to arrive but find ourselves in immediate culture shock. Or more accurately, language shock.
Usually we manage to get by with a very small bit of Spanish on our part, plus some help from Google Translate.
But checking in proves to be much more complex than expected. We manage in the end when the clerk brings in a colleague with better English – but it’s a lesson that we should be better prepared next time around, particularly when staying at hotels frequented by locals.
It’s worth getting off the beaten track, however – just look at these views:
And the trees:
With our bags unpacked, we soon head to dinner. The restaurant is lovely:
But much larger than we remember. Though to be fair, our suite dome also hadn’t been built the last time we were here.
Photo credit for interior pictures – Cascada de Las Animas – though this loft has a shower base and curtain rather than a tub
The fabric coverings for the bed, benches, etc. are somewhat ancient, but generally everything is nice and comfortable. The master bedroom has a door too, which always makes for better sleeping for all involved. There’s even air conditioning!
Off for dinner. Again, the Spanish proved more complicated than my limited ability, though we continue to learn as we go. Our waiter kindly presented a chart which indicated levels of rareness for steak – my wife and I tend to prefer ‘medio’ (rare) while my daughter is a fan of ‘azul’ (blue rare). We made some allowances for how steaks here tend to come more well-done than requested.
Our food soon arrives, and it’s absolutely delicious – not as refined as what we had at EcoCamp, perhaps, but there is an art in simplicity, and everything is hot, tasty and farm-fresh – and we did indeed end up with medium rare and rare, respectively!
My wife had steak with hummus:
I had steak with potato wedges (papas rustico):
My daughter had steak frites (similar to the above), and my son had chicken and fries:
The payment process is a little on the complex side, and downright diabolical once you factor in the language gap – though the staff are very, very patient.
Our package includes meals, but this is unusual so the meals are charged on the receipt – we must then go to the main desk, where they strike off the meals and we are left paying only for drinks and the 10% tip for the entire meal, food included. (Again, Google Translate once more proved essential.)
Total cost for 4 bottles of water, 2 pisco sours, 2 lemonades, a bottle of wine and tip came to roughly $50 – it would have been much, much more expensive had we not pre-paid the meals. (Which are not an option for individual bookings, but VIP / Concept Chile and our travel agent somehow managed.)
At this point it had been a very, very long day, so after the kids enjoyed their mousse…
… And it was time to head to bed.
(After sparing an admiring look for the resort bar. Perhaps tomorrow!)
Continue reading Antarctica to Zimbabwe – Day 12 – San Jose de Maipo.