TORRES DEL PAINE, BLOG 6

We exit the ferry and begin the short drive to Puerto Varas. Rafa contacts his office and gives the staff our flight reservation number so they can check Paul and I in for our flight tomorrow and print our boarding passes. A short time later, Rafa gets a call saying that they can’t find me online. I tell Rafa to have them take out the hyphen in my last name as that is probably the problem, computers hate that hyphen. We know I am in the system because we have the form where all our flights are listed and my name is on that. Nope, they call back and say that taking the hyphen out didn’t work so Rafa suggests that we go to the office and see if we can get this problem solved.

There is no place to park, so Rafa stops in the street in front of his office and we hop out of the car taking our packs with us. Once inside, one of the young women calls the airline and gives them my passport number. Nope, they can’t find me. Come on!! Time for plan B.  The women look at the emails they have received from Swoop to see what they can find. In the meantime, Paul pulls out our paperwork from Swoop with all our flight information. Aha, it seems Paul has written an L instead of an I at the beginning of the flight reservation number. Within minutes we are checked in and our boarding passes printed, what a relief. We feel terrible to have wasted these helpful women’s time and apologize to them numerous times. Also, we misunderstood that I was the only one they couldn’t find in the system. It was in fact both of us that they couldn’t find since the reservation number we gave them didn’t exist.

Rafa has been circling the block and once he sees us emerge from the office, he stops the car and we jump in. He takes us to Mero Guacho and helps us carry our luggage into the hotel. We tell Rafa how much we have enjoyed our time with him and that he made us feel like friends not clients. We then say goodbye to this man who gave us such a wonderful experience on Chiloe Island. It was a privilege to be guided by Rafa who showed through his actions and discussions his passion for birds, and nature in general.

The owner of Mero Guacho, a young woman, checks us in and helps carry our luggage to our room which happens to be the same one that we had before. When we are settled in, Paul checks our email and there is bad news about Taz. Dr. Amy says she sent me an email on Sunday telling me that Taz had taken a turn for the worse and she made the decision to put her to sleep. Why the email didn’t get to us I don’t know but, in a way,, I am glad it got lost as the sad news probably would have taken some of the joy out of our time at Park Tepuhulico. Truthfully, I had a feeling that Taz was not going to survive and I had been preparing myself for the announcement from Dr. Amy that she couldn’t save my cat. There were so many things going wrong with her system that I wondered how she could overcome them all. Taz has been in our lives for eight years and I will miss her.

Paul and I aren’t very hungry but we do agree that a beer and an appetizer sound good. We return to the Tea house where we had that great sandwich our first night in Chile and the waitress seats us. When we ask what beer they offer we are told that they don’t serve beer. Imagine that, a tea house doesn’t serve beer :). The helpful and friendly demeanor of the Chilean people shows up again as the waitress gives us directions to a nearby beer pub.

On our way to the pub several people greet us with “Ola” and two older men even tip their hats to me. I love it. We find the pub and are seated upstairs on the balcony that overlooks the lake and the two prominent volcanos. The view is spectacular despite the smoke that is filtering across the face of the volcanos from a wild-fire.

As we are waiting for our beer and appetizers, (fish and chips for me, a bowl of fries for Paul) we are trying to figure out who sang the 70’s song that is being played in the pub. A young man seated at the table next to us leans over and says “Cream” and “Eric Clapton”. Of course. This leads to an enjoyable visit with the young couple from California as we sip on our Austral beer and eat the huge plate of appetizers the waiter brought us. When we finish eating,(we both leave food on our plates), we say so long to the personable couple and walk down to the lake.

It is a nice day but still cool as Paul and I both have our coats on. We had commented to Rafa about people being in the water at other places and how cold it must be. His reply was that people must take advantage of the “three days of summer” they receive in Southern Chile. We watch the beach goers romping, sunbathing, some throwing mud at each other and all having a great time then we return to the main part of Puerto Varas. I need to find someplace to buy some throat lozenges and know we passed a pharmacy when we were here a few days ago. We finally find a small pharmacy and with hand gestures get across to the woman waiting on us what I am in need of. I have been experiencing some ear drainage which is now making my throat sore. These symptoms generally mean I will have a full-blown cold in a day or two. Great!

We get prepared as best we can for our departure in the morning, shower and I go to bed early. Paul is reading on the Kindle as I drift off to sleep.

We are up at six-thirty and have our usual breakfast except we take the blueberries we bought yesterday to top off our cereal. We check out of this lovely hotel and the owner tells us that our driver is waiting for us on the street. We settle into the mans very nice car and he drives the back roads to Puerto Montt. I think he did this to avoid the morning traffic but we can’t ask as he doesn’t speak English. Our driver deposits us and our luggage in front of the small terminal. We give him a tip and wave goodbye.

The Sky Airline desk is not even open but there are a few people already in line to check in. We join the line as I read somewhere that the small airlines here sometimes over book so even though you have a reservation it is best to be at the front of the line. We probably wait a half hour before the Sky staff show up and then it takes them some time to get the computers up and running. When they do start letting people check in the process goes quite fast.

When it is our turn to check in the friendly man helping us tells us to put our check through luggage on the scales. We sit our two small cases on the scale and the guy, his eyebrows raised in surprise, asks us if that is all the luggage we have to check through. Paul says yes and adds that this is more than we usually have on our trips. He compliments us on traveling light, hands us our official boarding passes and passports and we walk upstairs to where our gate is.

We go through security which is much easier than in the states, you don’t have to take your shoes off or take liquids out. We take a seat close to where we will be lining up and I people watch as we wait for the boarding call. There is a young African man who has arrived shortly after we did and he stands, ticket in hand in front of the boarding area, even though there are no staff around and no lanes set up. When the boarding staff arrives, Paul and I get up and move close to the boarding area. A man sets up two lanes showing the row numbers which tell you which line to get in. We are in the second line and we end up being at the head of the line. Other passengers are getting in line except for the young man who had been standing here for the past half hour. He is looking at his ticket and seems completely at a loss. I hesitate and then walk over to him and look at his ticket. I point to his seat number and then point to the line he belongs in which is the one we are in. As he turns to walk to the back of the line, I take his arm and motion for him to get in front of Paul and I. It didn’t seem fair that he had been standing in line long before the rest of us only to end up at the back of the line.

We have to wait until the arriving passengers have unloaded and then for the passengers with lower row numbers to make their way onto the plane. When our turn comes, we filter into the narrow aisle of the plane and the young man hesitates and looks back at me. I look at his ticket again, and show him where his seat is which is two rows behind us. He smiles gratefully and soon we are taxiing down the runway on our way to Punta Arenas. At the end of our two-hour flight as we are leaving the plane, I look back and see the young fellow smiling broadly at me and I give him a big smile in return. We have been helped before on our travels so I know how grateful you feel when someone takes the time to give you a hand.

We have a momentary worry when one of our checked bags shows up quickly at the baggage claim and then no other luggage comes at all. There are still other people waiting and all of us breathe a sigh of relief when the belt begins to move again ferrying more luggage into the small airport. Our suitcase is one of the last to show up but at least it showed up! As we walk into the lobby a young woman walks up to us and asks if we are the Millers. Yes we are, and as usual we are so happy that someone is here to claim us! It seems we are the last of eight people to arrive that are going to Eco camp as the other guests arrived on earlier flights.

The young woman who greeted us introduces us to our driver, Pedro, and we follow him to the van where we add our luggage to everyone else’s. We climb into the van and find a seat. Everyone has been given a sack lunch as we have a five-hour drive ahead of us. The first part of the drive takes us through very dry seemingly inhospitable landscape. Paul taps me on the shoulder not to far into the drive and points out the window to the left. A condor is flying quite low to the ground and I have my second surprise on this drive. For some reason I assumed condors were only to be found in the mountainous areas. Grassland along with some small lakes is the next region we drive through and we see Rhea’s, Guanacos’ and lots of ducks and or geese. It is a bit tough to tell when you are driving past the fowl at sixty miles an hour. The third thing on this drive that seems out-of-place are Flamingos huddled together in a small lake. I knew we would possibly see Chilean Flamingos but seeing the pink birds later on with a snow-covered mountain in the background just doesn’t seem right :).

We stop at Puerto Natales where the office of Eco Camp is and get off the van where we are welcomed by Marcella, a lovely, personable, young woman. We follow her into the building where we fill out forms with our passport numbers among other info. Since we will be arriving at camp rather late Marcella also has us give her our order for tonight’s dinner. There are two starters, four entrees and three desserts to choose from. Gee is that all the choices we have? I’m kidding of course.  Once we wrap this up, we load back into the van along with Marcella who will act as our guide for the rest of the journey.

There are more Guanaco scattered throughout our drive. They look similar to llama and in fact both are a member of the camelid family. As we drive by a few Rheas’, Marcella tells us that the dad hatches and raises the young. She then says there is a male Rhea in the area that is raising ten chicks which is highly successful. Darned if we don’t see that family of eleven as we are on the final leg of our journey. Pedro stops the van and we join a few other people on the side of the road, admiring and taking photos of the Rheas’ as they feed on the green grass next to the black top road. The fowl pay no attention to us until one guy decides to cross the road and get right next to them, (why I don’t know because he has a huge lens on his camera). Dad decides this human is too close and he leads his youngsters away from the road and the intruder.

We also make a stop at a beautiful lake with the famous Paine towers in the background. The scenery in Paine is stunning and rugged. We finally arrive at Eco Camp, (it has been a long day), where more staff are waiting to welcome us. Everyone is assigned one person who takes them to their domes. Marcella ends up showing us to our dome. Since we booked so late, we are in a superior dome, it is larger than the common domes and we have our own bathroom. Yes, it is more expensive than the common domes but the private bathroom is worth it to me.

Once Marcella shows us around the unique abode, pointing out the light switches and explaining how the toilet works among other things. Yes, we need to be shown how the toilet works as it isn’t like your normal toilet. No toilet paper can go into the bowl, (well we haven’t been able to put toilet paper in any toilets so far!) and the flush is worked with your foot. Very little water is used with this toilet, I’m talking a few inches of water. Pretty amazing.

When Marcella leaves, we get settled into our dome and then go to the communal area. We are part of the Safari group and all of us gather in one corner of the bar. Welcome drinks and finger food are set before us while three lovely, very fit, young women, (are they cloning these guides?) begin to explain the excursions we can choose from for tomorrow. One hike is very hard, the second excursion is classified as medium, and the third hike is easy. Paul had asked Rafa’s advice before we left, (I think Rafa guided here for a few years), on what he thought we should do. He told us to take the easy ones, telling us you guys are naturalists and on the easy hikes you will stop and learn about the things you are seeing. According to Rafa the other hikes, esp. the hard ones there is no time to stop and enjoy things. Of course, it could have been a polite way of telling us you aren’t fit to do the other excursions!

Once the cheerful women finish describing the excursions, I know I am taking the easy one. The hard hike to the base of the towers is over twelve miles, the last mile or so you are clambering over big boulders which can be slippery. The second one sounds very intriguing but it is a fourteen-hour day since the start of the trail is two and a half hours away. I’m not feeling very well and I sure don’t want to be out fourteen hours. The easy excursion is a three or four-mile hike, after which we will go to a ranch for a Chilean barbecue. It sounds perfect. I tell Paul if he wants to go for the medium excursion it is fine with me but he agrees that the easy one sounds great, so that is settled.

We finally have dinner at ten o’clock and I eat very little since it is so late. We still need to shower and we don’t get to bed until 11:30. Another reason to have chosen the easy hike as we don’t have to get up as early as the people who chose the other two hikes. Nancy