Patagonia and Coronavirus
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Cuernos del Paine (The Horns), Patagonia
Cuernos del Paine (The Horns), Patagonia

Well, that was an incredible two weeks...

The first seven days of our adventure in Chile, though operating against a backdrop of the growing global COVID-19 pandemic, was simply spectacular. We spent one day laying over in Santiago before heading to the southern end of the country, flying into Punta Arenas and then driving north to Puerto Natales. Two days there let us explore the city and take a boat trip up Ultima Esperanza Sound to see Mount Balmeceda and the two glaciers that enshroud it. From there it was on to Torres del Paine and five days in a very well appointed yurt at Patagonia Camp.

Patagonia Camp offers a variety of daily excursions into the park or just around Camp, and we took advantage of as much as we could physically fit into those five days including glaciers, waterfalls, hikes, lakes, stunning vistas, petroglyphs, guanacos and condors and puma, delicious Chilean food and drink, and lots to learn about Patagonia and Chile from the extraordinarly helpful guides and staff at the Camp. The photo above is one example of the our experiences. If you're interested you'll find lots more in my photo album from the trip.

When not adventuring, though, we were using tiny slices of satellite internet keeping track of the spreading pandemic while talking with other travelers about our increasing concerns and travel implications. Our time at Patagonic Camp came to and end on Sunday the 14th, and we reluctantly but nervously flew back to Santiago with plans to spend a few days there before heading north for our second week of Chilean exploration in the Atacama Desert.

That part of the trip, of course, never happened. We arrived in Santiago to find the airport in disarray as travelers displaced from other countries scrambled to reroute themselves to their next destination, in most cases home. We made a few inquries to see if we could go straight home ourselves, but these days airports are really only set up to help you get on and off your ticketed flights, not help you replan your entire itinerary. Wait times on the phone just to talk to an agent were well over an hour. Best to head for our hotel and continue exploring options from there.

Monday morning was even more anxious. Chilean President Pinera announced the borders would be closing to incoming travel on Wednesday. No specific word about departing travelers, but that was enough for us. Miraculously there was a United office in Santiago so we made haste there and worked with the absolutely marvelous United team to find two open seats on the earliest possible flight -- Wednesday night (the 18th). That left two tense days in Santiago, one discovering just how much of the city (and country) was shutting down and curtailing movement, and one trying to relax at the Santiago airport hoping our plane would arrive and our flight would actually be allowed to depart.

It all went off without a hitch. We flew overnight to Houston, laid over there in a mostly empty airport, and connected onward to San Francisco. By mid afternoon we were at last at home tired, unable to yet comprehend how everything in the world had changed, and thankful beyond words for the extraordinary help we'd gotten and luck we'd had in getting home. (If you ever plan a trip to South America you should work in-country with the folks at Upscape. They were great local guides everywhere and stopped at nothing to help us navigate our way out of the maelstrom and get safely home.)

Now that we are back we begin our search for our new "shelter in place" norm, along with everyone else. We'll also, in quiet moments, reminisce about the magificent week we spent in Chile and anticipate how we might someday go back to see more. Oh, OK, perhaps just a few more pictures from the trip album...

Puerto Natales at sunrise, before sailing
Puerto Natales at sunrise, before sailing
Curious guanacos
Curious guanacos
Serrano Glacier
Serrano Glacier
Torres del Paine (the Towers)
Torres del Paine (the Towers)

#photo #travel