March 2nd
CM 265 MEX-PTY 0600-1035
SEAT 1A

I was stupid enough to follow the reservations agent’s advice and show up at MEX at 3 a.m. for check-in, even though I knew I could use the OP Elite check-in counter and the MEX-PTY leg was not fully booked. This meant, of course, that a cab would pick me up at home at 2:30 A.M., so I chose to stay awake as I would have plenty of time to sleep all the way to EZE.

Just as I feared, I was the first person to check-in, which took all of five minutes at a rather deserted CM counter, and then proceded to gate 34, which is a very long walk from security. All the airport shops were closed and there were practically no airplanes to be seen at such an early (or late, depending on how you look at it) hour (couldn’t they have used a less distant gate? I wish they gave mileage for such a long walk, considering that, of course, the “moving sidewalks” were not working).

I arrived at the gate at about 3:25, so departure was still two and a half hours away.

The gate area was practically empty, except for a couple of passengers waiting for a Taca flight, and about a dozen or so cleaning employees who were asleep in the seating area, lying on the carpet, or leaning against the men’s room walls (I swear!). If only certain other employees had been sleeping instead of…well…”working” at that time, my trip would have been a lot nicer (see a few paragraphs below).

I chose not to sit down as I was afraid of falling asleep and then missing my flight, or having my hand luggage stolen, so I stayed on my feet walking from one end of the hallway to the other for the next hour, until it was clear that time was running v-e-r-y slowly for me and decided to sit down and doze off a little bit. It was at this time that a group of about 40 or so of the noisiest people you could ever think of showed up at the gate, waiting for our flight. So, the rest of us passengers had to forget about our little siesta, as it was clear that these guys were still running on Asia time (they looked asian) and having a wonderful time (remember the scene with the two japanese guys in “Solo Con Tu Pareja”, where they go to Garibaldi Plaza and get drunk, and end up at the airport? Well, multiply that times 20).

After what seemed like an eternity, it was 5:30 and boarding was called for. Boarding was uneventful, and the plane pulled back on time. We took-off on 5L (or 5R, I don’t remember), and turned towards PTY. Menus were handed out (the single-sheet type) and breakfast was served afterwards. Even though it was still dark, I could see the silhouettes of the Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl volcanos. After breakfast service was finished, I put on my eye-shades, in-ear earphones and went to sleep. Next thing I remember, I was awakened by the flight attendant when it was time to prepare for landing.

It was my first time in PTY, so I was kind of curious about what the airport would be like. Well, I’m afraid to say that most of it reminded me of the public hospitals of my early 70’s childhood in Acapulco (the public hospitals where we had to go to get our vaccinations when we wanted to go to what our government back then considered an exotic place, such as Europe or the USA). The hallways looked really old, and, for instance the carpeting inside the jetways had definitely seen better times (like the arrival of the first jet-powered flight, I guess, as they looked really, really worn and dated). I hear that PTY is going to undergo some renovations, which is a good thing, as it is a very convenient airport for connections IMHO. Other than these details, my connection was quick and seamless.

CM 447 PTY-EZE 1105-2010
Seat 3E

When I got on the airplane, most of the passengers were already on-board. I took my seat (3E) next to an Argentinian former soccer-player (although I must say I have absolutely no idea who he was, as I know nothing about soccer) All I know is he played in México a few years back, and was flying to EZE to see his family.

Pre-flight drinks were offered and menus were handed again before take-off. The flight attendant this time was one of the nicest I have ever encountered, and you could tell she really enjoyed her job and had great people skills. After take-off, lunch was served and the (awful) movie started. Feeling sorry for the poor souls who were going to suffer the next 7 hours in the 73G’s completely packed coach-class cabin, once again I put on my eye-shades, plugged my ears, and resumed my sleep, which had been interrupted by the stop in PTY.

A hot snack was served about an hour and a half before landing at EZE. Flight time was aproximately 6:45.


I was one of the first persons to get off the airplane, and the first to reach the immigration booths, so in less than ten minutes I was at the baggage claim area. After claiming my bag, I went through customs, where your luggage goes through x-rays. It was fun to see my bag’s contents, including my video camera’s case (I put my video camera inside my checked bag), although I found it funny that the x-ray machine would show my camera case but not the camera inside it.

After exiting customs, I hired a “remis” (a special kind of taxi, more or less) which took me to my hotel.

After checking into my room, I decided to unpack my bag and hang my clothes in the closet. After entering the right number in the combination lock and opening my bag, the first thing I took out was my video camera, although the minute I pulled the case out of my bag it felt somewhat…well…light. Hmmm…I did not remember my camera being so light. So, I open the case and find…nothing! Absolutely nothing! Some b*st*rds stole my video camera! They actually took the time to go through all the posible combinations until they found the right one, open the lock, take the camera, batteries and charger out, close the now-empty camera case, put it back into the suit case, and lock it! I know I shouldn’t have checked my camera, but I had done it many times before and had never had anything stolen.

I’m pretty sure the camera was stolen in MEX, as I checked in very early and they had plenty of time to do all that (I guess they saw the camera incide the suitcase when they x-rayed the bag after check-in) and my connection at PTY was only 30 minutes


I’m not going to go into the details of my stay in Buenos Aires as I could write for days and days about it. Let me just say that, if you have never been there, stop wasting your life and go down there! Right now! Such a beautiful place! Such wonderful people!