Still December 20th, Day 1 of 9
Last year, we had stayed in a (dumpy) aparthotel not really in the center of town, and we had walked by the Hotel Costaustralis and thought it looked nice. It sits right on the water at the edge of downtown, a 5-10 minute walk to anything in town (which is not saying much).
Puerto Natales is really just a jumping off points for Patagonia and Antarctica adventures, so there's not a ton in town. However, if you're ever here, we recommend the following restaurants:
- Yume (our favorite) - japanese and sushi, great value and great execution
- Centolla (seafood) - expensive, but this is probably the "finest" dining experience you'll experience in Puerto Natales
- La Disqueria (seafood-focused, but with meat dishes) - a surprising find, primarily pasta / gnocchi / braised dishes, great value and piping hot food!
As mentioned, your arrival day with Lindblad counts as "day 1," with an overnight stay included in your expedition fare. You (are scheduled to) fly the next day to meet your ship.
After lunch, we were able to check-in and access our rooms. I will say... the Hotel Costaustralis certain
looks nice (and I think it's still the nicest option that's directly in town, unless you go further out and stay at The Singular Patagonia)... but it's definitely suffers from a bit of Instaglam. Everything feels a bit cheap and worn unfortunately, even the jammed front door we noticed from last year had not been fixed.
I was assigned a "single room" on the 2nd floor, which turn out to be a 2 twin room that was refurbished. My parents got a 1 king room on the 4th (top) floor, which had not been refurbished (no pictures, sorry).
Again, while looking nice in the pictures, our observations:
- The whole property has been done in what feels to be a bit of a cheap way... e.g., the doors are incredibly thin so if you're close to the elevator bank (as I was), you can hear the constant chiming
- The toiletries look fancy but obviously have been filled with the "cheap stuff"
- No climate control - not needed in Patagonia (just open the window I guess), so nights were "HOT AS BALLS" (as my friend who had done this expedition a month ago said"
- Incredibly flimsy fixtures - the shelving was not bolted to the wall and felt like it was from IKEA
Nothing a deal breaker, but surprising for a hotel that charges $300 / night (I guess there are limited options).
There is a whole lot of process to conduct on day 1. Lindblad basically takes over the lobby and meeting areas in the hotel to conduct all pre-departure administration. You have to:
- Check-in to the hospitality desk
- Watch a video briefing
- Get all of your gear "bio-secured"
- Weigh all of your baggage to ensure it meets airline restrictions (very stringent)
- Tag your luggage appropriately with your expedition, name, and cabin
- Segregate any items to be left behind for storage
- Pickup any rental gear (boots, pants, etc.)
- Pickup your parka (included in your expedition gear)
- Attend a mandatory dinner at the hotel with flight updates
Formalities conducted, we downstairs to the restaurant for dinner at 6pm. We were assigned the "red plane," meaning we were sat a bit earlier than the folks on the "blue plane." The National Geographic Orion (our ship) holds 102 guests, so Lindblad has to split the group into two planes (since the planes only hold ~70 passengers each).
Tonight's dinner was buffet... looked great but sort of same vibe as the rest of the hotel - pretty, but style over substance.
Many options were available - chicken, beef, lamb, veggies... including a lamb shank as big as my head (and drier than the Atacama desert). Needless to say, dinner tonight was mostly functional and unfortunately the lamb shank went nearly untouched...
At dinner, we were given the very unfortunate news that we would not be flying tomorrow (womp womp) due to forecasted weather conditions (light snow) and unavailability of a proper "weather window". King George Island operates a gravel landing strip, which requires pilots to conduct a visual landing. There also needs to be good enough weather to conduct the roundtrip (one way is ~2 hours), so I assume that this weather window needs to be 5-6 hours (to account for the round trip, plus the unloading / loading in between).
As is written in
Lindblad's documentation,
Outbound flights to Antarctica: Between Day 2 of the itinerary and until 2 p.m. on Day 3, every effort will be made to transport passengers to Antarctica with foremost consideration for their safety and the safety of the crew and aircraft. In cases where such measures are not successful, the daily program described below will be applied:
- Day 2: We provide guided tours of Puerto Natales and the surrounding areas. We will include breakfast and lunch dependent on the time of the flight departure, as well as accommodation if necessary.
- Day 3: If DAP Airlines is unable to transport passengers to Antarctica by 2 p.m., the remainder of the trip will be canceled. For guests who booked their international flights via Lindblad Expeditions air, we will assist with rescheduling. No other services or meals are included. Lindblad Expeditions or, if applicable, the traveler’s booking agent will refund the passenger 100% of the cruise fare and internal air paid (listed as Expedition Fare and Transfer on the invoice).
So, now we are in contingency planning. Our hospitality queen Sharon mentioned that Lindblad would provide an all-day excursion to Torres del Paine National Park, leaving at 9:30am and returning between 4-5pm. Interest was to be expressed at the hospitality desk after dinner (though it seemed you could change your mind at any time and it wouldn't be a big deal). A further update was to come the following day at dinner.
Okay, so well we did Patagonia last year, but since we would be sitting at the hotel otherwise, I guess we'll do the excursion.
Unsatisfied from dinner (the food, not the content!), we toyed with walking to Yume for japanese, though we realized we were unsatisfied but yet still full, so we just did a quick walk around town, given the sun doesn't set in this part of the world during the summer until ~10:30pm.
It should also be mentioned that Lindblad, like many other tour operators in the region, have just a few staff locally - and the rest are essentially contractors or "freelancers."
These freelancers are called on demand and contracted to work certain days (or with a certain contract) to help out with operations. In Lindblad's case, it was to help provide updates to all guests and assist with pre-expedition duties.
Funny enough, other tour operators (like Patagonia Camp, where we stayed last year), also rely on freelancers during high periods of demand. Two freelancers we met during our tours last year were also at Lindblad this year (and are now dating). Small world!!
Sharon, our hospitality queen, mentioned she has worked at McMurdo station and generally in Antarctica for over 20 years. She has rented a little apartment in Puerto Natales for the season, close to the Hotel Costaustralis... which as we will see later, is a huge necessity for round-the-clock job like this.