Escaping a Global Warming Winter
 

Ah, it’s cold (well…not really...60's really?), it’s winter (true), and my wife and I have been working way too long between vacations (also true). So it’s about that time when we’ll leave for sunny warm climes that can be found South of the Border, in Brazil, Argentina and Chile.


We leave tomorrow and start the vacation of well…February 2012...in the most relaxing way possible…a long drive up the New Jersey Turnpike to the even more relaxing environment provided by JFK Terminal 4.

Now, I'm no eightblack, but I'll do my best to entertain you as we travel through part of South America.

Fun starts tomorrow, stay tuned.

Cool.

Buenos Dias! Greetings from the Sumaq airport lounge in the gilded halls of the Lima International Terminal, and where Mrs. Dcstudent and I will be spending a few hours before continuing to Brazil.

Our vacation started yesterday, earlier for me than for Mrs. Dcstudent. She didn´t have enough leave to take the whole day off, ha! But, I did! So, I got the dubious distinction of corraling our children (all furry and four legged) and loading them into our car for the 1.5 hour drive to our boarding facility. You see, we love our furry children, they range in age from 4-14, three beagles and a Shep. And, just like children they have unique personalities: Piper, is a daddy´s girl, Joe is an angry old man, Louise, our oldest, just wants to be left alone to sleep (occasionally broken up by eating), and Shep is a go-along to get-along 55 pound lovebug. (Another advantage of furry children is you can legally lock them in a cage when they are driving you crazy, but I digress.)

After dropping the dogs off at the kennel I proceeded another hour to get to Dulles airport where I parked my car in the long-term car park (for free since I volunteer at Dulles), and headed to National to pick up my one-way rental for JFK.

G-od, the hands of fate, Buddha or whomever had obviously decided my morning had gone to well as when I arrived at National I searched the lot for a luxury car, which is what I had rented (Hey, why not start off a vacation in style?), and I couldn't find any. Not a good sign. So even though I am an Emerald Club member and therefore do not need to have any human contact, generally that is, I headed inside where I found the genial "the man." "The man" confirmed my fears, but graciously offered me any car on the lot (except the fully loaded 2012 Mercedes as evidently that was Specialty Luxury and not for plain luxury peons like me). Sadly, the whole lot was looking rather poor, lots of minivans, an altima, a Charger, a couple impalas, but then I saw it...2011 Ford Explorer Limited. Ok, so not that great but it had leather and heater seats. And over 20K miles. And heated seats. I took it and headed into DC to pick up the ol ball and chain...I mean the most wonderful woman in the World. :p

(And for those of you Flyertalkers reading this, I will be complaining to National that they couldn't honor my reservation. It's not a huge deal but I did pay for luxury and a Ford Explorer, even a Limited Ford Explorer is not Luxury.)

There´s something about starting a vacation with a long and harrowing drive up the racetrack that is I-95 and the New Jersey Turnpike. Fortunately, I had a rental car covered by American Express Platinum Protection. Also fortunately, we didn´t need the insurance, but we did use the rental. ;)

Having little interest to stay on I-95 the whole way we left DC via New York Avenue, and Rt. 50. We stayed on route 50 over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and then took Route 301 North into Delaware. From there a brief hop on DE, Rt 299 to Rt 1 North to the Delaware Bridge and the New Jersey Turnpike.

We gave ourselves plenty of time, leaving DC at 11:30, but not flying until 11:30pm - or so I thought (more on that later). But, I figured we´d hit traffic or there´d be an accident or something, c´mon, it´s the Jersey Turnpike, but no. A brief slowdown at Trenton, another brief slowdown at the Verrazano bridge, and yet another brief slowdown on the Belt Parkway and we were at JFK by 5pm.

Car return was very easy. I prepaid the gas at IAD for $3.47 a gallon and returned the SUV with less than a quarter tank. I think I came out about even and didn´t have to find a gas station at JFK. We headed to the AirTrain and the fun began.

You see, I got an e-mail from LAN that they were moving to Terminal 8 on February 1st. But all of the AirTrain information signs already showed LAN at Terminal 8, and it was only January 31. This led to an interesting conundrum, do I trust LAN, or the Port Authority. I flipped a mental coin and we got off at Terminal 4, which turned out to be the right decision.

LAN was already checking in folks for their 3 flights this evening (Santiago, Lima, Guyaquil) and we dutifully got in the Economy Class line behind a large number of people that seemed to be ready to send a moving truck worth of belongings back home. Those of you who have traveled to South America know what I mean. We´re talking people checking 5, 6, 10, 15 bags.

We were pleasantly surprised when a supervisor pulled us out of line and put us in the Business Class line because "we don´t want you to wait since you only have 2 bags (total) to check". ^

We were checked in less than 5 minutes after the line switch and then cleared the TSA in another 15 minutes, leaving us in the barrens of the A gates of Terminal 4 for far too long.

To be continued....

Greetings from Iguazu! Our hotel{s wireless is down, with no estimate of restoration so it may take awhole before I can post updates, but >I will!

The wireless is functioning again, whooo...I thought I might be disconnected from the outside world for awhile. Gasp! But, no, we come back from the Falls and it's here. So...where was I...oh yes...JFK

JFK, 9:30pm, January 31. We start boarding our flight, LA 531 to Lima, Peru. And herein lies the rub. When I originally booked the flight, we were scheduled to leave just after 10pm. Less than a week before the flight I got an e-mail from LAN stating that our flight time had changed and we were leaving after 11pm, an hour later. As of the morning of January 31 our itinerary was still showing a departure after 11pm, but we boarded and departed at our original departure time. Whatever.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Our luck continued. We had two seats in Y (coach for those uninitiated to Flyertalk), window and aisle on the Starboard sude where there was no middle. After the doors had closed a flight attendant came up to us and asked if we would like to move to the exit row as it was empty. Wait, enough leg room that we could stretch out without touching the seat in front of us? Of course, we're in! :cool: Now, I have no idea how we were chosen (well other than that my wife and I are amazingly smart and attractive...and I'm modest to beat the band! But seriously, I don't have LAN status, and I used BA miles for the trip (and I don't have BA status either) so I don't know why the FA picked us, but we gladly took it.

Sadly, anyone looking for details about the flight itself will have to look elsewhere as I fell asleep sometime during takeoff and did not wake until final approach in Lima.

To be continued....

February 1, Lima -> Iguazu
 

February 1 is a day that will be soon forgotten. No, not because anything happened that was exciting, horrible, or awesome. But, in fact, because it was a very bland and boring day, filled with airports, immigration and sleep.

We arrived in Lima just after 6am Lima time. We approached transit security for International Connections and we were the only ones in line, yes you read that right, the luck of the Mr./Mrs. Dcstudent pair continues. Unlike in the US we were not made to remove our liquids, our IPAD or our clothes (virtually of course). We proceeded through smoothly and headed to a back hallway near Gate 17 for the Sumaq VIP lounge.

Now, I love anything that says VIP that will let me in. Frankly, it shows they aren't picky, they just want money and as a Priority Pass basic member I pay Priority Pass $54US for the privilege of entry for my wife and I.

At entry the very polite lounge Goddess mentioned that as a Priority Pass member we were only entitled to 4 hours of access which would bring us to 10:30. Our flight wasn't until 1:30 but Ms. Goddess didn't make the rules and Mrs. Dcstudent and I were not going to try for a couple of extra hours. We made full use of our time in the beautiful space, having a breakfast of sweet breads, coffee (Mrs Dcstudent) and fresh-squeezed orange juice (ME!). Speaking of orange juice, the Sumaq lounge has a really cool machine that I need at home. I just had to drop 4 oranges in the top and it sliced, squeezed and filled a glass for me! (I had two!)

At 10:30 our time in peace and tranquility ran out and we headed into the concourse. We were surprised to see that it seemed there were banks of departures by airlines. For instance at 11:00-12:30 it seemed that TACA Peru had nearly 100% of departing flights, but then LAN had near 100% from 12:30-2pm. We boarded at 1pm, and took off on LAN flight 2443 at 1:30pm headed for IGU, Iguazu Brazil.

We flew on a A319, and we were served by three lovely young and spirited flight attendants, who unlike many US arline attendants, were there to serve, and they served very well. Lunch was a Ham and Chees sandwich, so my wife -being vegetarian- missed a meal, but she did get my chocolate for dessert. I had a glass fo wine (gratis) and she had a diet coke.

While waiting for the restroom in the aft galley later in the flight I realized how much my life has changed (for the better of course!) in the past 4 years. While waiting for the restroom I struck up a conversation with one of the flight attendants. I told her all about the trip my wife and I had planned and how my wife was a biologist and was really looking forward to all of the unique species we would encounter on this trip. Basically I talked about my wife. 4 years ago I had a conversation with a LAN attendant on a flight SCL-LAX which ended with me spending the day at Venice Beach and the Getty museum with said attendant. I live a very different life now, and I couldn't be happier. Really, I'm not just saying this because my wife is looking over my shoulder and my mother-in-law is reading this blog. ;)

We landed at 8:30 pm Brazil time and they pulled up stairs to both the front and rear doors so we disboarded quickly. There were only 2 immigration agents working but we still got through in about 1/2 hour. There was no customs staff and the airline staff had lined up all of our bags on the floor for us to pick up and head to arrivals.

We needed a Taxi and approached the "official taxi desk" which was manned by a youngish man who was wearing a polo shirt and khakis with no name tag or other identifying marks. We told him where we were going, he talked to a cabbie and then told us we would pay $80Reals (about $47). Our cabbie was very efficient (read fast...passing slower vehicles across double yellow etc...). He handled our immigration exit in Brazil and entrance in Argentina while we sat in the parked car. Awesome! Best immigration experience ever! 30 minutes after getting in the cab we were dropped off at our hotel.

To be continued....

The rest of February 1
 

Our hotel was the Jardin del Iguazu. It is a small hotel with maybe 30 rooms but it is very nice. Simple, but nice. The rooms are on two stories surrounding two beautiful courtyards. One courtyard has a fountain and one has a small pool which features backlit waterfalls.

We entered the lobby and were checked in by a young lady who wasn't sure what to charge us as our confirmation didn't have a rate on it and we booked nearly 11 months ago. She called the manager who came down and asked us if it would be ok if they gave a 10% discount off of the current rates on the website. We thought that fair and accepted. (2 nights = $1000 pesos = roughly $231 dollars for two nights in high season. Sure beats the $300+ the Sheraton wanted from us, per night!

At this point my wife was starving and I never am one to skip food so we asked the staff where they go for good takeout, with a proviso, we needed someplace that served vegetarian options. The manager, a very funny middle-aged man asked us who the vegetarian was and I dutifully pointed to my wife and said that I eat everything.:p The manager, a very kind middle-aged man then told my wife that he worked in a slaughterhouse for 20 years and couldn't imagine not eating beef and he then extolled the virtues of Argentine beef. A man after my heart, after all, I can't imagine not eating beef either! He ended his good-natured lecture with a laugh, and two alcoholic welcome drinks ! and they sent us two blocks down the street to Misiones an awesome empanadas, coxinha and pizza place.

My wife ordered 2 cheese empanadas, I ordered two coxinhas con carne (a fried potato stuffed with beef). I got a coke, she a water and the grand total came to $26 pesos or $6 US. The food lived up to its billing, we enjoyed our meal at a table overlooking one of the courtyards before heading to bed.

A quick note on our room. We had a standard double which consisted of two single beds pushed together. We had a 24" flatscreen and great air conditioning. The bathroom was sizable with a stand-up shower, bidet and toilet. The room as mentioned above was simple but very very clean.

We were in bed by 11pm Iguazu time or 9pm Washington time and slept very well.

February 2 - The real fun begins!
 

Ok, finally, we got started with the really fun parts of our trip!

We woke up at 5:45 Puerto Iguazu time (6:45 Brazil Foz de Iguazu time, 3:45 Washington, D.C. time), and got ready as we were headed back to Brazil and wanted to get to both the falls and the Bird Park (Parc des Aves) before they got too crowded and the heat became too much for us.

We were up too early for breakfast at the hotel but figured we'd make up for it with a big lunch in Brazil (and we did, but more on that later!). We went to the front desk at 6:45am Argentine time (7:45 Brazil). The clerk called three cab drivers before he found one that didn't already have passengers, and the cab arrived in mere moments.

This cab was in rather poor condition and didn't have air conditioning, but hey, it ran and that was our main qualification. Even given how early it was it was already oppressively hot and humid. Again, immigration at both the Argentine and Brazil side went quite quickly with us waiting in the car while the cabbie went inside the buildings and took care of the formalities.

After crossing the border it was a 15 minute drive and we arrived at the Parc des Aves, perhaps five minutes after the 8:30am Brazil (7:30 Argentina, 5:30 Washington, D.C.) opening time. The cab ride was $120AR or $28US.

We paid our entry fee at the Parc $56R (Reals), $33US, and went inside. This park was absolutely outstanding. The park alternated between zoo like cages and plenty of walk through Avaries. I especially enjoyed the butterfly and hummingbird exhibits, it was amazing being able to stand within inches of brightly colored butterflies and hummingbirds. We also greatly enjoyed the parrot exhibit, where I attempted to converse with them but they weren't having it! There was also a walk-through area filled with brightly colored Toucans which were very curious and would come within inches of us as we walked around. Very cool and well worth the entry fee! Another advantage of arriving so early is we beat the tour buses, and maybe ran into another 10 people.

Our next stop was the Brazilian Falls. To get there from the Park you have a very, very long slog. Kidding! You just cross the road, really. SO, why did the humans cross the road? To get to the Falls. :( (I know, groaner.)

We paid our entry fee in US dollars as we got a better deal than if we paid in Reals, $41US, and headed inside to catch a bus further into the park. You see you can't drive in the Brazilian Park. Everyone must board buses after entering which make four stops within the park.

Again, being there early it was not crowded and we were able to make it on the first bus that stopped at the visitor center. We got off at stop 2, where we were prepared to take a boat.

To be continued...

We paid 180R ($105US), got two ponchos to wrap my wife's handbag and our camera bag, and headed to a line where we were able to board an electric "safari vehicle." We drove through the jungle stopping at various points where the guide explained about various plant and animal life. The guide gave his speech in both Portuguese and English which we greatly appreciated. After about 20 minutes we arrived at boat landing where we were fitted for life jackets and we were seated in the very front of the first boat!

We headed down the canyon, Argentina on one side, Brazil on the other and were amazed at how beautiful and green the scenery was. As we got closer to the falls we slowed down and took an absolute ton of pictures. Then the boat captain (the boat was a fast Zodiac), motioned that we should put our cameras away. We figured this was because it was time to get close to the mist, just like Maid of the Mist in Niagara. No, not so much. We went under one of the falls, and then back under, and again, and again. IT WAS SO AMAZINGLY COOL!!! After getting thoroughly soaked we headed back to the boat landing at full speed, which was a thrill in itself.

After getting off the boat we got back on a safari vehicle which took us back to the bus station where we bought a video of our boat ride for $85R ($50US).

Our next stop was stop 3, where we walked along a trail giving us plenty of views of the different falls. You see, Iguazu falls is not just one, or two, or even three falls, but, by my count, over 20 falls spread out over a kilometer or so. After witnessing the falls, especially the Devil's fall at the end of the trail we can understand why when Eleanor Roosevelt first saw Iguazu Falls she exclaimed: "Poor Niagara!"

So now it was about 1pm Brazilian time and we were starving so we went to the buffet restaurant at the end of the bus route. We sat out on a shaded deck over the waters of the river just before they plunge over the falls. For $136R ($79US). I had steak, lamb stew, pasta with chicken, salad, wine and water. My wife had a salad, beans and rice, wine and water. It was very good.

After eating we took a bus back to the main station where we caught a cab to the Argentine falls for $80R ($47US).

To be continued.

Argentine Falls - Heat and crowds get to us
 

The cabbie that took us back to the Argentine falls did not skip the lines at immigration as all of the other cabbies we had did. He drove in the regular lines on both the Argentine and Brazilian side and as such we took over an hour to clear both sets of immigration.

We arrived the Argentine Falls at 2pm Argentine time and paid the entrance fee of $200AR or $47. We decided to keep this trip short because it was dastardly hot, amazingly humid and we were exhausted from the hiking on the Brazilian side and the heat. We walked on a trail called the green trail which took us through the jungle to the Cataratas station where we decided to take the paseo inferior (the lower trail). We chose the lower trail because all of the trails on the Brazilian side take you where you can see the top of the falls so we decided to take the trail where you walk towards the bottom of the falls. The inferior trail also is great because it takes you by some falls that you can't see from the Brazilian side or the Argentina high trail.

After the inferior trail we were just plain exhausted. For $120AR we caught a cab back to our hotel where we turned the air con all of the way up and took nice cool showers. We rested until dinner.

Being exhausted, we decided not to explore but just went back to La Misiones and ordered Pizza for take-out. Mrs. Dcstudent got a vegetarian pizza with broccoli, asparagus and tomatoes. I got a ham pizza. The pizzas were excellent but certainly not what you'd expect if you were used to NYC pizza. The crust was very crispy, there was hardly any sauce and tons of cheese and ham. Basically, my pizza was really an open-faced hot ham and cheese sandwich. Which, frankly, was awesome. Total cost $76AR ($17US).

After eating we collapsed by 9pm Argentine time and didn't wake until 7am Argentine time.

More on the falls and then February 3
 

The Iguazu Falls were absolutely incredible, and the wildlife viewing opportunities were spectacular as well. Bit the Brazilian and Argentinian side of the falls are crawling with coatis, which resemble but aren't related to (I don't think) raccoons, just with longer noses and thinner tails. They are all over the place, capitalizing on the fact that humans A)love anything that looks cute and cuddly, and B) we as a species tend to border on the slobbish in terms of throwing items away, thus creating a coati smorgasboard around visitor centers and other attractions in the park. Both parks strongly discourage visitors to touch, feed, or otherwise molest the coatis since they are wild animals (although they are extremely habituated to humans and will walk right up to you) and can bite and/or transmit diseases. These rules, unfortunately, seem to be widely disregarded. People were feeding the coatis (by hand!), petting the coatis, and small children were chasing them around trying to cop a feel while their parents videotaped the whole thing (way to set an example, MOm and Dad). Even if you try to avoid interacting with them (other than the odd photo), they will seek you out. I was sitting on a bench in the shade (high heat and humidity does not bode well for a fair blonde of Western European heritage), and from the forest right behind me, a family of coatis started spilling out. The bench was built into a wall, so I was instantly swarmed with coatis. Since I didn't want to risk surprising them and perhaps getting bitten, I sat still and pulled out my camera and filmed the whole thing. I have to admit, it was pretty cool, but I do not advocate intentionally trying to go afer a coati like a lot of the people in the parks were doing. DCstudent and I actually encountered what appeared to be a sick coati (tail down and acting very suspicious) in the middle of the trail. I told DCstudent to give it some room as we went around it and as we approached, it neither acted curious or tried to run away; it just hunkered down where is was, a tell-tale sign of a sick animal. So, please, PLEASE, if you go to the parks, LEAVE THE ANMALS ALONE!

Iguazu has a lot to offer nature lovers. It's a beautiful area with lots of parks and nature attractions (the Parque des Aves was also really neat and highly recommended). Of the two sides of the park for Iguazu Falls, I'd have to say that the Brazilian side was my favorite. Yes, it was more "touristy", but the prices were more reasonable for items like food and water, and it seemed a lot cleaner than the Argentinian side. Granted, we were in the Brazilian park right when it opened before a lot of people arrived, but there seemed to be a lot less litter and more "green" practices (labeled recycling containers, use of zero-emission vehicles) on the Brazilian side, which is a big plus in my book!

After our ecological adventures, it was time to say good-bye to Iguazu. We headed to the small international airport not far from the city. We were booked for a 2:30 flight but when we checked our baggage around noon (the prescribed time on our reservations), we were told we were too early for our flight's check-in time, but they had room on an earlier flight and would we like to take it? We jumped at the chance to spend more time in Buenos Aires (our flight's destination and our next stop on the trip), and switched flights. We were told that our new flight left at 1:40 from Gate 3 (FYI, only three gates in the entire airport) and that there would be two passport checks (yes, even though this was a domestic flight). We went upstairs to head through security, but were told about ten minutes after everyone had "lined up" (read: a hodge-podge mass of people; you'd thinks adults would be capable of something more more orderly than a gigantic mass, but there you go) only to be told that our flight was delayed forty minutes (meanwhile the flight departure board had us as on time). Flash forward another forty minutes and we once again herded en masse to go through security, which was a two- or three-step process. You walk up to a desk with two attendants and go to the one on the right first. He checks your ticket and takes what appears to be a cursory look at your passport and then (perhaps) passed it to the guy on the right who looks at the passport with much more scrutiny before handing your passport back to you and allowing you to go through the detectors. We were able to watch this process multiple times through groups of other tourists and so when our moment arrived, the first guy handed our passports back to us. We then moved to the left and offered them to the other attendant, but he waved us through to the detectors. We then took a seat in the lounge and waited for our plane to turn up. Meanwhile, another airline employee was going through the lounge and checking EVERYONE's passport AGAN. The whole process was completely confusing and inefficient. About a half-hour, forty-five minutes later, we were finally on our flight. This was around 2:30, so for those of you keeping score at home, our "early" flight wound up leaving about the same time as our original flight was scheduled.

Arriving in Buenos Aires
 

So, continuning the saga that was our flight to Buenos Aires, we were told tha the reason for the delay was a problem in the flight control tower in Buenos Aires which put the flight behind schedule. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, we were told that our luggage would be arriving on Carousel 3. So, a plane-ful of people that could not form a line now had to crowd around a luggage carousel. With carts. And small children who inexplicably could not stay with the one parent who was, like me, waiting in the receiving end of the bag collection from the carousel, and instead had to be with the parental unit making a mad grab for their luggage while simultaneously holding on to their kid. Fantastic. DCstudent stood by the carousel to grab the luggage while I stood behind (and I thought/tried to be out of the way), dodging luggage carts and people pushing, to receive and keep watch on our bags.

While we waited and watched an endless parade of luggage, we started to notice quizzical looks on our fellow passengers. None of these bags were ours. As it turns out, the flight after ours (our original and later flight) had been hot on our heels from Iguazu and had landed at virtually the same time. The board said that their luggage was on Carousel 2. These people had equally confused looks on their faces. Apparently none of the luggage on their carousel looked familiar either. So, now we had two planes-worth of confused and travel weary passengers trying to made the mad dash that is luggage retrieval oscillating between two luggage carousels. After two rounds of switching between Carousels 2 and 3 trying to get our bags (which in the end took around an hour) we were in a taxi and o nthe way to our hotel. In the cab, I made two requests to DCstudent: 1) a very, VERY large drink, and 2) that the next time we fly into Buenos Aires, we only bring carry-ons and they buy clothes, etc., here. I. Never. Want. To Do. That. AGAN. Ever.

Despite the traffic, the drive to the hotel was very relaxed compared to the chaos at the airport. The city is beautiful and the weather is very pleasant. It's hot, but it's not nearly as humid as Iguazu and there's a bit of a breeze every once in a while that is very refreshing. We checked into the Sheraton where we found out we'd been upgraded to a suite. We also chatted for a few minutes with the very nice young woman who checked us in. We told her we were planning to do some shopping on Avenue Florida (a popular pedestrian mall) and Galleria Pacifica (a mall in an old 19th century building that is absolutely gorgeous) and eat. She gave us some very good recommendations for shopping and directions to the restaurant that had been recommended to us by a coworker of DCstudent.

Our suite was located in the 21st floor with a view of the river and a port. The suite itself was very nice and spacious. We dropped our bags and headed off for Avenue Florida and Galleria Pacifica.

February 3 continued
 

As my wife mentioned in her posts above AEP was a third-world zoo. We arrived and disboarded via air stairs. When we got to the tarmac we were loaded into buses and disgorged into what can only politely be called a zoo. We were told to head to baggage claim three but when claim three started moving there were bags for the later (read: the flight we were supposed to be on) flight from Iguazu.

A LAN employee told us to go to Baggage Claim two, where everyone waited for many minutes while nothing happened.

Then the same LAN employee told us to go back to three after all the bags from the "later" Iguazu flight had been offloaded and collected. Another change of venue led to much angry whistling and shouts of F"#$ing h#$l, bull#"ks, bl#$dy H$ll, etc....

Oh, wait, the fun wasn't over yet, our bags finally started coming out, about 45 minutes after landing...you guessed it...back on carousel three. :rolleyes:

Our cab ot the Sheraton Conference Center on San Martin cost $45AR ($11US). Our bags were collected from the cab by the bell staff and we were warmly greeted by a young lady working the front desk. She checked us in very efficiently and let us know we had been upgraded due to our platinum status to a corner suite on a high floor with views of the city and the river!!!! :)

She also told us what the local amenities were but in her opinion the points were the best option and we agreed. Finally, as she was also in her 20's my wife started talking to her about places to buy handbags...more on that later.

Cost for the hotel on Cash+points: 2800 points + $45US!!!!!

Our room was indeed fantastic. A true one-bedroom suite with separate parlor room with a power room from the bedroom and a full bath. Awesome.

From the hotel we walked the short distance to go shopping on Florida. I went to Casa Lopez (on Plaza San Martin - thanks to a recommendation from a colleague who grew up in BA) and got a new wallet and two nice belts. My wife went to Prune, a very nice handbag and shoe shop that was recomended to her by the front desk staffer at the hotel as being more "young" than the handbags at Casa Lopez. My wife was very happy with her new handbag and matching wallet.

After shopping we returned to the hotel to drop off our purchases and walked down Libertador for dinner at San Juanino, a restaurant recommended by the same colleague mentioned above. It was indeed quite good. My wife had a salad and a couple of corn and cheese empanadas and I had a huge, make that HUGE steak with fries. The steak was so amazing, you could cut it with a fork. YUMMMMM. We had a "grande" pitcher of house red wine and two bottles of Mineral Water. Total check: $136AR, only $31US. If only I could get food that good, that filling, that cheaply in the US!

After eating we wandered back to our hotel where we quickly feel into a deep sleep.

February 4 - Taking it easy in BA
 

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing, lazy day. We awoke at 7am Buenos Airs time (5am DC time), and showered and prepared for the day ahead. As the lounge in the Sheraton was under construction we were invited to head over to the Park Tower (a *wood Luxury Collection hotel) next door for a complimentary breakfast in their St. Regis restaurant.

Breakfast was amazing. Fresh squeezed orange juice, tea, coffee, eggs, quiche, bacon, yogurt and tons of pastries and fresh fruit. Ah, to be platinum and staying at a hotel outside of the US where platinum status means something.

After breakfast we headed back to our room for awhile before catching the 93 bus on Libertador ($1.25AR each or $.29US each) which dropped us off a block from the Recoleta Cemetery, final resting place for Evita. Mrs. Dcstudent enjoyed all of the crypts (I did too but having been there before it wasn't quite as exciting), and then we headed off to the D line of the Subte to head to the end of the line, Catedral, near the Casa Rosada. A ride on the subway is $2.5AR each or $.58 each.

To be continued.

Waiting for more!

All due to rules for conformity of chains, and expense of overhead (facilities and staff pay) in the US. If we get rid of that, it will be cheap, but understand that our salaries will be much less and our buying power will be equally low when we travel abroad.

Feb 4 Continued
 

We got the the Plaza de Mayo, which is where the Casa Rosada (or the pink house) is located and took many pictures. The most interesting thing we saw at the Plaza, was not the house, but the protestors camped out in the Plaza. No, Occupy hasn't been exported to Argentina, but the protestors were protesting the British occupation of the Malvinas, also known as the Falkland Islands. It is getting close to the anniversary of the war and the UK sending one of their newest and best ships and Prince William to the islands has stoked the emotions of the Argentines. It is all over the news here, even on the sports channels, and in the papers.

After the Plaza de Mayo we headed back to the hotel where we relaxed until our late check-out at 4pm (another *wood Plat benefit which was granted without question - again unlike at many US *woods).

The young lady who checked us out was the same who had checked us in the day before and she remembered us (well, at least my wife) and asked about handbags, which brings me to an aside.

Yesterday, February 3, my wife purchased a red handbag. She was having issues deciding between a red handbag and a beige one and went with the red. After the Plaza de mayo but before checking out I told her that I wanted to go to McDonald's (oddly enough...very believable) and went back to Prune and bought her the beige bag and surprised her with it as a early Valentine's day present. She was very happy! :cool:

any who, my wife showed the staffer her new bags and the staffer and my wife had a conversation only interesting to women who are gushing over each other's accessories. We sat in the lobby for a little while before catching a cab over to the bus station, which was only across the Plaza, but it's a huge plaza and at 90+ degrees we weren't walking it with 4 cases.

Before heading to the bus though, we left our bags at the bell stand in order to take a cab back to San Juanino ($12AR, $2.77US). We had heard that the food offered on the buses was...well...crap...so we decided to go back to a place we had enjoyed. I had 4 empanadas (cheese and onion, ham and cheese and 2 steak), my wife had two cheese and onion and we had two bottles of ague mineral, sin gas...$78AR, $18US. Another 12 pesos later and we were back at the Sheraton where we collected our bags and got the cab to the bus station.

We got to the bus station and the fare was about 9 pesos. I think the cabbie was annoyed at taking us on such a short ride as he told me I had to pay him an additional 3 pesos per suitcase. I thought this odd as if B.A. had started allowing the cabs to charge for luggage (which the driver did not handle and I had not been charged for luggage on other trip), you'd think the cab from Aeroparque Newberry would have charged me (and he did handle the bags). I wasn't really willing to fight though as 15 pesos difference is about $3US, so it would still be a sub-$6US cab ride but I did not give the driver a tip in addition to the $24 pesos "fare."

We weltered the bus station and the sheer magnitude of this bus station puts the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC to shame! Almost 200 ticket windows for tons of different companies on the 2nd floor, and almost 100 bus parking spots on the ground floor. Departure parking spots were posted between 5 and 15 minutes before departure resulting in a rush to get to the appropriate parking spot where the buses load very very quickly before departing on time. We watched this process take place over 100 times (literally...for instance there were 13 buses leaving at 7pm, many at 7:15, and 31 buses leaving at 7:30pm) in the hour before we were called to board the Andesmar 1st Class Suite service to Mendoza, departing at 7:45pm.

To be continued.

The bus
 

An employee of Andesmar took our bags at the side of the bus and gave us claim checks for them and we boarded the double decker bus which had been fitted with the only seating on the 2nd deck, 2 X 1 seating. My wife and I had the first seats which meant we had a window to our side and could see out the front bus window!

We were in Suite class which meant there were only around 20 seats on the bus and every seat reclined 180 degrees into a fully-flat bed. There were dividers for every row so there was quite a bit of space between passengers. We had our own TVs for on-demand audio and video. The bus had two drivers who sat on the lower level and an attendant who served the 14 or so passengers on our bus. Based on passports being used for ID with the tickets, I'd say 90% of the passengers were not Argentinian. I wasn't really surprised as Andesmar charges $115US per person for this service, a huge premium over cama or semi-cama services. Indeed we met two Germans, and 4 other Americans while waiting for our bags to be "checked" under the bus.

We pulled out right at 7:45 for the drive to Mendoza. The attendant came around with soda and candy and offered BINGO cards. My wife and I did not partake as we were paying too much attention to the scenery as we drove by.

As you may have figured out by now, if I am in something that moves, I can sleep. Fortunately, this does not extend to when I am driving...so I fell asleep soon after it got dark and we were given shoe bags and pillows/blankets and did not wake up until the attendant woke me up telling me that we were about 1 hour out of Mendoza so I missed dinner and breakfast (yes, they even serve meals), but my wife (who does not sleep well unless in her own bed), told me that the food was inedible so I did not miss anything.

We arrived in Mendoza right on time at 8:45am and we took a cab for $12AR ($2.77US) to the Sheraton. I gave the driver a big tip because he not only helped with our luggage at the bus station, he helped at the Sheraton when no staffers were outside to help with baggage.

Next: February 5

February 5 - A day of rest
 

We got to our hotel in Mendoza just after 9am. We were greeted efficiently and told our room was not ready (no surprise and also no problem given our very early arrival). I asked about local coffee shops where we could have breakfast and the young lady at reception said that due to it being early on Sunday nothing was really open and the hotel lobby restaurant was our best option.

We were cool with that and had a very good meal from the buffet (eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast, waffles, pastries, breads, fruit, nuts) for $75AR per person ($17.50US).

After breakfast we took seats in the lobby to try to decide what we wanted to see. My wife wanted to see the local aquarium and then we decided we'd just relax in the hotel as we are sure my Chilean friends will be keeping us busy once we reach Santiago. While still in the lobby a staffer came up to us and let us know our room was ready if we'd like to check-in before heading out. Sure! We got a platinum upgrade to a very large, modern, true one-bedroom suite with views over the city and to the Andes. Very nice!

We walked to the aquarium, perhaps a ten minute walk down tree-lined streets and paid the 11AR per person entry fee. The aquarium was a touch depressing. Maybe 25 tanks, about 25 gallons each. Each tank had 1 or two fish. We felt most sorry for Jorge, a huge sea turtle whose enclosure gave him barely enough room to turn around in the water. Mrs. dcstudent was very perturbed by the aquarium.

We walked back to the hotel, stopping at a pharmacy as one of my ears had been bothering me and Mrs. dcstudent was having digestive issues with her diet of cheese and bread. Pharmacies in Argentina (and for that matter the rest of the world) make so much more sense than in the US. Let's face it. Sometimes we have small ailments that do require medicine of some sort, but not a doctor's visit (which visit would create large healthcare costs). Here in Argentina pharmacists can prescribe many medications without needing a prescription from a MD. I explained our predicaments and the pharmacist presented ear drops for me, and pills for my wife.

At the hotel Mrs. dcstudent took a shower and decided to read her book and I took some time to swim in the large indoor pool on the 2nd floor. After my swim I showered and we headed to the restaurant on the top floor for lunch. I had lamb medallions with potato and malbec-rice, the Mrs. had cheese ravioli. We both had salads and the Mrs. finished with a rich chocolate desert. With lunch I had two glasses of Malbec, one coke, one coffee and agua mineral. Mrs. Dcstudent had three glasses of Malbec, one glass of sparkling wine and agua mineral. We were then told that because we were Plat our lunches were gratis! The restaurant had a live saxophone player and my wife requested a Sinatra piece which he gladly played (and earned both the adoration and a good-sized tip from Mrs. Dcstudent). We went up to lunch at 2, and did not return to our room until just after 4.

After lunch we returned to our room and took a siesta until 7:30pm.

We awoke and while my wife readied herself for dinner I took to find the Super Bowl on the TV. I found that ESPN Latin America had the bowl on its channel, but Fox Sports Latin America was providing the commentary in Spanish and they were using NBC's TV feed.

At about 9pm Mendoza time (7pm D.C. time) we headed to dinner at Montecino, and italian restaurant recommended to us by our waitress at lunch. We had asked her where she goes with friends when she wants pasta and she immediately mentioned this place. Even arriving at 9:15pm by walking we arrived too early for Argentines and were one of two couples in the entire restaurant. The food lived up to its billing, I had an amazing lasagna con carne and my wife had a pasta tossed in olive oil with grilled fresh vegetables. We had ague mineral and a bottle of malbec (of course!). Total cost $150 AR with tip or $35US. We left the restaurant just after 10 and it was just starting to fill up.

We went back to our hotel, watched the last quarter of the Super Bowl and headed to bed. After all we have an early day today (February 6) as we'll be taking a bus over the Andes to Chile!

-Just a note, my friends in Chile do not have internet in their home in their small town. So I may not be posting again until we reach Iquique on February 10.

Thanks!

Awesome report! Just can't believe how expensive the taxis and entrance fees to the falls etc were... Seemed like a rip off!

Yes, the taxis around the falls were quite expensive by Argentine and Brazilian standards, given the short length of the ride. The prices were also non-negotiable, I tried. If LAN had not screwed our schedule up we would have been able to do it much cheaper.

Our original plan for Iguazu was to spend one full day and fly out at 6pm on the second day, so have a full day on each side of the falls. Unfortunately, LAN cancelled the 6pm flight a couple weeks before we traveled so we ended up on a 2pm flight forcing us to try to fit everything in on one day and therefor we needed taxis.

Should our original schedule have held we would have been able to take public buses. From our Argentinian hotel we would have taken a bus from the main bus station towards Foz de Iguazu, after crossing the border we would have gotten off at the first roundabout, crossed the street and boarded a Brazilian bus to go to the Brazilian falls (and repeated the process in reverse to return). This cost would have been only a couple of US dollars.

To go from the Argentine side to the Argentine Falls you just take a bus from the main bus terminal. It's all very simple but does take some time.

We have arrived in Iquique, updates to follow
 

Hi all, we have arrived in Iquique, a very nice and interesting beach town in the desert (seriously) in the North of Chile. We have found it hard to break away from the Ocean but tonight will update with our fun times in Melipilla, Chile!

Tomorrow we leave for a 4 day tour of the Atacama desert and will again be without e-mail until our arrival in Arica on the 15th of February so we hope to get all of our updates done tonight.

Off to the beach!

February 6, Over the Andes
 

February 6 will be remembered as one of tithe most spectacular days of this trip.It was on this day that we crossed the Andes by land.

It started with a wake-up call at 6am, and checking out at 7. I was surprised to see that there was a charge for our lunch on the bill as we had had lunch in the club lounge and we were never presented a menu or bill and two staffers told us it was free for plats. The front desk associate said that was not the case and I wasn't in the mood to argue. Plus, given the amount we ate and drank the $35US equivalent charge was ok.

Our cab got us to the bus station in under 5 minutes where, just as in Buenos Aires our bus got posted only 10 minutes before our scheduled 7:30am departure. Efficiency was not a high point on this departure and we did not pull out of Mendoza until 7:51, 21 minutes late.

We took Andesmar again, and were on their semi-cama service, which was basically a double decker Greyhound bus. Again, we had secured seats on the top deck in the front row so we had a panoramic view of what was to come.

Mendoza is nothing to talk about but once we entered the Andes the scenery was spectacular. Tall mountains, and very arid like the mountains in New Mexico. The road was paved, but only two lanes and a double striped center line meant nothing to anyone, including our bus driver.

At about 11am we reached the Chile/Argentina customs stop where inefficiency was in great force. First we had to line up at an Argentine line where we got stamped out, then move next to a Chilean line where we got stamped in, then go outside to collect our "checked luggage" and put it through x-rays, and then, finally, submit to a personal inspection of our carry-on bags and person. I much enjoyed the personal inspection as it was carried out by a cute beagle, and since Mrs. Dcstudent and I own 3 beagles it was nice.

Two hours after stopping we were again on our way and immediately started down 27, yes 27, switchbacks all in a row. It was amazing and we got some cool pictures we will post to our Flickr account as soon as we get home. There were no guardrails and especially when we overtook vehicles by driving on the wrong side of the road, on a switchback, on a road barely two lanes wide...well lets just say the experience was something else! Indeed on the drive into Santiago we passed a major accident where a tractor trailer had...taken a tumble and there were all kind of police and highway workers directing traffic and cleaning up.

We arrived in Santiago over two hours late (about 4:30pm, 2:30pm New York time) and were met upon exit by one of my closest friends who we would be staying with these next few days.

February 6 - continued
 

We headed out of Santiago on Route 78, a privately maintained toll-road which took us to Pomaire, a small Chilean town about 1.25 hours from Santiago which features many local artisans. We perused the merchandise while we waited for my friend's husband to arrive with their two children (2 year and 8 month old boys). When they arrived we headed to a restaurant in a quiet corner of town for an authentic Chilean meal.

We had great fun and the buys were a delight. We were introduced to the 2 year old as Tio and Tia and indeed that is what we were called for the remainder of our time with our friends.

After eating we drove on local roads the 10 minutes or so to my friend's house in Melipilla where we all caught up (as the last time I had been in Chile my friend did not yet have children and I was single).

February 7, a lazy day in Melipilla
 

We woke up quite late on Tuesday, maybe 10am or so and my friend was feeding her sons breakfast and informed us that her husband was still asleep! We had a very nice breakfast of breads and jams, cheese and meat (well I had the meat ;) ) and yogurt.

After my friend's husband woke up and got ready we dropped both boys off at nursery school and headed to the Melipilla fruit market. The fruit market was insane and amazing! Over 100 farmers had come from the country-side and the fruit was so good and so fresh and so cheap! 500 pesos (a little over $1US) for a kilo of fresh grapes, 100 pesos for a kilo of green peppers, onions, watermelon, honeydew, blueberries, blackberries, carrots, corn the size of my head, pumpkin...it was amazing and we purchased quite a bit of fruits and vegetable which we would enjoy eating over the next couple of days.

Our next stop was Lider, or Wal-Mart Chile. Wal-Mart entered the Chilean market by buying Lider and kept the name but changed the store-brand products to Great Value just as in the US. My friends told us Lider, and their domestic competitor Jumbo, we quite popular as they were very cheap in comparison to the little local shops.

However, my friends said they still bought their fish and fruits and vegetable from the local market as it was much fresher than Lider.

After Lider we headed back to our friends house where Mrs. Dcstudent and my friend started shucking beans and prepared a very fresh Chilean soup full of fresh vegetables for all of us to have for lunch. The four of us had a very relaxing lunch and soon realized it was 6pm and time to pick up the kids from nursery school.

After picking up the kids we headed back to their house where we played with the kids and the dog until having a light supper and my friend went about putting her kids to bed. Afterwards, we sat around drinking Chilean wine and talking until almost 1 in the morning before hitting the sack!

February 8, Vina del Mar, Valparaiso and birthday celebrations
 

Wednesday, the 8th we woke up at about 10am and had a light breakfast with my friend's family before dropping the boys off at nursery school and heading to Vina del Mar a resort town on the pacific coast about 1 hour or so from Melipilla via a winding back road that was much more adventurous than the road over the Andes. We arrived Vina and proceeded to park in the lot of the Sheraton so we could wander about and take pictures. Vina has quite a bit of beautiful landscaping and a clock made out of flowers and we took a ton of time walking around before having a late lunch on the beach.

After lunch we headed to Valparaiso the next beach town over and connected to Vina by a causeway. Valparaiso is a working-class town with a Naval Base and the largest port in Chile. The homes and buildings are built into cliffs overlooking the ocean and many are brightly colored.

We stopped at the Naval museum which overlooked the port and was located in an old colonial house. The exhibits were first class and the admission at a little over $2.00US per person was fine. My friend and her husband got in free because she is a Captain in the Army. I am a fan of military history and enjoyed learning about the Chilean civil war, the two wars against Spain and the war against Peru where Chile captured Iquique and Arica.

We left the museum and were running far too late to pick up the boys on time (the school closes at 6:30) but fortunately my friend's husband grew up in Melipilla and they were able to reach his mother who picked up the kids and Mrs. Dcstudent got to meet his mom when we picked the kids up.

We went back to the house and relaxed for awhile before heading to Tierra at 8:30, a really nice restaurant just off the main square in Melipilla. As February 9th was the birthday of Mr. Friend of Dcstudent, we wanted to treat the family to a nice meal as both a birthday present and a thank you for their hospitality. (The other thank you was a huge box full of toys for the boys that we had mailed just after Christmas.)

We all had mineral water, Mrs. Dcstudent and Mr. Friend had a beer and Mrs. Friend had a mixed drink (I had a coke) as we waited on our appetizers, which were devine. Mr. Friend had ceviche Mrs. Friend had a fish dish that I can't even explain, I had Trio Gringo (chicken wings, french fries and onion rings...all of which were awesome by the way). I ordered a ver nice bottle of local wine for dinner and Mrs. Dcstudent had a cheese pizza (that she ended up not eating because even though it said 4 cheese and did not mention meat, it had bacon), Mrs. Friend had pasta, I had a pepperoni pizza, and I forget what Mr. Friend had. For dessert everyone but me had chocolate cake, but with my chocolate allergy I stayed with homemade apple pie and ice cream which was awesome.

Total bill, including propina (tip), 50,000 Pesos, or $104US

After dinner we headed back to our friend's house where after the kids were put to sleep we all sat outside drinking more wine and talking until Mrs. Friend and I finally went to bed at 1:30am. Mr. Friends and Mrs. Dcstudent stayed up talking until almost 5am!

Possibly out of touch until February 15
 

Hi all, sorry that I was not able to completely catch-up on updates. Our private guide arrives in 20 minutes to take us into the Atacama desert for 4 days/3 nights. The accommodations in the desert towns are not the best so I don't know if I'll have any internet access until our return to civilization on the 15th.

Write soon!

February 9, A short but exceedingly fun day
 

Given our late night on the 8th, Mrs. Dcstudent and I did not awake and start putting ourselves together until almost noon. We stepped outside of our room to find my friends playing with their boys.

After lunch we decided on a plan. We all went to drop the boys off at nursery school and then the adults headed to Lake Esmarelda, about a ten minute drive outside of town. It is a private man-made lake, with entry-fee paid by car, not person, so it was $2000pesos for all 4 of us (about 5 or $6US total). The lake was wonderful. We just swam and sunbathed (no extra charge), but we could have paid extra and gone windsurfing, sailing, canoeing or kayaking.

We stayed for only two hours before we went to retrieve the boys as it was Mr. Friend´s birthday and my friends were hosting a large party at their home. We dropped Mrs. Dcstudent, Mrs. Friend and the 8 month old at home before continuing to Lider with Mr. Friend, myself and the 2 year old. We purchased beef (from Australia...all beef is marked with its country of origin), chorizo hot dogs, and of course everything else you need for a good celebration.

We arrived back at my friend´s house to find that guests had already started to arrive. Mrs. Dcstudent and I were made to feel very welcome by all of the guests and our Spanish is passable so we were able to participate in many conversations.

Far too late given our flight out the next morning we went to sleep.

February 10, Sad goodbyes in Melipilla, Welcome to Iquique!
 

We were not looking forward to February 10th. Although we were continuing on our Chilean adventure it is always sad to say goodbye to friends, especially those whom you only get to see every 4-5 years!

We woke up early, dropped the kids off at nursery school as soon as it opened at 8:00am (6:00 D.C. time) and headed off to the airport via Ruta 78.

This was to be my first time at the Domestic Terminal in SCL. It was wonderful. Bright and airy at check-in and the gates. We arrived the airport at about 9:30 for our 11:10am flight to Iquique.

Check-in was quick but not without a bit of LAN inspired insanity. We approached the counters (no line) and were told that we have to check in on a machine (set away from the counters, not like in the States where self-service is at the counters), before we could approach the counter. We try to use the machine and it says it can´t check us in because we are on a special type of ticket. We return to the counter and are again told that we HAVE to use the machines. Fortunately, my friend started talking to one of the LAN supervisors, too quickly and heated for me to catch much of the words, and suddenly LAN realized they could check us in at the counters and accept our bags. This whole process only took maybe 10 minutes but was wholly unnecessary. (In fact and I´ll be posting about it in a conclusion post, LAN has Awesome in-flight service, but it´s ground service is completely inconsistent.)

After check-in we headed to Dunkin Donuts where we all enjoyed coffee until 10:30, when we headed to domestic security. Domestic Security in SCL was so civilized. Shoes stayed on, liquids could be any size, laptops could stay in their bags, personnel very, very polite. For some reason the extra batteries for our noise-canceling headphones caused alarm and my bag was hand-searched by an exceedingly efficient, polite and competent employee, who started by apologizing that my bag had to be checked, explaining why it was being checked, asking me if I would prefer a male to check my bag (I´m male and the security officer who was about to check my bag was female). I told her I appreciated her politeness but I was just fine with her checking my bag. She found the offending AAA´s, ran them back through the X-ray alone and sent me on my way with wishes for good travels and apologies for holding me up. TSA, ARE YOU READING THIS? I FELT JUST AS SAFE IF NOT SAFER THAN WHEN I TRAVEL IN THE US, AND I WAS TREATED POLITELY AND HUMANELY.

Mrs. Dcstudent and I headed first to gate 25, a bus gate, but we were soon changed to a gate upstairs with an airbridge. Just as in Iguazu, boarding was a cluster. US unions would love to have LAN´s work rules. It took no less than 6 people at the gate. Two, at the counter. Two checking boarding passes to make sure we were in the right lines (Preferencial Boarding, Rows 15-29 and Rows 1-14. Two more to scan our boarding passes and send us on our way. It was serious craziness.

We boarded, took our seats and I (surprise ;) fell asleep before we pushed back. My wife tells me that they handed out a very nice snackbox and did two drink services during our 2 and 1/2 hour flight.

Next: Arrival in Iquique

We landed in Iquique just prior to 2:00. Iquique´s airport only has three gates and the gates are for general airline use (as far as I can tell there are 3commercial airlines serving Iquique). We went downstairs and the bags were already coming out on the carousel.

Unfortunately, the airport is about a 25-30 minute drive from town and is only served by two transportation companies. One has lower rates if you are willling to share a van, and one has lower rates if you want a private car. They have desks in baggage claim. You get handed a coupon for the company you choose and then a driver takes you outside. You pay the driver when you reach your hotel. We took a private car for 17500pesos or about $36.

We chose the Holiday Inn Express Iquique because the Hotel Terrado Suites did not have any rooms available, and let me tell you, the Hotel Torrado Suites would definitely be my only option the next time...more on that later.

Anywho, we arrive at the Holiday Inn at 2:40, only to be told that check-in is not until 3pm and we have to wait or pay extra. Look, I get it, I have no status with Priority Club and they don´t want or have rooms available at 10am in high season. But this was 20 minutes before the official chck-in time. Whatever, we sat in the lobby sipping on overpriced sodas from the Holiday Inn Sundries Shop ($1400pesos for a coke or $2.86). At 3pm we were checked-in and assigned an ocean-front room on the 3rd floor. The room was spotless and totally to Holiday Inn standards but there is a very busy 4 lane highway between the hotel and the beach and it seems the hotel has no soundproofing as the noise was very loud, even late at night/early morning.

We walked a block from the hotel to Jumbo and purchased sodas and bottled water at a far more reasonable rate than in the hotel.

At 8pm we headed to dinner at Tres Ojitas, a lovely restaurant in a garden setting that was just wonderful. Mrs. Dcstudent had a vegetarian curry and I had a noodle dish with chicken, plus appetizers and drinks for only 28,000 pesos or $38. Not bad for such a good meal, in a resort town, in high season.

After dinner we went back to the hotel where we relaxed until falling into a peaceful sleep.

Ok, so why the Hotel Torrado Suites. Unlike the Holiday Inn, the Torrado is oceanfront right next to the swimming beach, Playa Cavancha. The Torrado is not on the main road (it is on a quiet side street) and all rooms have balconies, with nothing between the ocean and the hotel. It also has much better pools than the Holiday Inn.

February 11 - A short day of relaxation
 

We awoke at 8am and headed downstairs to breakfast as it was included because of Holiday Inn Express standards. Well it may be standard to include breakfast, but it was pretty gross. Fruits that had gone bad, scrambled eggs so runny you wondered whether they had been cooked after being scrambled, sausage that was rather unsausage like. We stuck to tea and pastries. The pastries did not taste particuarly fresh but they were ok.

After eating we went upstairs to change into swimwear and took our 10 minute walk to the beach. We had bought beach towels the day before at Jumbo for 4,000 pesos or a little over $7 each. At the beach we paid $3000 for an umbrella, or about $6.15. The beach was wonderful and we spent the entire afternoon there. Mrs. Dcstudent was excited by the presence of seals swimming within 50 meters of shore, and Dcstudent enjoyed swimming with said seals, getting within 10-15 feet of them while swimming behind the wave breaks. The water was absolutely frigid at first touch (thanks to the Humboldt Current) but you warmed up a bit (only a bit) while swimming.

Around 5 or so we headed back to the hotel, showered and headed back to Tres Ojitas for dinner. Dinner this time came to about $24,000 pesos or $49 but we drank just a little bit more than the night before. ;)

A cab back to the hotel and we crashed.

Well you're right, there's only one eightblack, but you've done an admirable job of reporting on an excellent trip so far. I've enjoyed reading about it. ^^

Update on Updates
 

Hi all, sorry for the lack of upda.tes until today but we didn't have wireless until arriving at the Arica airport today to start heading home. In fact, some days/nights we didn't have power or water!

Oh, and especially to give our parents a heart attack we spent part of one afternoon stranded in the wilderness when our 4x4 sank in a road due to extremely heavy and unusual rains, and we were afraid we might have to walk 17km to the nearest police station.

It's been a crazy awesome end to the trip and as soon as we get home tomorrow I'll start finishing it up!

(is it sad that after a few nights in accommodations that shouldn't count as accommodations I'm actually looking forward to a night in a LAN 767 exit row in Y?)