Chile schedule and best times - help

Just a couple of non-itinerary thoughts: In Santiago, Christmas day is very quiet but I think the fish restaurants in the Mercado Central will be open for lunch. Not much aside from hotel restaurants will be open in the evening. The 26th will be business as usual as it is not a holiday. If you are going straight to Viña/Valpo, there will probably be places open around Reñaca and Con Con for some fish as everyone heads to the beach on Christmas day. Valparaíso will probably have some places open too.
If you are planning on staying anywhere in Pucon/Villarica or San Pedro de Atacama in January or February (especially February), you are going to have to book something.

Christmas in Santiago.

Previous posts:

> > > We will be taking advantage of some semi-affordable flights and arriving early on Christmas Day in Santiago. I am wondering whether it will be difficult to get transport to/from the airport and also whether it will be hard to find a restaurant for a nice christmas meal. Does anyone have suggestions on places to eat on Christmas or have any opinions as to whether it will be hard to find transport etc.?

Transport from the airport will be simple and there are always taxis on the streets. Finding a restaurant can be a bit tricky but there will be some open. Big hotels will of course be open. If you want to splurge try the Sheraton San Cristobal. Great food at a corresponding price. On a slightly smaller budget try the Giratorio, kind of hokey, but not bad, a revolving restaurant on the 16th floor in central Providencia between Providencia Avenue and 11 de Septiembre. For US$30.00 they usually have a menu that includes a pisco sour, empanadas, a choice of three starters, a choice of three main courses, a bottle of water, 1/2 a bottle of wine,dessert and coffee. They have a cheaper less varied menu at about US$20.00. Pretty much always open.

Transport from the airport will be fine. Also the metro will be running. Not many restaurants will be open but hotel restaurants will. Anything in the tourist industry is usually working but normal businesses are closed. People here have their Christmas meal on the 24th at night.

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

Antarctica.

The following are previous reports:

> > > Anybody have any experience booking cheap-as-possible last minute berths to Antarctica? How likely is this realistically? I'll be down in Patagonia in December, and may inquire about slipping onto a boat at the last minute. Has anybody succeeded at this and if so, how much much did you pay? I'm not willing to pay anywhere close to $2000 for the excursion, but if I can get it for closer to $1000 or less I might consider it. In the Footprint guide it suggests the possibility of boarding a Chilean Navy vessel in Punta Arenas for $80 a day, which sounds reasonable to me. Anybody manage to do this, or know how likely it would be to obtain such a passage?

Navy does not do it anymore. Last year the cheapest fare available was 2200 American dollars.

I just got the latest special today, Antarctica leaving 10 december 2004 for only 1985 American dollars! That is the bargain you want. I saw the same last year. I had special for 2200 and the last minute berths in Ushuaia for my trip were 2500 dollars!!!!!!!!!!

In Ushuaia you can look for last minute prices. It is easier up to middle December and after middle February. In some very busy years there are almost no last minute tickets, other years plenty, no one can say in advance. In 1999 I paid US$ 4100 for a trip Ushuaia-Malvinas -South Georgia-Antarctic Peninsula in 21 days. The usual price was more than US$ 7000.

It is expensive due to the special ships to resist the temperature, the storms, the occasional iceberg. In every ship there are specialists, high level professionals. In my case: Antarctic birds (American biologist), Antarctic mammals (Australian biologist), glaciologist, Antarctic exploration history (teacher from Cambridge University), professional photographer, a doctor. Also expensive the many Zodiacs for landings, the license for landing in South Georgia and in the Malvinas. Very good food, with professional cookers (from Switzerland), very experient expedition chief with many Antarctic sailboat cruises. The safety and electronic equipment in the ship is incredible. For me it was my life's trip, I hope some day I can go again.

I bought a last minute ticket from a travel agent in Ushuaia. To make a LONG story short, the Argentine cruise company was terrible. They are not maintaining the ship, built in 1971. We did not have heat, NONE, for 7 days. On and off hot water. No refunds, nothing. When I tried to get some compensation once we returned the company was the most unprofessional I ever dealt with. It is not only the money, it is the safety issue. So I say avoid Antarrply. As far as I know, it is the only argentine cruise line to Antartica, which they reminded us repeatedly belongs to them. Take a safe cruise company.

Most companies for Antarctica are part of IAATO. There is one, new company, I think it is Argentinian, which is not in IAATO, with lower prices and very bad reports in this branch, from last Summer.

Most of the trips to Antarctica leave from Ushuaia. It is the nearest port, safe and well equipped, with all prices hotels and many tourist attractions. There are basically 2 trips to Antarctica, but it changes a little every year. One is from Ushuaia to Antarctic Peninsula, 9-11 days, visiting some islands on Antarctica, and at least one landing on the Antarctic continent. The other also includes the Malvinas and South Georgia islands, in a 21-24 days trip. The islands are not so cold like Antarctica but with lots of wildlife, because the islands are the only places in many hundreds of miles suitable for breeding of animals like many kinds of albatrosses, penguins, petrels, fur seals and elephant seals. There are seldom trips only to Malvinas and South Georgia, you will see lots of wildlife but few whales and almost no icebergs. Better take a smaller boat just to Antarctic Peninsula, 10 or 11 days starting at US$ 2600. There are boats with 160 people and more, but it takes a long time to disembark and return in zodiacs, so you will not see much. On the day of the trip, the boat leaves in the afternoon, early evening, and returns early on the morning of the last day, both days are counted. There are many boats, most are Russian ships designed and built for Arctic scientific missions, but are comfortable. The most convenient, I think, are boats for 40-80 passengers, not so small to be uncomfortable in rough seas, and small enough to go to the best places and make disembarks and returns to the boat fast. There are professionals in marine wildlife (mammals and birds), in photography, in geology, in history, all related to the Antarctica. On the long hours between Ushuaia and the Peninsula ( 2 days ), also between the Malvinas, South Georgia and the Peninsula, they give speeches about many subjects. You can also read many books, most about Antarctica and polar explorations. The food is good, but the price for alcoholic beverages is high, take them with you from Ushuaia. There are at least 3 parties in the longest trips, with barbecues and dancing, sometimes on the open deck with falling snow. Every year is different, but basically the prices are about US$ 2600-4000 for 9 days, US$ 5000-7200 for 21 days. This is the lowest price, for one person on a three berths cabin, without private bathroom. However, in some years (now it rarely happens), in the beginning of December or at the end of February, beginning of March, there are “last minute tickets” with about 40% discount, available for sale from 4 or 5 days up to a few hours before departing. You can buy only in Ushuaia, I looked for them in Punta Arenas and they did not know about it. Some years the discount continues almost all season, some years there is no discount. It depends on how many tickets at the usual price were sold, it is easy to understand a person who paid a high price will not be happy with another who paid much less for the same tour.There is a new, Argentinean company doing Antarctica trips. Their first year was not so good, many people complaining about service and ship problems. In the second year almost no complains, and in the third year I feel they are good as any other more expensive company.

It is very easy to travel on your own in Patagonia. There is no need to take any tour. November is a good month as there are fewer people and accommodation is cheaper. Trips to Antartica start from 2,500 dollars. They start running in December.

I did a 10 day cruise last year from December 25th to January 3rd, 2006. I paid 2,880.00 US$.

I booked through Trailfinders in Dublin with Gap Adventures and paid 2750 euros for a 11 day trip. My room mate paid in Ushuaia and paid $2500 so if you have the time to spare I would definately book it over there. I think she had to wait about a week. We travelled from 29th December 2006 to 7th January 2007 which is peak season. I found no bargains in Ireland. I would really recommend the Gap Adventures trip too. They had great lectures and all the guides were professionals with degrees and a real interest in wildlife. They had no hesitation in being forceful in stopping people from getting too close to the wildlife.

I was there in December 2006 and even though I had booked my trip about a year in advance there was plenty of last minute availabilty. Check out dates though as most ships arrive and depart within 3 days and then the town is empty until they come back in 10 days for the next trip. The girl sharing a cabin with me saved $1500 on the price I paid for the same trip by booking 3 days before we were due to sail. Fair play to her, did not bother me.

October is too early (still too much pack ice to get close) for a proper trip on a boat which does the zodiac landings and goes deep into the peninsula. I went in mid-December and even that is considered early season. Any ship going that early is probably only skirting the South Shetlands and other outlying islands.

* I went with Gap Adventures last December 29th (2006) to 7th January, and had an amazing time. There were under 100 people on the boat and most days we did 3 trips. Each trip lasted about 2 and half hours or a bit longer if it feasible. If for some reason we could not land somewhere we went for a cruise in the zodiacs around the icebergs to see all the wildlife. The trip lasted 10 days. The Drake passage was rough but I took sea sickness tablets and was fine. There was only one sitting for meals too which I think can be staggered on the larger boats. I really cannot speak highly enough of the staff, all of whom were specialists in their own area and mostly taught in British, Canadian and Australia universities. They were always with us on the landings so we could ask questions all the time. Plus there were daily lectures and educational films as well as more light hearted entertainment. I loved it so much I am saving up to go back and do a longer trip. People I met in Ushuaia went with other companies and the major difference seemed to be the quality of the information on board. Plus the food on our boat was 4 star with lots of treats during the day. Highly recommended.

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

Hi Vnrose and Jorge

Thank you both. Vnrose, sounds fantastic, seems I can join the fun at tahe beach on Christmas day and as long as there is sosme fish/seafood, that's be great!!!

Jorge, the rpices from the those extracts tell their own stories, gosh, it's beginning to look loke a no,no for me, but I will abe going to Ushaia anyway, so I will see what the score is then.

Just don't know whether to head there (South) first of what. Will have to wait and see I guess.

Cheers

Vincess

Oh Vnrose

Atacama, I think we will be camping in the atacama as I would like to stay up and watch the moon come up in Moon Valley. Thanks anyway.

Kind regards

vincess

If you go from TDP to Calafate and you want to continue to Ushuaia, it is easier to go by bus from Calafate to Ushuaia instead of returning to TDP. Makes no sense. And of course you can do, Calafate once finshed the trip to Antartica. From Ushuaia to calafate you can do it in one long day by bus and there are flights too.

i don't know if there's much difference between the price of a flight from santiago to punta arenas and puerto montt to punta arenas, but i would imagine puerto montt-punta arenas would be considerably cheaper. }

if so, i would think you'd best plan to head to pucón by bus then from there by bus to puerto montt, then fly out to the south. i don't remember how many hours this takes, but the buses are comfortable and it seems you're planning to bus to pucón from santiago anyway - puerto montt isn't that much further on.

just a comment on viña/valpo, i stayed in viña del mar and was rather disappointed. once i visited valparaíso, i wished i had stayed there instead. viña del mar was pretty dead and boring (i was there in late october 2001), while valparaíso is a vibrant, eclectic, very interesting city with lots of stuff to do. i loved walking around the hilly neighbourhoods and looking at/riding the funicular trains up the hills, visiting the port, good seafood restaurants, historic neighbourhoods, museums, pablo neruda's house (la sebastiana), etc. etc. that said, i would imagine christmas day and thereabouts might be better in viña del mar, just for the sort of lulled atmosphere and because little may be open in either. don't plan on swimming at the beach - freezing!!! but i guess you could sunbathe.

the only place i was "robbed" (a very small amount of money, maybe worth a couple dollars) in 6.5 months in latin america was in viña del mar - a gypsy woman came up to me and was so persistent and annoying that i gave in to her pleas so she could read my fortune or whatever it was that she wanted, and the bill she somehow "needed" for this procedure ended up "disappearing". i was so frustrated with her and myself that i didn't pursue it any further after demanding my money back a few times. so just avoid any gypsy women there ;-)

sorry i can't help you figure out whether it's best to head north or south first.

Hi Nahuel and Mlebvd

Thanks so much for your responses. Nahuel, I think I will definitley go to Ushaia from El Calafate - I just wasn't sure how possible that was, but at least this way, I can do Ushaia towards the end, so that if I do get a good deal for Antartica, i would have already done everything else - thanks again

mlebvd, it seems to make a lot of sense t go to Pucon ad PM by bus an dthen fly. I just didn't grasp the geography of the places I'm planning to visit. About Valpariso adn Vina del Mar, the info. is great and will certainly help me to come to a decision. In fact I am already thinking North first, so thanks again, also for the warning about the gypsy woman - I shall keep my wits about me :-)

Thank you both so much

Warm regards

Vincess

mlebdv is right. I personnaly live in Valparaiso, so if I can help you in anything, don't hesitate to email me

Tom