Upon our descent back onto the tip of the continent I noticed a shocking
change in attitude from Martin – he went from serious and reserved to giddy and
excited- I think he was just as happy as I was to get out of the city and
memories of the past three days. Our
hotel in Punta Arenas was a pleasant surprise with clean white sheets and
spacious private bathroom. And
thankfully, with most shops and restaurants closed for the new year, the one
sole restaurant open for business was conveniently located across the
street. Things were starting to look
up!
Previously unaware of the bus system (you can only believe so much from
the websites), we had pre-booked taxi transportation from our hotel in Punta
Arenas to the heart of Patagonia and the first stop of our 5 day hike – Hotel
Lago Grey. The drive took five hours,
including two hours on a dirt road inside Torres Del Paine National Park. Our drive, Javier, pointed out all of the
sites and animals along the way including alpacas, sheep, flamingo, emus and
circling condors. The drive was
spectacular and the sites from the road only fed the fire of our excitement and
reinforced our decision to come down here.
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| Just one of my beautiful vistas from the drive into the Park |
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| Our first glimpse of Torres del Paines National Park |
We arrived at our hotel at 12:45 pm and were told to grab lunch while
our room as getting ready. In the meantime,
we inquired about boat services to the start of the hiking trail – an hour’s
ride up the lake. When asked if we had a
reservation for the following day, and when we responded no, we were told how
lucky we were – the boat only leaves once a day at 11am and reservations are
almost always needed. Thankfully, they
had space. If they had said no, our
following four days would have had to have been scrapped – there was no other
way to the start. In our defensive, in
all of the research we did - 2 guidebooks,
online research, countless blogs, friends, etc, - not one of them mentioned the
need to make reservations or even the name of the boat company – like the bus
system, we thought we could just show up.
Unfortunately for us, our luck of securing our spot on the boat the next
day completely depleted our reserves of good fortune and we were about to be
hit by an even bigger set-back. Out
hotel reservation was in fact NOT at Hotel Lago Grey, where we were, but rather
Lodge Lago Grey, where the one boat that leaves each day at 11am was going to
take us the next day. Two hours in the
middle of nowhere, we were stuck without a Plan B or single viable option. Hotel Lago Grey was completely booked and the
boat trip later in the day (turns out there was one) unfortunately had no way
of getting us from the boat onto shore (a zodiac from the other dock was
required). Our three options were to
either drive 2 hours back to the closest town to find lodging for the night,
drive 1 hour to take another ferry at 6pm followed by a four hour hike to get to
the Lodge or most likely, sleep on the hotel barroom floor. To make matters worse, our entire cash
supply had been depleted thanks to the park entrance fee and the closest ATM
was again two hours away. It was all
too much.
Martin and I retreated to the sitting area to regroup and try to figure
out some viable solution. Sitting in the
arm chair and looking out at the imposing (and beautiful) mountain range, I
broke. As tears welled up in my eyes, I
finally admitted to myself what I have been trying to avoid my whole life – I
am not a smart traveler. I have been
fortunate and willing enough to throw money at my problems along the road’s
journey, but overall these are not signs of a seasoned travel, just a well-financed
one – from the mishap with the train tickets last year in Scotland, solved by
buying expensive day-of tickets, the forgotten item at home bought on the road to
the lack of space in my luggage solved by leaving things along the way, I am
not a true traveler. Even this trip was
doomed from the beginning, making countless bad decisions and costing us along
the way.
As I sat there wallowing in despair and trying unsuccessfully to keep
the tears at bay, the boat operators walked up with hopes of a potential
solution The ferry at 6pm may be able
to stop after all, as the operator was able to get ahold of the dockhands via
radio and the zodiac could pick us up.
It appeared everything was going to work out.
I seriously don’t know how difficult it was to make it happen and I am
entirely embarrassed that we required help, but I am eternally grateful to
those who offered their assistance and were able to get the boat to stop, the
zodiac boat to be available and the various special allowances and favors that
were made.
Unable to manage myself and emotions, Martin took care of the logistics
with our hero and saving grace and I tried to pull myself together.
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