(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XXII - The Longest Day Ever...

445am wake ups on your honeymoon are not so fun.  We slowly peeled ourselves out of bed, finished the packing and got dressed for an excursion that promised freezing cold morning conditions at the Geyser and bathing at the hot springs.  Tough packing.

We met up with everyone at 530 and made sure the guide knew we had to be back by 12:10 to catch the transfer to our flight.  They did not say no problem right off the bat which made us a bit nervous.  But we forged ahead regardless.

The trip to the El Tatio geysers, at 4400M elevation, was about 2 hours.  GG and I dozed en route.

We arrived into a field with tall plumes of steam escaping all over the place – the releasing of magma-heating pressure with the cold air above (at sunrise it's actually only in the upper 30 degrees Fahrenheit). 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XXI - Salty Lagoons and Salt Flats

Today we were up early for our 16KM mountain bike ride to Laguna Cejar, a very salty lagoon where we could attempt to swim but would really just float at the surface due to the high salt.  Allegedly it's got a higher salt concentration than the Dead Sea.

The bike ride was a long one and a challenging one – at least more so than we expected.  The real tricks were several stretches of sand dunes on the dirt roads that you had to drive over perfectly in the right gear or you would definitely fall.  And falls did happen in dominoes – if the person before you goes down, you go down.

We made it!

 Upon arriving at the lagoon, it was worth it.  A random, deep crater, filled with clear blue water that had been heated partially by the sun, but still quite chilly.  I ran in, goggles on, and floated about. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XX - Back in the Saddle...

Time for our morning horseback ride.  This was sold as an excursion that would allow for beginners and experts to go together and break up over some long stretches.  Seemed perfect for us.  

Unfortunately, with a group of 8 people of mixed skills and one guide and one gaucho, we weren’t getting far in two groups.  We walked a lot.  There was a brief moment where they let us trot and canter but I had no idea how to stay stable so I was hanging on for fear of falling out of the saddle.  GG was a bit dismayed as well since the expert break off ride never happened (probably because of me and my scarily limited skills).  For the moments where I wasn't focused on how to survive the ride, I looked around and reflected.  It truly was amazing to be riding this beautiful Arabian horse around a surreal desert.  Unfortunately, those moments were fleeting as reality set back in and I had to not fall off my horse.  Tough morning.

I look much more in command than i actually was...

Our afternoons were lovely – plenty of time to swim, nap, eat lunch, email, etc as the afternoon excursions don’t go out until 5p at earliest.  Any earlier and the desert heat, sun, and wind would ruin us.

That afternoon, we did the “Cactus” hike – it was special as we would be hiking along the one main valley that has a supply of Andean water and therefore has green bushes, trees, and, unsurprisingly, many cacti. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XIX - Atacama Desert: Our Final Frontier

En route to Atacama, the driest desert on earth, via a flight a 2 hour flight to Calama.  We didn’t know what to expect but felt quite comfortable that the Explora experience would take care of us.  The flight was easy – about 2 hours to Calama – and the transfer to Explora was only about an hour and 15 minutes to San Pedro – the town outside of which the Hotel de Larache is located.

On our shuttle we were joined by a couple from Boston – scientist/academics who had done both Patagonia and Easter Island Explora on this trip and another couple from Germany.  A much different group than we had en route to Patagonia.

We blazed over dirt and paved roads in the middle of nowhere - a crazy desert with mountains, volcanos, salt flats, oases, cacti, and pink flamingos.

Unlike Patagonia where there are set enter and exit days, in Atacama guests come and go daily. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XI - Goodbye Paine, Hello Punta Arenas

The alarm went off and GG was not having it.  After getting blown over on the full day hike and then the expert horseback ride, her body was done.  I tried to see if there were any super easy excursions, but there were not, so we cancelled and had a leisurely morning/lunch before heading off to Punta Arenas.

We departed Explora at 3p in a van full of the few guests we didn’t get a chance to meet, all of whom live in Chile and spoke Spanish.  It was going to be a long 6 hour ride.

Surprise, surprise, it wasn’t at all. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part X - On the (Patagonian) Lamb

So, after our full day excursion experience, we were back to half days, preferably not too draining half days.  GG left me to take an experienced horseback ride through the country while I went on the “easy” animal hike – some ups and downs while we observed guanacas, flamigos, rheas, and possibly a puma in their natural environs.  We would then rendez-vous at the estancia for a traditional Patagonian lamb bbq – I was very much looking forward to this.

That "easy" hike - not so easy!  Not contemplated in that intensity level assignment was the 120 km/hr winds blowing that day.  However, miraculously, this was the only hike of our stay where I did not take a fall!  We did spot all of the animals cited, except for the elusive puma.

Here are some of the highlights…

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part IX - Bringing the Paine!

We awoke for our first full day excursion – we were cocky after our Ferrier triumph and opted for the most difficult full day hike offered – the famous French Valley continuing up to “The Plateau.”

Our group included the NJ family as well as a young lawyer couple from NY who were around our age and very friendly.  They live on the UWS and have a one year old son who’s home with the nanny and parents.

There was a 45 minute van ride to a lake where we then took a 40 minute boat ride to our point of departure.  I put our pack on my back (not so light!) and we were off.  We began our day in full long johns and then the sun came out.  It was brutal.  During our first stop we stripped down to just trekking pants.

This outfit was short-lived - GG would not be seen even in the middle of nowhere with me looking like that.

The hike to the plateau was long.  Very long. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part VIII - Conquering the Paine!

We awoke early and after a quick breakfast we headed off with Miguel, our guide, and only two other guests – a couple from San Diego – who also had the guts to sign up for Ferrier - the difficult hike, day 1, morning 1.  We found out soon along the hike that both of them are actually quite fit, marathoner/equestrians.  Yet, somehow, GG and I kept up the pace.  The first part of the hike was steep and rocky and afforded us amazing views of the icebergs that broke off the gray glacier.  

yes - those are icebergs - just the tips...

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part VII - Torres del Paine - Explora Patagonia!

Finally, we were en route to Explora Patagonia – one of the most anticipated highlights of our trip.  A 5 star resort set in the middle of the Torres del Paine national park – one of the most untouched areas of deep Patagonia.  It seemed like the perfect blend of adventure and pure pampering.  The only question was would it live up to our expectations?

And the answer, quite simply, was yes.  In fact, I’d say it even crept a bit past our expectations.

Our driver to the Chilean border, Patric, was extremely nice.  By coincidence, he is a professional guide as well, so his English was perfect and he pointed out interesting wildlife spottings along the way, including hares, guanacas, reas and even pink flamingos!  The journey was not a short one – about a  4 hour car ride to the first border and then a short journey in no-man’s-land – a very strange 10km stretch where we were neither in Argentina nor Chile – until we reached Chile and our Explora transfer point.

Straddling the border...

We arrived a bit early, but the Explora van was already there waiting so we rendezvoused in a coffee shop while the others arrived at the border.  From that moment onwards, we were taken under the Explora wing…