(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 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 XVII - Goodbye Wine, Hello Big City

We awoke and soon were greeted by Oswaldo and a maid from the vineyard who proceeded to the kitchen to cook us breakfast – eggs, fresh bread, juice, etc.  Also, cocoa puffs.  An al fresco meal on our patio seemed perfect, until the swarm of bees descended upon us, so we finished up inside.

Pre-Bee Swarming

After packing up, we headed back to Matetic for our horseback lesson/ride.  We were not sure what to expect, but upon walking back in, we met Emilio, our guide and we were off. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XVI - Chilean Wine Country Continues...

We awoke to an al fresco breakfast served outside our door on the patio which was lovely.  Then we relaxed, enjoyed the setting and did nothing until our 12:30p tour of the Matetic Vineyard.

Breakfast by our porch...

10km down the road was the actual vineyard.  We arrived and had a private tour, learning a lot about the vineyard – a Yugoslavian couple started it in 1990 and the entire facility is biodynamic and organic.  It was an exquisite setting and they even had horses and alpaca running around the grounds.

Alongside the winery...

Matetic horses...

We had our tasting with another couple visiting for a tour and, surprise, surprise, they were from NYC.  The upper west side. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XV - Cruising the Chilean Wine Trail

Time to head to a different wine country – Chilean wine country. We flew to Santiago, grabbed our rental car (a Mazda with automatic steering) and headed west to the Casablanca and San Antonio valley – a little bit different from the more famous wine country to the south but with many interesting and up and coming vineyards.

Through some research, I found two different vineyards that have guest houses. Our first night, I booked us in Matetic Vineyards. Once we finally found it, we were overwhelmed by its beautiful grounds, plus we were the only guests that evening out of seven guest rooms, so we had the entire place to ourselves – our own vineyard!

(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…