South American Adventure - Days 1-3
Day 1 – Saturday February 27, 2010: “Getting There is Half the Fun!”
Our grand trip to South America was almost over before it began. Just after midnight on February 27th, our departure date, we received a phone call from Peter Johnson in Los Angeles telling us that a massive earthquake had hit Chile, our first destination. A few hours of fitful sleep were ended by a phone call at 4:15AM from Mike Giles telling us how bad the quake was (8.8 on the Richter scale) and to watch CNN.
Since we were going to get up at 4:45 anyway (for a 5:30 departure to the airport), we watched the news cycles and saw the devastation that had occurred. The epicenter of the quake was closest to Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city. They were reporting several hundred deaths and a good deal of destruction there. There were pictures of collapsed highways, buried houses, and the misery that goes hand-in-hand with natural disasters. The capital city of Santiago, 200 miles north, was also affected, though not as severely. However, the airport would be closed for at least 24-72 hours. It wasn’t looking good for us getting there.
We discussed the situation with our neighbor Jon Nicholson, who is the in the travel industry. And we hemmed and we hawed, trying to get information that didn’t seem available from either LAN Chile Airlines or Princess cruises.
Ultimately after discussions with Jon, we decided to make a run for it and at least get to Los Angeles where we could deal with LAN face-to-face. We arrived at Sea-Tac airport, surprisingly crowded, at 6:55AM for our 8:00 departure. Luckily, being in First Class helped, as we had shorter lines both checking in and at security. We walked to gate C9 and boarded our Alaska Airlines 737-400 flight #246 to L.A. We enjoyed breakfast in seats 2A and 2C as we winged our way south.
Upon arrival at LAX, we were met (by pre-arrangement) by our friend Peter Johnson, with whom we were going to have lunch. He surprised me (Steve) by also inviting old pal Elizabeth Tegley to join us. It was happy balm to my frayed nerves. We collected our three checked bags and walked to the Tom Bradley (International) terminal to check-in with LAN. They said the flight (#603 scheduled for 2:40PM) might go that day as scheduled, so they checked our luggage, gave us standby boarding passes, and told us to return at 1PM. I was a happy camper.
We walked to the Encounter Restaurant in the “Theme Building” in the center of LAX (the one that looks like something from the Jetsons – a disc suspended in parabolic arches). The décor had been re-done by Walt Disney Imagineering, and Allan described it as “Tiki-Jetsons”. No matter the décor, the views across the airport were terrific, and the food was surprisingly good. It was a relaxed and leisurely lunch.
After saying goodbye to Elizabeth, Peter, Allan and I walked back to the Bradley terminal to see what the news was with our flight. Alas, the minute we walked in and saw bags being brought out of the check-in area made my heart sink. And the news wasn’t good: “No departure today, check back with us via phone at 8AM tomorrow”. We left our two mobile numbers with the airline, retrieved our bags, and walked miserably back to Peter’s truck. The slow drive to Peter’s in South Pasadena combined with the occasional rain really reflected my down spirits. I guess I picked the wrong time to give up anti-depressants!
While the airline did offer hotel rooms, we had the option of staying at Peter’s, which turned out to be quite fun. Peter made a lovely steak dinner, and afterward we watched “The Thin Man Goes Home”.
Day 2 – Sunday February 28, 2010 – “Hurry Up…and Wait”
We awoke Sunday morning to better weather and optimistic spirits. All reports out of Chile were terrible, and the death toll had been raised to over 700. Tsunami warnings were the big news Sunday morning. We called LAN at 8AM, only to be told to call at 1PM. Allan and Peter made a nice breakfast, and then we had walk outside in the sunshine. Southern California was unusually green due to all the rain this year, and I was surprised at how verdant the hills looked.
Peter had to work in the afternoon, and Allan and I lazed around the house, went for a walk, and kept trying to get hold of LAN. Mid-afternoon Hal called to say that he read that some flights were being let in to Santiago Airport. That gave me hope. And so did a 2PM call to LAN Operations, who said they might get the plane out at midnight and would be calling everyone.
But no call came. And when I called again at 5:55, the woman who answered the phone said “The plane is going and the doors are going to be closing at 6:30. Get to the airport immediately!” It was one of the most intense drives ever from South Pasadena to LAX, but Peter managed to get us to the terminal exactly at 6:30. There were a flock of LAN personnel who were expecting us. They checked our bags, issued boarding passes, and escorted us through the terminal and through security. As we ran down to gate 105, we showed our boarding passes, breathlessly boarded the 767-300, and sank into our assigned seats of 2A and 2C. We were on our way!
The doors didn’t actually close until about 7PM, and the flight was full. There didn’t seem to be the weird energy I was expecting from the locals returning home, and the crew was professional and warm and courteous. As we taxied toward the runway, I finally felt that our 18-month old dream was finally happening! (I felt the crew’s general demeanor on the LAN flight from LAX was professional – but tense. I did not feel the warmth I had come to hope for from Steve’s description of their stellar reputation, but that was totally understandable and to be expected under the circumstances. – Allan)
We took off over the Pacific, and by the time we were over the Baja Peninsula, a delicious multi-course dinner was being served. Salad was accompanied by a terrific carrot soup and warm rolls. For dinner we both chose the steak, served with asparagus and risotto. For dessert I had ice cream and Allan had strawberry cheesecake. We also enjoyed Chilean wines, with a new favorite being a red from Encierra winery.
We lowered our seats into flat beds, bundled up under the duvets, and slept as we winged our way south.
Day 3- Monday March 1, 2010 – “Chile at Last!”
In the darkness of early morning, we started to wake up as breakfast was served; very nice scrambled eggs, roasted tomatoes, fresh fruit, and potato triangles. Coffee and juice were plentiful, and needed as we watched the sun come over the horizon. Still, I could help wonder what we would see just 48 hours after the quake hit….
The Chilean authorities had opened the Santiago airport to just a few flights, and at that they couldn’t clear customs and immigration due to the damage to the facilities there. Our flight landed in Antofagasta in the northern region of Chile. And was it ever dry – an airport in the middle of a desert, with nothing around that we could see. It was nine and a half hours since we left Los Angeles.
(As we descended from thirty-five thousand feet toward Antofagasta the sun was rising in the East, but the increase in light could not lessen the strange sense of foreboding I felt as we drew closer to the parched brown land. It reminded me of the Moon in its sameness and stillness – only brown instead of grey. – Allan)
We debarked, slowly cleared Chilean immigration, and then waited with everyone else around the baggage conveyer… and waited… and waited. As we were some of the last people standing there, we started getting the sinking feeling that even though we made it, our bags didn’t. At the very last moment, our three checked bags appeared (much to our joy and relief). We went to the end of the very long customs line and worked our way through. They did a very thorough job opening each bag and checking the contents, which only made things slower. This airport was smaller than virtually anywhere you’d visit in the USA, although it was bright, airy, modern, and used jetways.
We re-boarded the plane for the last part of the flight, a one and a half hour jaunt. Allan slept, and I was fidgety. What would it be like? Would we see lots of damage? Would people still be camped out in the streets, afraid of returning to their apartments? Arriving in a city a little over 48 hours after its largest earthquake in 50 years had me concerned…
We landed at Santiago’s airport which for all intents and purposes looked just fine. Except…none of the few planes there was attached to a jetway….and no one was in the terminal building. Eerie. When our plane finally stopped and turned off its engines, we were parked parallel to the terminal on the ramp, and stairs were brought to the front and back doors. Then the strangest part of all: teams of ramp workers unloaded the containers from the plane and placed the bags on the tarmac for us to retrieve.
This being not the United States, airport personnel also put out dozens of luggage carts in the area of the bags. After all bags were unloaded (about 30 minutes), we came down the stairs into the bright, hot, summer Sunday afternoon, retrieved our bags, and walked under the terminal and to an area just in front of it. On the way we could see some of the damage: an entire row of plate-glass windows lying shattered on the ground, the fixtures several stories above waving in the breeze. And one of the canopies in the departures level had collapsed on to the roadway, so no cars were there.
Princess Cruises, happily, had lots of personnel ready to greet us, and they took our bags to a waiting van. We and our driver Jimmy walked quite a distance to even get to the van which was parked on the road leading away from the terminal. But I was so happy to be there and out in the sun that it all didn’t matter.
We waited for others to show up, and then drove to our hotel. Along the way, we saw overpasses that were being patched up, and some evidence of damage. But surprisingly, everything appeared almost normal. The highways were moving at normal speed, and we went through a very long tunnel that seemed just fine.
Princess told us that due to damage we would not be staying at the Grand Hyatt and were instead staying at the Intercontinental. They had working light and water, but only one freight elevator was working. Our room 521 was luckily only up a few flights of stairs, and we settled in for our one night stay.
[We had originally booked this part as a two-night extension with a one-day wine country tour. Obviously none of that happened, and I hope we get some sort of refund or credit from Princess]
After showering and changing, we went out and explored the Las Condes area where we were staying. There were many high-rise office buildings and modern-esque apartment buildings. We even enjoyed some delightful examples of modern architecture. The side streets had some lovely single-family homes mixed in with the high-rises. The overall impression was one of a healthy economy and a relatively normal-acting populace. And again, very little evidence of earthquake damage.
After grabbing a bite and several hours walk, we headed back to the hotel and napped. We then proceeded to a restaurant a few blocks away called “Coco Loco” which I had seen recommended by someone in the NY Times travel section. It turned out to be a very good dinner, this time accompanied by a nice Chilean white wine. Dessert was quite nice: Allan had the Choco Loco, which was chocolate mousse in a light chocolate cake, topped with chocolate icing and coconut creme. I had tropical sorbets, and we were both sated by meal’s end.
Our bags are packed and we’re ready for the next part of our adventure: boarding the Star Princess for our two week cruise around the southern cone of South America! And as I write these words I still can’t believe we made it.
Our grand trip to South America was almost over before it began. Just after midnight on February 27th, our departure date, we received a phone call from Peter Johnson in Los Angeles telling us that a massive earthquake had hit Chile, our first destination. A few hours of fitful sleep were ended by a phone call at 4:15AM from Mike Giles telling us how bad the quake was (8.8 on the Richter scale) and to watch CNN.
Since we were going to get up at 4:45 anyway (for a 5:30 departure to the airport), we watched the news cycles and saw the devastation that had occurred. The epicenter of the quake was closest to Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city. They were reporting several hundred deaths and a good deal of destruction there. There were pictures of collapsed highways, buried houses, and the misery that goes hand-in-hand with natural disasters. The capital city of Santiago, 200 miles north, was also affected, though not as severely. However, the airport would be closed for at least 24-72 hours. It wasn’t looking good for us getting there.
We discussed the situation with our neighbor Jon Nicholson, who is the in the travel industry. And we hemmed and we hawed, trying to get information that didn’t seem available from either LAN Chile Airlines or Princess cruises.
Ultimately after discussions with Jon, we decided to make a run for it and at least get to Los Angeles where we could deal with LAN face-to-face. We arrived at Sea-Tac airport, surprisingly crowded, at 6:55AM for our 8:00 departure. Luckily, being in First Class helped, as we had shorter lines both checking in and at security. We walked to gate C9 and boarded our Alaska Airlines 737-400 flight #246 to L.A. We enjoyed breakfast in seats 2A and 2C as we winged our way south.
Upon arrival at LAX, we were met (by pre-arrangement) by our friend Peter Johnson, with whom we were going to have lunch. He surprised me (Steve) by also inviting old pal Elizabeth Tegley to join us. It was happy balm to my frayed nerves. We collected our three checked bags and walked to the Tom Bradley (International) terminal to check-in with LAN. They said the flight (#603 scheduled for 2:40PM) might go that day as scheduled, so they checked our luggage, gave us standby boarding passes, and told us to return at 1PM. I was a happy camper.
We walked to the Encounter Restaurant in the “Theme Building” in the center of LAX (the one that looks like something from the Jetsons – a disc suspended in parabolic arches). The décor had been re-done by Walt Disney Imagineering, and Allan described it as “Tiki-Jetsons”. No matter the décor, the views across the airport were terrific, and the food was surprisingly good. It was a relaxed and leisurely lunch.
After saying goodbye to Elizabeth, Peter, Allan and I walked back to the Bradley terminal to see what the news was with our flight. Alas, the minute we walked in and saw bags being brought out of the check-in area made my heart sink. And the news wasn’t good: “No departure today, check back with us via phone at 8AM tomorrow”. We left our two mobile numbers with the airline, retrieved our bags, and walked miserably back to Peter’s truck. The slow drive to Peter’s in South Pasadena combined with the occasional rain really reflected my down spirits. I guess I picked the wrong time to give up anti-depressants!
While the airline did offer hotel rooms, we had the option of staying at Peter’s, which turned out to be quite fun. Peter made a lovely steak dinner, and afterward we watched “The Thin Man Goes Home”.
Day 2 – Sunday February 28, 2010 – “Hurry Up…and Wait”
We awoke Sunday morning to better weather and optimistic spirits. All reports out of Chile were terrible, and the death toll had been raised to over 700. Tsunami warnings were the big news Sunday morning. We called LAN at 8AM, only to be told to call at 1PM. Allan and Peter made a nice breakfast, and then we had walk outside in the sunshine. Southern California was unusually green due to all the rain this year, and I was surprised at how verdant the hills looked.
Peter had to work in the afternoon, and Allan and I lazed around the house, went for a walk, and kept trying to get hold of LAN. Mid-afternoon Hal called to say that he read that some flights were being let in to Santiago Airport. That gave me hope. And so did a 2PM call to LAN Operations, who said they might get the plane out at midnight and would be calling everyone.
But no call came. And when I called again at 5:55, the woman who answered the phone said “The plane is going and the doors are going to be closing at 6:30. Get to the airport immediately!” It was one of the most intense drives ever from South Pasadena to LAX, but Peter managed to get us to the terminal exactly at 6:30. There were a flock of LAN personnel who were expecting us. They checked our bags, issued boarding passes, and escorted us through the terminal and through security. As we ran down to gate 105, we showed our boarding passes, breathlessly boarded the 767-300, and sank into our assigned seats of 2A and 2C. We were on our way!
The doors didn’t actually close until about 7PM, and the flight was full. There didn’t seem to be the weird energy I was expecting from the locals returning home, and the crew was professional and warm and courteous. As we taxied toward the runway, I finally felt that our 18-month old dream was finally happening! (I felt the crew’s general demeanor on the LAN flight from LAX was professional – but tense. I did not feel the warmth I had come to hope for from Steve’s description of their stellar reputation, but that was totally understandable and to be expected under the circumstances. – Allan)
We took off over the Pacific, and by the time we were over the Baja Peninsula, a delicious multi-course dinner was being served. Salad was accompanied by a terrific carrot soup and warm rolls. For dinner we both chose the steak, served with asparagus and risotto. For dessert I had ice cream and Allan had strawberry cheesecake. We also enjoyed Chilean wines, with a new favorite being a red from Encierra winery.
We lowered our seats into flat beds, bundled up under the duvets, and slept as we winged our way south.
Day 3- Monday March 1, 2010 – “Chile at Last!”
In the darkness of early morning, we started to wake up as breakfast was served; very nice scrambled eggs, roasted tomatoes, fresh fruit, and potato triangles. Coffee and juice were plentiful, and needed as we watched the sun come over the horizon. Still, I could help wonder what we would see just 48 hours after the quake hit….
The Chilean authorities had opened the Santiago airport to just a few flights, and at that they couldn’t clear customs and immigration due to the damage to the facilities there. Our flight landed in Antofagasta in the northern region of Chile. And was it ever dry – an airport in the middle of a desert, with nothing around that we could see. It was nine and a half hours since we left Los Angeles.
(As we descended from thirty-five thousand feet toward Antofagasta the sun was rising in the East, but the increase in light could not lessen the strange sense of foreboding I felt as we drew closer to the parched brown land. It reminded me of the Moon in its sameness and stillness – only brown instead of grey. – Allan)
We debarked, slowly cleared Chilean immigration, and then waited with everyone else around the baggage conveyer… and waited… and waited. As we were some of the last people standing there, we started getting the sinking feeling that even though we made it, our bags didn’t. At the very last moment, our three checked bags appeared (much to our joy and relief). We went to the end of the very long customs line and worked our way through. They did a very thorough job opening each bag and checking the contents, which only made things slower. This airport was smaller than virtually anywhere you’d visit in the USA, although it was bright, airy, modern, and used jetways.
We re-boarded the plane for the last part of the flight, a one and a half hour jaunt. Allan slept, and I was fidgety. What would it be like? Would we see lots of damage? Would people still be camped out in the streets, afraid of returning to their apartments? Arriving in a city a little over 48 hours after its largest earthquake in 50 years had me concerned…
We landed at Santiago’s airport which for all intents and purposes looked just fine. Except…none of the few planes there was attached to a jetway….and no one was in the terminal building. Eerie. When our plane finally stopped and turned off its engines, we were parked parallel to the terminal on the ramp, and stairs were brought to the front and back doors. Then the strangest part of all: teams of ramp workers unloaded the containers from the plane and placed the bags on the tarmac for us to retrieve.
This being not the United States, airport personnel also put out dozens of luggage carts in the area of the bags. After all bags were unloaded (about 30 minutes), we came down the stairs into the bright, hot, summer Sunday afternoon, retrieved our bags, and walked under the terminal and to an area just in front of it. On the way we could see some of the damage: an entire row of plate-glass windows lying shattered on the ground, the fixtures several stories above waving in the breeze. And one of the canopies in the departures level had collapsed on to the roadway, so no cars were there.
Princess Cruises, happily, had lots of personnel ready to greet us, and they took our bags to a waiting van. We and our driver Jimmy walked quite a distance to even get to the van which was parked on the road leading away from the terminal. But I was so happy to be there and out in the sun that it all didn’t matter.
We waited for others to show up, and then drove to our hotel. Along the way, we saw overpasses that were being patched up, and some evidence of damage. But surprisingly, everything appeared almost normal. The highways were moving at normal speed, and we went through a very long tunnel that seemed just fine.
Princess told us that due to damage we would not be staying at the Grand Hyatt and were instead staying at the Intercontinental. They had working light and water, but only one freight elevator was working. Our room 521 was luckily only up a few flights of stairs, and we settled in for our one night stay.
[We had originally booked this part as a two-night extension with a one-day wine country tour. Obviously none of that happened, and I hope we get some sort of refund or credit from Princess]
After showering and changing, we went out and explored the Las Condes area where we were staying. There were many high-rise office buildings and modern-esque apartment buildings. We even enjoyed some delightful examples of modern architecture. The side streets had some lovely single-family homes mixed in with the high-rises. The overall impression was one of a healthy economy and a relatively normal-acting populace. And again, very little evidence of earthquake damage.
After grabbing a bite and several hours walk, we headed back to the hotel and napped. We then proceeded to a restaurant a few blocks away called “Coco Loco” which I had seen recommended by someone in the NY Times travel section. It turned out to be a very good dinner, this time accompanied by a nice Chilean white wine. Dessert was quite nice: Allan had the Choco Loco, which was chocolate mousse in a light chocolate cake, topped with chocolate icing and coconut creme. I had tropical sorbets, and we were both sated by meal’s end.
Our bags are packed and we’re ready for the next part of our adventure: boarding the Star Princess for our two week cruise around the southern cone of South America! And as I write these words I still can’t believe we made it.
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