Trip Report: BA, Chile (explora), Panama with Child
Dec 3rd, 2008, 05:47 AM
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Trip Report: BA, Chile (explora), Panama with Child
My husband, 4-year-old, and I just got back from a month-long trip to Buenos Aires, Patagonia (Chile and Argentina, and Panama. Here is a report:
Day 1: Los Angeles to Panama City, Panama via Copa. 24-hour stay in Panama (Marriott Hotel: comfortable, clean, good enough) to catch our breath.
Day 2-14: Panama to Buenos Aires via Copa. Apartment rental in Recoleta. Extremely nice apartment but air conditioning problems. Great parks nearby for my child. Outstanding meals at Patagonia Sur and Oviedo. Ate multiple good meals at Sirop Folie. Several meals at Alvear Hotel just for the ambiance as the food was not up to par.
Day 15-17: El Calafate. Flew via Aerolineas Argentinas. Booked a tour to see Perrito Moreno through our hotel, Posada Los Alamos (comfortable, clean, fantastic indoor pool and great roasted lamb) but we didn’t show up for it as we were not up for an 8-hour tour. We learned too late that we could have just taken a taxi for a shorter trip. Big disappointment.
Day 18-22: Explora Hotel in Torres del Paine, Chile (Patagonia). Private driver for the 5-hour road trip. Explora was absolutely amazing. It is in a spectacularly beautiful setting and has all the comforts you would want. The hiking guides were very friendly and helped us choose the best excursions for our 4-year-old child. She even went on her first horseback ride with a gaucho! We saw condors, guanacos, lots of unfamiliar birds and plants and flowers. We hiked to a glacier and a lake filled with aquamarine icebergs. And Explora offers unexpectedly wonderful food. Can’t say enough good things about the experience.
Day 23-25: Punta Arenas, Chile. Explora Hotel drove us the 5 hours to the Jose Noguiera Hotel. Being so far south, it stayed light quite late which was a lot of fun. And it was cold! The hotel was fine but a bit Faulty Towers, if you know what I mean. The highlight of Punta Arenas was a visit to the Seno Otway penguins. This time we took a taxi rather than a tour bus and it was the perfect thing to do. Several nice meals in Punta Arenas at Satitos and Puerto Viejo. We had a surprisingly good and cheap hamburger at the cafeteria Lomit's around the corner from the hotel.
Day 26-29: Santiago, Chile. Flew LAN Airlines at the last-minute as our Comet Air flight was rescheduled and it was impossible to find out if we actually had confirmed seat on the new Comet flight. A very expensive change and I am still trying to see if I can get a refund from Comet. It felt strangely like Southern California in the area near our hotel, the Park Hyatt. My daughter and I did a double-decker city bus tour, which was fun and informative. Our favorite thing in Santiago (as elsewhere) was eating. We had some truly fantastic meals and everyone was welcoming to our 4-year-old. In order of preference: Astrid y Gaston, Tierra Nueva, Puerto Fuy, and Del Mar. The shopping district on Cordova near the hotel was very charming.
Day 30-31: Panama City, Panama. Flew Copa with, again, a 24-hour layover to catch our breath. Marriott Hotel again. We took a taxi to the Miraflores Lock. The New York Times recommended eating the restaurant there but it was truly awful. And we made the mistake of going on a Sunday and we didn’t see a single ship pass through.
Day 1: Los Angeles to Panama City, Panama via Copa. 24-hour stay in Panama (Marriott Hotel: comfortable, clean, good enough) to catch our breath.
Day 2-14: Panama to Buenos Aires via Copa. Apartment rental in Recoleta. Extremely nice apartment but air conditioning problems. Great parks nearby for my child. Outstanding meals at Patagonia Sur and Oviedo. Ate multiple good meals at Sirop Folie. Several meals at Alvear Hotel just for the ambiance as the food was not up to par.
Day 15-17: El Calafate. Flew via Aerolineas Argentinas. Booked a tour to see Perrito Moreno through our hotel, Posada Los Alamos (comfortable, clean, fantastic indoor pool and great roasted lamb) but we didn’t show up for it as we were not up for an 8-hour tour. We learned too late that we could have just taken a taxi for a shorter trip. Big disappointment.
Day 18-22: Explora Hotel in Torres del Paine, Chile (Patagonia). Private driver for the 5-hour road trip. Explora was absolutely amazing. It is in a spectacularly beautiful setting and has all the comforts you would want. The hiking guides were very friendly and helped us choose the best excursions for our 4-year-old child. She even went on her first horseback ride with a gaucho! We saw condors, guanacos, lots of unfamiliar birds and plants and flowers. We hiked to a glacier and a lake filled with aquamarine icebergs. And Explora offers unexpectedly wonderful food. Can’t say enough good things about the experience.
Day 23-25: Punta Arenas, Chile. Explora Hotel drove us the 5 hours to the Jose Noguiera Hotel. Being so far south, it stayed light quite late which was a lot of fun. And it was cold! The hotel was fine but a bit Faulty Towers, if you know what I mean. The highlight of Punta Arenas was a visit to the Seno Otway penguins. This time we took a taxi rather than a tour bus and it was the perfect thing to do. Several nice meals in Punta Arenas at Satitos and Puerto Viejo. We had a surprisingly good and cheap hamburger at the cafeteria Lomit's around the corner from the hotel.
Day 26-29: Santiago, Chile. Flew LAN Airlines at the last-minute as our Comet Air flight was rescheduled and it was impossible to find out if we actually had confirmed seat on the new Comet flight. A very expensive change and I am still trying to see if I can get a refund from Comet. It felt strangely like Southern California in the area near our hotel, the Park Hyatt. My daughter and I did a double-decker city bus tour, which was fun and informative. Our favorite thing in Santiago (as elsewhere) was eating. We had some truly fantastic meals and everyone was welcoming to our 4-year-old. In order of preference: Astrid y Gaston, Tierra Nueva, Puerto Fuy, and Del Mar. The shopping district on Cordova near the hotel was very charming.
Day 30-31: Panama City, Panama. Flew Copa with, again, a 24-hour layover to catch our breath. Marriott Hotel again. We took a taxi to the Miraflores Lock. The New York Times recommended eating the restaurant there but it was truly awful. And we made the mistake of going on a Sunday and we didn’t see a single ship pass through.
Dec 13th, 2008, 04:57 PM
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Hi Michael-
For a private transfer from El Calafate to Cerro Castillo in a nice, safe 4x4 we paid USD$440 for 2 adults and a child. It was arranged by the concierge at our hotel in El Calafante, Posada Los Alamos. There seemed to be a lot of paperwork to do beforehand and at the border itself the driver was VERY helpful. He took care of everything while we just waited in the car.
I know it sounds like a lot of money but this border is extra troublesome: there is a space about 1/2 mile long between Chile and Argentina that belongs to neither country. That makes for two separate border crossings and a lot of luggage moving.
Finally, explora meets you on the Chilean side and you enjoy a very nice drive seeing glacial lakes and wildlife (llamas, condors, birds, sheep, etc).
For a private transfer from El Calafate to Cerro Castillo in a nice, safe 4x4 we paid USD$440 for 2 adults and a child. It was arranged by the concierge at our hotel in El Calafante, Posada Los Alamos. There seemed to be a lot of paperwork to do beforehand and at the border itself the driver was VERY helpful. He took care of everything while we just waited in the car.
I know it sounds like a lot of money but this border is extra troublesome: there is a space about 1/2 mile long between Chile and Argentina that belongs to neither country. That makes for two separate border crossings and a lot of luggage moving.
Finally, explora meets you on the Chilean side and you enjoy a very nice drive seeing glacial lakes and wildlife (llamas, condors, birds, sheep, etc).
Dec 16th, 2008, 04:38 PM
#5
Okay, I haven't been yet, but I did run across this agency that runs a tour Calafate to Torres del Paine and it sounds as if you can do the trip one way ending in either place, or round trip.
http://www.chaltentravel.com/transporte.asp?trans_id=11
http://www.chaltentravel.com/transporte.asp?trans_id=11
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