Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Change in Plans

We were dismayed this morning to find out that the Navimag Ferry, that we were going to take from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, has been delayed. We were told by the agent in Puerto Natales that they developed a repair issue and returned to Puerto Montt to sort it out. (though a later email from Navimag said the problem was due to weather, not repairs).

They gave us the option of rebooking on the next run on April 14, or cancelling and getting a full refund. We have opted to cancel. Dave has already made the trip once, and quite frankly, I am ready to get to warmer weather. We have already seen and experienced penguins, several glaciers, lots of snow-topped mountains, and windy waterways. It would be fun to do the 4-day trip, but I don't want to wait another week either.

So we took our refund and bought 2 one-way airplane tickets from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt for tomorrow. And we have about $400 left over to play with elsewhere. We opted not to bus this stretch of Chile... the route through Chile is about 2000 KM of gravel roads. The alternate route is to cross over into Argentina, and go up through Argentina. Both bus routes would take a couple of days. For about $140 each we can fly.

So our next stop is the southern end of what is called The Lakes District. We already have reservations for Easter Weekend at a cabin called Brisas del Lago alongside a lake in a little town called Ensenada, about 42 KM east of Puerto Varas. It is in the shadow of Vulcan Osorno. We'll just move those reservations up a couple of days, and have a few extra days to spend in the Lakes District.

2 comments:

  1. Dear Sherry:

    It was a shame what happened with the Navimag. We were looking forward to spending some days toghether and continue to know each other.

    We decided to take the 34 hr bus to Puerto Montt! so unlike you --who chose to fly-- our lower backs are now in pain!

    However, we slept in Puerto Montt, and today, we departed towards Chiloé. We´ll see how it goes. Let´s keep in touch...

    Here are our e-mails where you can reach us easily, since these are the ones that we usually review:

    peoni73@hotmail.com -- Arturo
    chin_bolom@hotmail.com -- Jennifer

    Please say hi to Dave in our behalf, and let´s hope we meet again.

    Arturo

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  2. Dear Sherry:

    Too bad what happened with the Navimag!

    We were expecting to meet with you there.

    Unlike you, fortunate people with wings, we made the 34 hour trip to Puerto Montt by bus.

    Right now we are headed to Chiloe.

    By the way, if you are near Santiago next 29 of april, we will be presenting our storytelling show in the Mesón Nerudiano. It would be nice if you could go and see us!

    Let´s keep in touch and see if we can meet again.

    Arturo & Jennifer
    www.viajeros08.blogspot.com

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