"LIVE" with Sungirl in South America. HAL Zaandam Nov 8-22, 2015

 

I have more thoughts on the cruise, product endorsements, and other trivial comments to make. I will keep posting if you want to finish the trip with me. Otherwise, I will wrap-up tomorrow night after I give you the scoop on disembarkation and Santiago. I am happy to answer any questions.

 

Cheers, Sungirl

This has been so much fun each day reading your blog. I will enjoy following you until you reach home.;)

23 November - Fly Me to the Moon

We checked out of the Ritz Carlton at 10am to get a taxi to the airport. The Ritz is definitely in the best and safest neighborhood of Santiago. I recommend. It was around $37 to transfer to the airport. Our driver, Alfredo, was trying to make it to the airport in record time. He had a fake police siren and was driving 100mph using this siren. Normally the ride is 30 minutes, we made it in 20 minutes. He thought it was hysterical. I kept saying "Alfredo is loco!"

Our airline, LAN, has a different checkin area for domestic and international flights. The lines were really long. I am so glad I didn't trust the hotel and leave myself one hour for check-in. Two hours to be safe. I never allow myself enough time so I never get to duty free shop! The Santiago airport is great. New, modern, clean and a Starbucks and MAC cosmetics store. I am in business.

The short list for our land adventure:

1. Iguazu Falls

2. Panama

3. San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

4. Easter Island, Chile

And the winner is....................The driest place on earth, the Atacama desert.

It was the easiest flight of all the options and off the beaten path to make it exotic and interesting. The Atacama is famous for a few things - astronomy, geology, and thermal activity for starters. It is one of the stargazing capitals of the world. Set along the Andes mountains at almost 8000ft, it is otherworldly.

How do I find out about these places and find hotels? I will tell you my secret. I would like to tell you it's because I am so well read, but that's not the case. I go to the Abercrombie and Kent website and look at itineraries. Abercrombie and Kent is a luxury, high end tour company and I get a lot of my ideas for travel from them.

It was a two hour flight from Santiago. When you land, you think you have landed on the moon. It is bizarre. I wanted to shout "ET Phone Home". I am pretty sure we will find a UFO, maybe Elvis. I just don't want any major volcanic eruptions.

PC is so happy. This is everything he loves. Scenery, the sun/moon/stars, and warm weather. There are 4-5 luxury high end hotels in San Pedro. It was difficult to chose. They are all super expensive and I agonized over trying to figure out based on Trip Advisor reviews which property would be a good fit for us. We like luxury, but more casual luxury, not snobby or amateur. I decided on the Tierra Atacama. Most of the luxury resorts in Atacama have sister properties in Patagonia. I would call this Luxury Glamping. Glamping = No TV and natural construction materials to blend with the environment. The other three hotels I considered were Explora, Alto de Atacama, and Awasi. I am happy with my choice, even though it seems ridiculously expensive. I opted for the all-inclusive package. It includes unlimited food, drink, excursions, and airport transfers. I probably should have taken the bed and breakfast package and purchased everything else a la carte. We don't eat and drink enough to make all-inclusive a good deal. We also don't want to tour all day, everyday.

When we arrived at the hotel, they have already checked us in and assigned rooms. We immediately meet with the tour director to sign up for all the excursions we want to book for the week. Lots of choices with various degrees of intensity. We can book half day excursions, full day, and evening. The meal schedule kills us. Dinner is 8-10pm. That is so late and we are exhausted.

Our room is super cool with a large patio overlooking the Andes mountains, the sunrise, and the full moon rise. Stargazing is not good this week due to the full moon. The sky is too light. It barely gets dark due to the intensity of the moon. We have an indoor and outdoor shower side by side. More L'Occitane bath products I love.

The menus are set with 2 appetizer choices, 2 salad choices, 3 entree choices, and 3 desserts. There is a separate menu for people not on the all-inclusive plan. The meals are beautifully presented and gourmet.

Our first dinner was lamb chops and grouper. Heaven. PC is going crazy over the ice cream.

Off to bed in anticipation of the two excursions we have planned for tomorrow.

Please keep posting so we can keep dreaming. It nearly took an act of congress to get my boss to let me take three weeks off for our upcoming cruise. Love reading about your adventures!

It sounds wonderful. Thanks for the updates!! Happy Thanksgiving!!

24 November - Pretty sure we landed on the moon

Breakfast is served buffet style and has many options. I have been eating way too many croissants in the past 2 weeks, it's my favorite thing next to glazed donuts. Our first excursion is at 9:15am. The hotel uses passenger vans and each van accommodates 6 people. We have a driver and guide. We have to acclimatize 2 days before we can participate in half of the excursions. They go to 14, 000 ft. We did have headaches due to the altitude, but Excedrin took care of it. We are going to Death Valley and Moon Valley. This is a National Park with incredible sand dunes, red rock formations, salt crystals, and moonscapes. The colors are so rich and beautiful against a clear blue sky. We return to the hotel around 12:30pm. Lunch is served 1-3pm.

Pool time!! Finally!! I need my vitamin D and tan. The sun is the most intense I have ever felt being at this high altitude. There is an indoor pool and outdoor pool plus jacuzzi. A full service spa is also on property. It is very quiet in this 30 room lodge. We spend a wonderful hour at the pool before we have to go change costumes for our evening excursion. We leave the hotel around 4:30pm.

The Salar de Atacama. The world's third largest salt flat at 7700 ft. Miles of silver-gray salt crystals. Amazing. The thrill for me - the Laguna Chaxa. Hundreds of flamingos. Seeing flamingos in the wild, watching them fly, is the greatest thing. I have seen wild flamingos once before in the Galapagos Islands. These are Andean and Chilean flamingos. I could have stayed for days watching these birds.

After visiting with the flamingos, we drove on to Toconao, an oasis village with an early Colonial church and pre-Incan ruins. These villages are fascinating. They knit using needles from giant cactus. Can you imagine not having access to knitting needles?

We watched sunset over the Andes below the ALMA facility. The Chilean northern desert is home to the most high tech and sophisticated astronomical observatories in the world. ALMA opened in 2013 on a 16,400 high plateau. It is the single biggest astronomical project on the planet. There is no single telescope, but 50 antennae, each 39 ft tall that act as a telescope. This project is financed by the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Blows your mind. These are things that I never would have know about it if not for travel.

We had wine, cheese, and olives while enjoying sunset. The ride was quite bumpy and we sat in the back of the van so we were pretty tired after bouncing around. I was also a bit car sick. We had a very quick dinner. We didn't each much because we ate a lot of cheese and olives. 9pm is too late for us to eat and go to bed on a full stomach. We like to walk off dinner a little bit otherwise we feel sick. I don't know how people eat late and get up to go to work and school.

Loving the peace of this fascinating place. No machines, motors, or noise. Just birds. I do get a little anxious at the thought of being so remote, but it's worth it. Night.

This trip sounds wonderful..... thanks for posting. Something for me to think about for the future.

Susan

25 November Free Day at last

We needed a day off today. Unfortunately as much as I want to do it all, I will make myself sick trying to do everything. PC reminds me that we need to chill and enjoy our hotel and view.

We slept in and enjoyed some pool time. Finally, a pool that is warm enough to wade around in. After a gourmet lunch, we took the hotel shuttle a few minutes into San Pedro De Atacama, the main town. San Pedro is Northern Chile's most popular tourist destination. It's a small oasis village with many tour offices waiting for the adventure seekers. It's at almost 8000ft. The Domeyko mountains to the west, the Andes to the east. San Pedro is an important Pre-Incan settlement. We walked around the main square, toured the Iglesia San Pedro de Atacama, and poked around the shops and craft market. It took us all of an hour. Cool place, but wouldn't necessarily trust the food at some of the many cafes. The last thing I ever want is a food-borne sickness. This is one of the reasons I stay in expensive hotels - safe food and safe locations/security. We decided to walk the 3/4 mile dirt road back to the hotel instead of wait for the shuttle. We needed the exercise.

We enjoyed a leisurely dinner. I had panne cotta for desert for both lunch and dinner. Sinful. PC is eating up all the ice cream.

Huge day planned for tomorrow. Thanksgiving at 13,000ft.

Paige,

I am loving your descriptions of the Atacama Desert. I honestly believed that no-one lived there and you have opened up my mind to a new adventure! We are thinking of returning to Antarctica in 2017 and I didn't have anywhere else in S.A. that I wanted to explore after the cruise but now you have given me ideas. Thanks.

Jennie

26 November - Happy Thanksgiving

We had a long excursion today. We gathered at 9am to head south to the Altiplanic lagoons. These are amazing salt flat lagoons at 13,000 ft. The ride is approx. 1 1/2 hours, but takes a little longer with toilet stops and photo stops. We hit the jackpot on wildlife today. There are very few species of animals that can survive in the Atacama desert and Patagonia. We saw all of them today - Guanaco, Vicuna, Chilean Fox, Andes Flamingos, donkeys, and ostrich. We were also so lucky to see the wildflowers that bloom once every seven years for approx. 2 weeks. The lupine was gorgeous. We had a Thanksgiving picnic lunch with the Andean flamingos. It was indescribable. The wind was strong, but temps fairly mild. We hiked around several areas and enjoyed the animals and scenery. The intensity of the sun is scary. You can be blinded by the sun's reflection on the salt at 13,000ft. These lagoons look like Caribbean beaches, but are not for swimming.

We returned to the hotel around 5pm. Time to start packing again. Farewell is tomorrow. Another lovely dinner with Red Velvet cake for dessert. We have had a great adventure, but we are eager to get home to our own bed.

We have the grand finale at 5:30am for sunrise tomorrow. A special excursion. We are flying straight thru tomorrow evening, not overnighting in Santiago. It will be a very long day.

I will get back to my cruise comments soon!

I hope you had a yummy Thanksgiving! We miss the pumpkin pie.

27 November - Goodbye South America.

4:30 am wakeup call for a 5:30am departure. We are off to 14,000ft for sunrise over the Andes Mountains and also the moonset. There are around five places in the world that have significant thermal activity. The Atacama desert is one of those places. El Tatio Geysers. Phenomenal thermal activity and you can get up close, too close IMHO. Yellowstone would never let the public so close to boiling water. The only time to see the steam/vapors is when outside temperatures are low. That is first thing in the morning in the summertime. There is thermal activity going on all over a large area. We walked on the trails and were wowed by the gurgling, sputtering, and bubbling. The smells of sulfur were in the air. After a geyser side breakfast we headed back down the mountain to again see lots of wildlife - vicuna, ostrich, lots of birds, and the flamingos. We were barely staying awake.

Showered, packed, grabbed a cheeseburger, checked out of hotel, and we were on our way to the Calama airport. Over an hour ride from San Pedro de Atacama. The Calama airport serves LAN airlines and the low cost SKY airlines. A guest at the hotel told me they paid $80 RT on SKY from Santiago. Not sure if there are additional fees for baggage. I think I paid $250 RT including baggage.

LAN offers at least seven flights a day from Santiago to Calama. They go out full. Must be adventure seekers and astronomers! We are better people for taking this side trip to the desert. Learning about cultures and appreciating everything the US affords us. These villages are so poor, yet them seem to have the modern conveniences - satellite TV, Smartphones, washing machines, and internet. I felt very safe. These people make their money on tourism and wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize that. However, the stray dogs in several areas of Chile, were completely unnerving. This is a huge problem and no one seems to be doing anything about it. Many of these dogs are rabid. I get so nervous with these dogs circling around me and following me around.

The Calama airport takes about 15 minutes to checkin and go thru security. If all airports were only so easy. What is up with South America and the lax security? You can take unlimited liquids in bottles. They hardly screen anything. I got busted for being overweight on my carryon. 8kg is the limited, I was at 12g. They let me go on with 9kg. I was very appreciative they cut me some slack as I had no where to put anything else. They didn't weigh it on the outbound. Embarrassing to have to pull out crap and redistribute. I make the mistake of trying to put too much stuff in one bag instead of two.

We got cleared for an upgrade going home, so I am a happy Princess. We are both exhausted, but it was a trip of a lifetime. I don't see myself coming back to the Andes (I've done Peru and Ecuador), but I will return to SA to visit Brazil. I always make a souvenir video upon returning home, but this time my souvenir consists of a hotel jar of dulce de leche. As a recovering hoarder, the rule is - If I can't eat it, drink it, or wear it, I can't buy it! The only thing I would have bought is wine, but no space. I did buy one souvenir - my Buenos Aires Boca Futbol Swatch watch. Totally cool. Someone told me I was working class to be a Boca fan! HA! The rival, Riverplate, has more upper class fans. I am one to go with the underdog, so I am quite pleased with my working class BOCA watch. Even though I am a recovered hoarder, those refrigerator magnets are still hard to pass up! I am settling for cruise cards and hotel room keys in lieu of magnets.

As I have had a few days to reflect on the cruise, I have several thoughts. First, I have no desire to cruise Antartica anytime soon. There is so much to see in the world and Antartica is low on the list. I have done lots of traveling, but there is so much I haven't done. I am disappointed on the Fjord scenic cruising that HAL had scheduled. Most of the time I would say I would rather be in port than at sea, but this is an example of a situation where I would rather enjoy scenery. If I had any ambition, I would have traveled by land and visited El Calafate, Bariloche, and booked a cabin on the NaviMag ferry through the heart of the Fjords.

I really love the size of the Zaandam. I have never cruised on a mega-ship before - 4000pax+. Unfortunately with a ship this size, there is no buzz. Everything was sedate. I have the same feelings about the Island/Coral Princess. It wouldn't keep me from booking an itinerary on HAL, but I need to check out one of the larger HAL ships sometimes to see the difference. I recommend this itinerary, but I have no idea how people repeat this cruise. Once was enough for now. I am dying to get back to Asia. I also have never cruised Ireland or the Baltic. Or taken a European river cruise. Those are on the summer list.

I have some product endorsements for you. I found a new line of shoes I love. I buy the expensive comfort shoes for travel - Mephisto and Ecco, mostly. New Balance has this fashion line called Cobb Hill. I am crazy for these shoes. I have the cutest sandals that look youthful and high style and I have worn them on my last two trips.

I bought a Ruana earlier in the year for my trip to Morocco and Spain. It was the best purchase ever. Soft Surroundings always has cute ones. They are perfect for travel and they go with leggings or jeans.

Luggage. I go thru luggage with the seasons. I buy new luggage for almost every trip because I have different needs. I usually buy the disposable stuff from TJMaxx. The best carry on luggage is Pacsafe and Lipault. I own the Pacsafe purses, backpacks (ladies and mens), and carry ons. I did but some hardsided luggage to look more "Euro" style, but I can't squeeze as much stuff in.

I was so surprised at some of the cruisers who came completely unprepared for cold weather. It's usually the people in Florida who don't want to go out and buy "gear' for a few days of cold. Take my advice - buy the North Face. Get the fleece, thermobomber vest or jacket, and raincoat. I had the 3 in 1 jacket and it was perfect. The rain jacket was much heavier than a slicker type jacket. Jeans and khakis (hiking/safari type) are fine. Wear heavy tights or panty hose on cold days. I didn't think long underwear or boots were necessary. A hat is mandatory!

Boarding flight to go home. Yippee! See you tomorrow from the USA.

Welcome home!

Loved your review and wrap up. I have a good friend going on this itinerary over Christmas on Oceania and hope they do the scenic cruising your ship did not do.

We are doing our first European River cruise in June...seems like a totally different experience and will be interesting to compare to ocean cruising which we love.

Thanks again for such a fun journey!

If you have any interest in virtual cruising with me this year, I am posting my "LIVE" thread. I am in SEAsia

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2425264

We are leaving today for this same itinerary on the Zaandam. Thanks for all this great information!

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