Day 8: Tierra del Fuego to Santiago

We woke up this morning nice and toasty because Matt and Matias (but mostly Matias after 2:30am) kept the stove burning throughout the night. Having packed our bags yesterday, we enjoyed a relaxing morning with coffee and were the first ones to breakfast. Another perfect Explora breakfast, just no tomatoes – because we probably ate them all at last night’s feast!

You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here

After breakfast — with our departure imminent — we gathered for a few photos with the entire group and the staff and said our goodbyes.

Full expedition crew

Behind-the-scenes photo shoot photo

We loaded in the van and Matias Guide drove us about two hours north to the airstrip for our flight to Punta Arenas. We took the same route we used to get here (there is really only one road) — passing through the Genkowski Canyon (named for Don Germán and his family), Guanaco Pass (our hike from Day 6) and our lunch lookout spot. Then we drove down into the Patience Valley again and back up the switchbacks on the other side. Finally, we passed Pietro Grande (our hike from Day 4) and into the ‘city’ of Pampa Guanaco.

Our Patience Valley has run out

Jo’s actually awake and enjoying the views

Fortunately, there were no guanacos on the runway today. We pulled in and waited for our plane to arrive. The bathrooms in the actual airstrip office were not up to Explora standards, but we convinced the very friendly police to let us use the one in their station. This was the same police station Matias took refuge in 20 years ago. The plane had not yet arrived (as expected) so we hung out in the van until it did. We donated our stash of trail mix to Matias Guide who said that’ll be his main source of food on his hikes. We then said goodbye as he’ll be driving back with all the staff on a different driving/ferry route — arriving in Punta Arenas later tonight.

Goodbye Matias (til next time)… Best guide ever!

The plane arrived right on time and we got ready to board. First we packed the bags in the hold, then the people in the cabin. We settled in the 20 passenger plane and we were off.

Operation: Don’t Get Airsick????

The retrospective rewind continued on the flight. From above, we first spotted Las Lengas estancia where we stayed the first night, then estancia Cameron where we saw the sheep herder (and the friendly dogs). We saw some rivers and could clearly see the impact of the beavers on those rivers in some areas. After we flew over Useless Bay (with the penguin colony in the distance), we spotted Portvenir — where the ferry originally docked on Tierra del Fuego island — and proceeded across the Magellan Strait.

Las Lengas and Lago Blanco (the big one)

Pampa waterworks of the Rio Grande

Evidence of beaver crimes

Estancia Cameron

Porvenir

Are you ‘Gellan over the Strait of Magellan?

Finally, we landed in Punta Arenas – back where we started. Now at a proper (albeit small) airport, the airport staff unloaded the bags and we picked them up at baggage claim a few steps away. Great news!!! No one’s luggage was lost!

What’s “kerning” anyways???

Would have been funnier if the belt was moving

We continued Benjamin-buttoning the trip by going back to La Yegua Loca — our original starting point for the Expedition. We had one last lunch together and even ate one of the same meals – delicious salmon on gnocchi. We all got to talk to Matias’ mom on FaceTime – and now we know why Matias is so great! Jen and Jon warned us about a variety of scams to avoid in the world. Ann planned to recover soon and feel better for her continued travels in Patagonia.

Unfortunately, at this point, we had to break our time loop. Rather than start on another Tierra del Fuego adventure, we had to go back to the airport where lounges are full and people use the bag drop line to repack and book new flights. Also, we can still confirm it’s a bad idea to book a LATAM flight in groups 4, 5, or 6 (we were in group 3).

Ok, campers, rise and shine. And don’t forget your calafate juice

We boarded the plane to our “exit row” seats which are technically exit row, but without the legroom. At least there isn’t someone with a broken arm in the exit row this time trying to convince the attendants they are “able to assist”. Also, with such a small airport (only three gates) it’s easy to take off on time. We were soon in the air and on the way to Santiago for our last day and a half.

Now a life sized plane

Tierra del Fuego stowaway

Once we collected our bags, we decided to get a taxi to the hotel and jumped in the line outside (like you do at O’Hare). When it was our turn to get a car, we learned that you had to pre-pay inside and hand your ticket to the driver. So, back inside we went and got that handy ticket. We made it to the Solace Hotel (same place we stayed in 2019) and checked in just after 11pm. Having only had a snack on the plane for dinner, we set out on a mission to find food – ideally pizza.

No ticket, no blue taxi!

Most of the places around the hotel were closed, but we stumbled upon La Cantina, a… pizza place! We confirmed that they were indeed still open and quickly got to work ordering a pizza and Austral beer. Not only was it delicious, it was exactly what we needed. When we were done we went back to the hotel to settle in and sleep.

Delicious midnight pizza incoming

We don’t have a solid plan for tomorrow, but it will involve walking around Santiago.