Bienvenida a Santiago!

It was a 10-hour slog, but as we were in business class, we had a lie-flat bed and all of us good solid sleep ahead of our 7:30am arrival.  The weekend before we left, we had the Rieckhoffs over for a pre-departure dinner.  It was only then that the four of us looked at a proper world map and realized that both Chile and Argentina sit significantly east of Washington.  I am embarrassed to admit that, but it meant we only had a one-hour time difference, with both countries actually being one hour AHEAD of us.  That helped considerably with jet lag; namely, the lack thereof.

Approaching Santiago

On the Ground Safe and Sound

The airport in Santiago was shiny and new, and in fact we learned that it had just undergone a major overall, which was completed several years ahead of schedule, during the pandemic, when the international terminal was essentially closed.  We parted company with Jeff and Barbara at the airport, as they had hotel transfers pre-booked through Gate1, whereas I had booked us a private transfer, as I usually do -- to save money.  You know me.

It was a bright, sunny, and warm day, and while I had expected the transfer from airport to hotel would take 30 minutes or so, it ended up taking us well over an hour.  The roads into and through the city were an absolute mess.  Our driver spoke limited English and we wrongly assumed that the heavy traffic was normal.  We later learned that there had been a bomb alert in central Santiago (a hoax), but it was the cause of all the back-ups and closed roads.  We were thankful this occurred upon arrival, rather than if we'd been trying to get to the airport to leave.

Somehow the Rieckhoffs arrived ahead of us, even though they left after us, but in either case, we were all met by our tour manager for the coming two weeks -- Veni -- who had been waiting for us.  This was our seventh tour with Gate1, and the only time a tour manager met us upon arrival, which was a very welcome surprise.  In addition to getting our luggage and keys sorted, he told us of our welcome meeting and dinner that evening, and shared that our entire group was only going to comprise 14 people.  As with our trip to Romania a month earlier, I was both surprised and delighted that the tours were running with such small numbers.  Especially considering what a great group we ended up having, we could not have been more fortunate to have so few joining us.  Another unexpected surprise and treat.

Our Hotel in Santiago -- the Pullman Vitacura

View From our Room -- Smog, and more Smog