7-Day Antarctica Tour: Soar Above the Drake Passage

My wife and I booked our honeymoon in Chile and Argentina through Zicasso, which matched us with the local travel agent. Our trip included stops in Santiago, Chile, Punta Arenas to see the Penguins, an upscale all inclusive hotel just outside of Torres Del Paine national park, a glacier tour in El Calafate, and ended with two nights in Buenos Aires before returning home. 

As you can imagine, the above required a great deal of coordination and our trip/honeymoon was absolutely fabulous. Every travel arrangement, transfer, hotel, and excursion was wonderful. All of our drivers/tour guides were on time, knowledgeable, and knew our travel itinerary exactly. We felt safe and confident that we would be well cared for the entire trip which allowed us to relax and enjoy our honeymoon.

This agency clearly has excellent relationships with outstanding local tour guides, and this allows them to execute seamless trips. We have no reservations in providing them with an outstanding 5 star review. 

We had a marvelous, unforgettable trip overall, including visits to Santiago, the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, Easter Island, Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile, and finally Antarctica. We experienced a great variety of Chile's vast geography and ecology, from the beautiful central valleys, to the northern desert, to the tropical Polynesian island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), to the forests and mountains of Patagonia. The lodges and excursions they provided in each destination were well organized, with knowledgeable, English-speaking guides. We visited Antarctica and it was spectacular. The tour operator offers expedition travel for people who want to experience the polar regions firsthand. Our expedition, 14 days that went below the Antarctica Circle, featured expert guides who enjoyed sharing their considerable knowledge of geology, glaciers and ice (!), mammals, birds, and plants, to name just a portion, and excursions twice daily on zodiacs to sail among glaciers and whales and seals and walk among penguins and skuas. It was not a leisure cruise, but an expedition for folks who want to experience and appreciate the Antarctica up close. That said, the ship was extremely comfortable, with a remarkably hospitable staff and delicious, copious food.

Our travel company was excellent in helping us to conceptualize, plan, and organize our trip. They offered many useful suggestions about where to go, how much time to spend in each destination, and which options to consider for hotels/lodges and the Antarctica expedition. We greatly appreciated their advice and assistance in putting together our trip. All of the hotel and transit reservations were made, and that part of the trip went smoothly.

However, there was a persistent problem with our air travel in Chile that was unnecessary, and which caused us needless aggravation. For our internal flights (to/from Calama/Atacama, and to Puerto Natales), our travel company purchased the cheapest LAN tickets that did not include baggage allowance. I discovered this a month before we were set to travel, when I was carefully reviewing the reservations (and about 5 months after they purchased the tickets). When I informed the travel company in early January 2018, I said we of course had baggage (especially cold weather gear for Antarctica) and needed the 23 kg allowance. After I informed them of the problem, they did work to correct the problem, telling us they had purchased baggage allowances for those flights that didn't originally have them. We got a receipt from them for baggage for one of those flights (to Puerto Natales), and were told it was resolved for the Calama flights but LAN couldn't provide a receipt. When we did check in for those flights, the baggage allowance was covered, but our concern before each flight could have been avoided if they had bought the correct tickets. 

This problem became more apparent, and more aggravating when we were checking in to fly from Atacama to Santiago, and then on to Easter Island. We were told we could not check our bags all the way through to Easter Island because our tickets for the two flights that day were not on the same record. (This was due to the fact that two different priced tickets had been purchased. The Easter Island tickets were regular, economy tickets.) So we had to check in our bags to Santiago, retrieve them from baggage claim at Santiago Airport, and then return to the Departures area of the airport and check them in for the flight to Easter Island. Santiago Airport is a huge, crowded, messy airport, and this process of literally running around the airport took us 1.5 hours (of what was a 2 hour layover). We arrived at our gate for Easter Island just as people were boarding. This was not what we planned for or expected—and it could and should have been avoided if the travel company had bought the proper air tickets from the start.

Alejandro from our travel company helped us arrange a trip for my 78-year-old father and my 2 sons to Argentina, Antarctica and the Falkland Islands. It perfectly met their desires, calendars and budget. Lots of pre-travel forms and doctors' approvals were needed by the excursion cruise line. Alejandro helped guide us through making the cruise arrangements and getting the paperwork correctly submitted on time. He was extremely responsive to all our needs and did an outstanding job at everything we would expect of a high-quality travel agent.

But that was just the beginning. Many great travel agents can help plan a wonderful trip, but the very special ones are able to help when things go wrong or opportunities present themselves, and quickly make adjustments. Things started going wrong after the first leg of the trip. The connection in Dallas was delayed overnight so my Dad and sons were not able to check in with the cruise line’s travel agent in Buenos Aires the day before the cruise ship left from the southern tip of South America. Instead of having a day to tour Buenos Aires and follow the lead of the cruise line's travel agent to get to their charter flight, their flight from Dallas didn't arrive in Buenos Aires until after 1 a.m. the next day; exactly when Argentina’s World Cup Championship team arrived to a million fans swarming the airport and all roads to it.

Alejandro anticipated the problem and arranged to have our guide meet our flight to ensure that my family got through airport construction and to the terminal where their charter was to depart from. My family didn’t know which of 2 airlines their charter was with or when it was leaving. Alejandro had tracked down and coordinated with the person in charge of getting cruise passengers from the city and onto the charter flights, so our guide could get my family checked in ahead of the others. The travel agent responsible for the other passengers for the cruise was stuck in traffic with them and was hours late getting to the airport. By the time they arrived, we had been checked in and were ready to go. My father is a very experienced traveler, but readily admitted he could not have found out where they needed to be and gotten there or found the cruise line’s travel agent without the assistance Alejandro arranged.  Alejandro's anticipation of the problem enabled my family to avoid massive stress and possibly to miss the connection to their once in a lifetime expedition.

Then, the night before the return flight from Tierra Del Fuego to Buenos Aires, my family found out that their charter flight would leave much earlier than expected. My Dad and sons would have an 8-hour layover at the Buenos Aires Airport. Alejandro was able to arrange for our guide to take them on a tour of the city during their layover and get them back to the airport on time. Thus, through Alejandro’s great effort, my family got to see Buenos Aires which they missed doing earlier in their trip because of their flight delay in Dallas. 

The bottom line is that my Dad and sons avoided stressful disasters and had the trip of a lifetime together thanks to Alejandro’s skill and determination to make it happen. 

Great trip- Chile is a beautiful country! Our trip planner did a good job of communicating with us overall. I appreciate her work checking on things to make sure they had cribs, etc and helping us make some last minute changes. We asked a few times for a list of restaurant recommendations that we never received so that would have been good. Also, I wish she had suggested that we fly in and out of puerto natales rather than punta arenas. We also did not enjoy our hotel in Punta Arenas (wasn't horrible but not as great as the other ones) and especially since the penguin tour was cancelled felt like it was a little bit of a waste. 

Overall, the trip was exceptional and the travel company was very good.Working initially with my agent via email, we arranged a custom-made, month-long itinerary including roughly 10 days in Argentina, 10 days in Chile and then 5 days on Easter Island. The travel company impressed me throughout the process by offering various options appealing to our travel interests, including some experiences that other companies didn’t think of.Any trip of this size is bound to have some hiccups along the way. Most items were handled very well by this company, especially once we had their local operator, working on our behalf. There were some areas though where I thought the service could be improved:- The flight from Punta Arenas could not connect with the one to Calama. They are two different airlines, so we had to retrieve our bags from Sky Airlines in Santiago, exit the airport entirely, and then come back in through baggage check, security, etc. to connect to the next flight on Latam. Granted, this is a truly ridiculous system and entirely the fault of the Santiago airport. However, it is the responsibility of the Agency to know that going from Sky to Latam in Santiago will result in such a problem. The travel company should have noticed this in the booking (they arranged all the local flights) and chosen 2 Latam flights instead. Such flights did exist, as there were other tourists doing exactly the same route as us going Latam to Latam with no problem.- I was very clear with my agent when arranging the itinerary that I would be fine with small group tours, but I definitely did not want giant bus tours. Our day trip to Valparaiso was a giant bus, completely full. We did not follow the itinerary for some reason, and it was the weakest experience of the trip. I know that small tours of 4-8 people existed because we saw them, right alongside us! The local tour company was also terrible. They picked us up from our hotel, drove around for 30 minutes through Santiago in rush hour, only to return to our own hotel and pick up another couple! What a huge waste of time! Then our small van brought us to a centralized point where we all offloaded and stood in a parking lot for another 30 minutes in total chaos. Nobody was clear on what we were to do or where we should go. Other passengers were also confused. 3-4 buses sat there empty for the whole time period while the guides sorted it all out. No signs, no clear direction. Eventually, I began going bus-by-bus, going into each vehicle, and asking where it was going. Eventually I figured it out with zero help from any of the guides or drivers. By then, we were the last to board, and were actually made fun of by the guide! Unbelievable! We didn’t mention this one until now because once we realised it was a giant bus tour, it was already too late. There is nothing this company could have done to change it, so we made the best of our day. It simply should not have been booked to start.The local tour company and our travel company were helpful in working with our hotel to fix the incorrect charge for the “astronomy excursion”. They also helped us smooth out small problems in a few places throughout the trip, such as when the driver dropped us at the wrong hotel in Santiago, and small things like that.

I am thrilled that in my internet search when I decided to visit Chile that I found your company.  You matched me with this travel company and my personal agent.  The service your company provides is excellent.  I would change nothing and have no suggestion for doing things better.

I worked on my trip with the help of this agent for a few months.  I am an experienced traveler and know what I want to accomplish on a journey.  I did some research and talked with friends who traveled in Chile, one is particular on a cruise.  

My trip was multi-faceted

So would I change anything. Absolutely not.  Helped to know generally what I wanted to do and was involved in the planning process. Also very important was the materials the travel company provided outlining my itinerary and the continual emails with in country flight boarding passes and pickup times.  All worked like clock work. 

in that it began with a cooking class in Santiago with a tour of the markets.  Cooking is my hobby and I really enjoyed the class which my agent arranged.  I traveled to Puertos Arenas and Nataly and was on a cruise to the glaciers and fiords for three nights.  Personal guide from Arenas, also excellent,  chosen by my agent was perfect for me.  We toured to a nearby volcano and amazing waterfall, I met his wife, we went to the island of Chloe, I met his father in law and saw his farm, and spent a night in Castro, also fun.  Stayed at a bnb on stilts outside of town.

Next portion was a self drive at the Carratera Austra.  This guide knows the area and arranged for lodging at a wonderful place near a beautiful river.  What was not planned was picking up a young couple from Argentina, musicians who play on streets for support.  I adopted them for two nights.  We had a great time together.  Even the rental vehicle was an SUV which I needed on the travel roads and space to pick up hitch hikers.

My trip ended in Santiago where I relaxed at my wonderful hotel also chosen by my agent, and saw parts of the city including the Barrio Italia.  My trip concluded with a tour of Valparaiso with another excellent guide and our driver.  (I suggested that my driver be sent to a English as a second language school as he is excellent and would be good for him and clients).

With each of my guides we discussed the history of Chile, the current issues and politics, social issues through which I really learned about Chile in my two week stay.  

My last activity was to visit the Museum of Memory to learn more about the Allende years and the military coup and its aftermath.