Chile 2008

Hola! Chile/Argentina 2008

Here are some pictures from the first day, August 24, 2008

As well, here is a link to Cals excellent photos of the trip: http://www.seecaltrot.blogspot.com/

feed://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/CalvinBurgart64/albumid/5245673651210542049?alt=rss&kind=photo&hl=en_US

Chile was my first South American dream. While working at Gray Rocks Inn's famous Snow Eagle Ski School in the winter of 1972-73, I met some guys that have become life long friends. Back then we were dreaming of travelling to Portillo, Chile to work in the International Ski School for the summer. In the Spring of '73 however, the political coup in Chile put an end to that dream. Nearly 35 years later, here we are again still dreaming of far off Portillo and, even expanding the vision.

Many things have changed over the years in the worlds longest Country and Tourism is well and thriving. Our port of entry will be Santiago, the capital. The actual itinerary is currently being fine tuned but we are looking at an arrival date of Sunday August 24, 2008 and the stay will be for about 14 days departing on September 6th.

We will be assisted by Will Wasson and Snofari Tours again this year. Will brings a wealth of experience on the logistics side of things as well as an inside track on the best and most economical ways of eating, residing and getting around in the Spanish speaking Countries. You should surf up to The Basics part of his web site to familiarize yourself with the minimum requirements you need to meet in order to travel and insure yourself properly. Obviously you need your passport to be up to date and it is always a good idea to have certain innoculations before travelling and proper extended health insurance in place in case of emergency.

Once these details are out of the way, you will be looking to book your own air transportation to Santiago, Chile [SCL] return. It is an overnight flight and you will need to leave Canada on Saturday August 23nd. Typically, the fare is around $1,400.00 from most parts of Canada. The two week tour is currently estimated to come in at $3,200.00 US. This will include all the transportation legs, hotels w/breakfasts and lift ticket costs. We are currently working on a food and beverage budget. In South America it is relatively inexpensive to eat out and most dinners last year including wine didn't exceed $20 Cdn per day while lunches averaged $5-8 Cdn.

Week 1:

1. Arrive in Santiago Sunday morning August 24th - transfer Santiago to Las Trancas/Termas Chillan, 5 nights at Hotel Robledal.
2. Ski Termas Chillan followed by Hot Springs soak.
3. Ski Termas Chillan
4. Ski Termas Chillan
5. Ski Termas Chillan
6. Travel Day Las Trancas to Rancagua including Market Tour in Chillan o/n at lodging TBA
7. Ski Chape Verde transfer Santiago lodging Hotel Vegas.

Week 2:

8. City Tour of Santiago then transfer to Los Andes with winery tour enroute. o/n Hotel Los Andes.
9. Ski Portillo and o/n in Los Andes.
10. Ski Arpa Cat Skiing and o/n in downtown Santiago at the Hotel Vegas.
11. Transfer to Ski Valle Nevado and 2 nights at Hotel Apart El Colorado Hotel Apart
12. Ski at El Colorado.
13. Ski La Parva and transfer to Santiago o/n Hotel Vegas.
14. Sleep in and then free time in Santiago followed by transfer to airport and flights home.

To be continued...