LOCATION: Puerto Williams to Santiago
The alarm gently stirred us at 5.30 am to get cracking for the dsy. We were the 6.30 disembarkation group headed to flight 2 for the return journey Peurto Williams (via Punta Arenas) for a 6.35 take off.
Aided by the 6 am announcement that it was "time to go" we were through the shower, dressed and loaded up and making our farewells in the hallway to Pratish and ThuThu.
Effortless exit from the ship with the hallway and gangway lined with staff making their farewells and onto the mini bus with Antonio. He had 7 minutes on this trip, to share the 'highlights' of the Port and had us entertained with stories of the purest air and water in the world, hikes and proliferation of lichen and wild horses and cows. Not bad for an early morning start that delivered us to the airport just as the sun rise rising.
That was really the last of the "smooth sailing" for a little while.
We had some hold up getting through security because @Mac had two batteries in his hand luggage. Needed to get a few more layers of security involved before, after noting the serial number of the devices we were through, a Ross the tarmac and into our seats. We were optimistically buckled up by 7.30 just ahead of the scheduled departure of 7.35.
It was then a whir or two of an engine. Moving forward, backing up. Lights on. Electricity off. Announcements made for a delay. A vehicle on the runway and a man with a rifle sighting something down the barrel. The food cart trotted out with hot drinks or juice. A little more movement until at 9 am the Captain finally announced we had to disembark.
Flight 1 passengers were still in the waiting room. Passengers for Flight 3 were still on the ship.
The Silversea Crew arrived with breakfast and drinks but on the ground we were receiv8ng very little information.
At 10 am @Richard chatted to one of the ground staff and sourced that three replacement planes were being dispatched from Punta Arenas. Nothing to do really other that settle in and relax or take a little walk.
The time dragged on but really nothing you could do. Wouldn't say we were wined and dined but the Silversea crew kept the food coming - hot pizza, rolls, fruits and plenty of coffee, tea and juice. We definitely missed the regular communication of @Mareika - we are all swapping snippets of probably in correct info because the airport ground staff were reluctant to share.
And so it dragged on. Until, at 11.15 I saw it and made the call. I was just in the right seat at the right time to spot it first. 'A plane. A plane!" I yelled. It appeared low above the harbour and as all eyes turned to spot it - a cheer erupted. This was soon followed by moans and groans. There were a number of passengers with tight deadlines for connecting flights. Unfortunately, those needy passengers had simehow been allocated to flight 2 with us - and there was no enthusiasm from the ground staff to change anyone's flight. Things were getting tense.
We just walked outside in the clear air and admired the view, basked in the sunshine and snapped hundreds of perfect reflection photos we will never look at again .
The flight 1 people loaded up and were in the air at noon - that was after a 5 1/2 hour delay. The news for us at noon was that the engineers had arrived on the plane and were assessing the issue and we were told to "stand by. "
The Silversea Crew kept drinks, including champagne now, and food flowing. @Jessica (@Mareika's 2IC) was eventually dispatched to the airport and all of a sudden regular updates were released. She was good! And by noon, plan A, B, C and D had all been discarded and a second replacement aircraft was dispatched. At 1 pm we made our way through the security check AGAIN (no holdup for the battery now - confirmed his name and waved him on) and were excited at the prospect of boarding. This was literally a countdown and it was with heightened relief that we boarded the black and white penguin Antarctic Aircraft at 2 o'clock and the engine roared to life and finally took off at 2.30. With absolutely no sign of a man with a rifle on the tarmac. It remains a mystery.
Of course had to land (very smoothly) in Punta Arenas for the mandatory 40 minute refuelling stop. We were aware that the fuel load needed to be kept low in Puerto Williams because the runway is so short for take-off. We didn't care - as long as the warning lights in the cockpit didn't flash.
In the air at 4 pm for the 3 hour 15 minute run into Santiago. Even that didn't pan out in our favour. We didn't land till just shy of 8 pm and it wasn't, thankfully, in temperatures of 33 degrees.
We were well cared for on the flight with the usual Silversea food and drink offerings. However, it was a BYO entertainment craft. We had prepared, or so we thought. Had a little hiccup- Mac's noise cancelling headsets had been stored in the case in the "on" position and were therefore flat. Add to that the fact we hadn't renewed his audio book from the library - he had to resort to a few hours of Sudoku. My audio book and headsets were AOK and I always have a craft project on the go.
The only annoying aspect of this 6 1/2 hour delay, added to the 5 1/2 hour flight is that we were trapped in very close proximity to a lady with an absolute shocker of a persistent ear splitting wet cough. And just ask -Loraine, who was in the seat in front of her - if it wasn't the cough - it was an endless loud American accented voice, describing the missed flight - on loop, at volume for hours! @Loraine was shaking her head alternating between laughing and crying at the constant ramblings!
Well, a little unsettling, rather than annoying was our last 30 minute run into landing in Santiago. I would say the turbulence of that ride rivalled the wildness of the sea in the Drake Passage. It included a little interval where the stretch of the seatbelt was challenged we were jerked so high off the seat as the plane dropped suddenly. I was really surprised the oxygen masks didn't drop from the overhead panel.
The moral of this story - don't have tight connections for an Antarctic flight.
The remainder of this trip has so many internal flights - we are unanimous in hoping this is the only delay we experience.
Safely in Santiago
Checked in effortlessly at the Holiday Inn, literally across the road! With such a late arrival definitely absolutely no delay in accessing our rooms. The first task was to set up the bag for @LoRi to return to Australia. A bit of an impressive bundle when finalised in the share $2 bag from the junk shop (hope it goes the distance) - 4 backpacks, 2 drink bottles, 4 silversea parkas and @Mac and I have each sloughed off a cube of superfluous winter gear and @DeLoy had done similar with their winter gear in an overnight bag.. We were very generous in binding it all together with packing tape to try and prevent an in transit blow out. Not sure how poor @LoRi are going to manage the carting of this ... but they have reassured us they will "work it out." Can't want to see the before, during and after shots.
That job out of the way we gathered in the bar for a little clink of glasses and a snack to mark the end of Stage 1 of our adventure. @Jaime looked after us (😅🤣😂 including helping @Lloyd use his credit card to pay the bill - hope that works out!) and we did notice the the football game on the big screen TV was drawing a lot of attention. Go the Matildas BTW.
As part of the final recap on board, @Mareika had invited team members to describe their "golden moments." @Richard initiated the same conversation for us at our little gathering.
Here we go ....
@Deb - had many moments where the vastness and harshness of the 7th Continent took over her imagination trying to place her in the shoes of the early explorers - and questioning "how did they do it?"
@Lloyd - everything - all beyond his expectations - and a specific example was the whales right under his balcony in Wilhelmina Bay putting on a spectacular show in such numbers.
@Richard - unbelievable adventure but extra special because it was shared with "mates." Sharing the journey seemed to heightened the emotional response to the experiences.
@Loraine and @Jan - both tagged the white beauty of the walk at DeMoy to the hut with the penguins. The snow capped mountain background on the way in and the vista of the bay on the return. Glorious.
@Mac - his dream plan to celebrate 70 came together as a tributary. Travelled below the circle, set foot on the 7th Continent and took the plunge. And, add to that win, he did it in great company!
We've taken hundreds of photos - ranging from white outs to the vivid contrasting colours that pop under blue skies and it is amazing at how powerful every memory has become. So many golden moments.
As a parting thought - i do believe that @Mareika has tamed us in just one week of interaction. That delay today a little wrinkle in everyone's blanket. We could easily have witnessed some flare-ups. But there was a calmness in the group - a realisation that some things cannot be controlled. And a confidence, that there were people working to do their very best to work their way through h the alphabet to find a resolution.
Anyway, with dinner done and dusted, we just fell into bed, with ANOTHER alarm set, for ANOTHER repositioning flight tomorrow.
Survival Barometer
Steps 4 369
Weather 5 Puerto Williams, 26 on arrival in Santiago
Health - no complaints 👌
Can you believe this?
🌋 Amazing Volcanic & Seismic Facts About Santiago from Co-Pilot
1. Santiago sits in one of the most earthquake‑active zones on Earth
Chile isn’t just earthquake‑prone — it’s the most seismically active country on the planet.
Santiago alone experiences hundreds of tremors every year, most too small to feel.
Chileans have a national superpower:
they can tell the magnitude of an earthquake just by the way their lamp swings.
2. The strongest earthquake ever recorded happened in Chile
Not in Santiago, but close enough to shape the entire country’s building codes.
The 1960 Valdivia quake hit M 9.5, the largest in human history.
Santiago’s modern buildings are so over‑engineered that:
a 7.0 quake is considered “annoying but fine.
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