Monday, January 09, 2006
2 January Luggage arrives BUT.....
After arriving in El Calafate and discovering that our 5 day ¨comprehensively organised¨ tour was not, we found the Eurotour office (the local version of World Expeditions) and got organised.
The day started well with a phone call from LAN saying our luggage was on the plane to El Calafate and would arrive at 1PM. We organised with Eurotour that they would pick up the bags from the airport, and headed off for a day tour to the Perito Moreno Glacier.
Perito Moreno was everything we had hoped for. Vast, awe-inspiring, large pieces of the glacier crashing into the lake below. We went on a boat trip to get closer to the glacier, and learned that the boat used to go closer, but after 32 people died between 1968 and 1988 they realised that they should stay a bit further away.
At 5 o´clock ish we arrived to our hotel, but no bags in sight. Moderate panic, but the plane had been delayed, and after chasing up, reminding Eurotour that they were helping us, the bags at last arrived. YAY!
Pat was keen to charge the batteries after all the photos from the day, so we unlocked our bags (which had been locked with secure locks) to find....... battery chargers, camera, phone chargerrs, electricity adapters, cables and so on...in fact everything electronic...had been stolen from our luggage! Not happy!
Travel Unassistance provided by the insurance company told us all sorts of rubbish, and told us that the airline would need to write a letter to say that they agreed that items were stolen! As it had come through Qantas, LAN, Aerolineas Argentinas, that would be an interesting debate!
We did manage to buy some adapters (our Spanish words were increasing to Cargador, adaptador) and so on, which was challenging enough on New Year´s Day in El Calafate (think Jindabyne without the lake).
We went to bed with whisky and chocolate feeling a little despondent, but determined not to let it beat us!
The day started well with a phone call from LAN saying our luggage was on the plane to El Calafate and would arrive at 1PM. We organised with Eurotour that they would pick up the bags from the airport, and headed off for a day tour to the Perito Moreno Glacier.
Perito Moreno was everything we had hoped for. Vast, awe-inspiring, large pieces of the glacier crashing into the lake below. We went on a boat trip to get closer to the glacier, and learned that the boat used to go closer, but after 32 people died between 1968 and 1988 they realised that they should stay a bit further away.
At 5 o´clock ish we arrived to our hotel, but no bags in sight. Moderate panic, but the plane had been delayed, and after chasing up, reminding Eurotour that they were helping us, the bags at last arrived. YAY!
Pat was keen to charge the batteries after all the photos from the day, so we unlocked our bags (which had been locked with secure locks) to find....... battery chargers, camera, phone chargerrs, electricity adapters, cables and so on...in fact everything electronic...had been stolen from our luggage! Not happy!
Travel Unassistance provided by the insurance company told us all sorts of rubbish, and told us that the airline would need to write a letter to say that they agreed that items were stolen! As it had come through Qantas, LAN, Aerolineas Argentinas, that would be an interesting debate!
We did manage to buy some adapters (our Spanish words were increasing to Cargador, adaptador) and so on, which was challenging enough on New Year´s Day in El Calafate (think Jindabyne without the lake).
We went to bed with whisky and chocolate feeling a little despondent, but determined not to let it beat us!
