Goodbye, Chile!

After our Patagonia trek, the next stop was Easter Island, so this post would have been all about the mystery of the Rapa Nui culture and people, but that will have to wait because this story can't wait!

Let's rewind 36 hours. 

It's our last day in Chile. We're ready for our long flight home: 

from Santiago to Lima, 

from Lima to El Salvador, 

and then 

from El Salvador to San Francisco. 

We had already checked in when we flew in from Easter Island last night and we're staying at the Holiday Inn literally 100 meters across the street from the airport terminal, so we are all set to wrap up our 2 weeks in Chile!

Sunset at SCL. See how close the Holiday Inn (green sign on the bottom left) is to the airport (the artsy structure).

Best Holiday Inn ever! There's even a choice between soft and firm pillows.

The alarm went off at 7:45am. Only problem is that our flight left at 7:30am!!! 15 minutes before we woke up!!! 

We had 3 alarms set and all 3 alarms failed to perform for various reasons. What are the odds?!?

When we arrived at the departure lounge, there was no sign of any Avianca check-in counters. We asked for direction to the Avianca airline office, but no one at the airport had any idea. After running around every floor and looking around every corner, we eventually found a plain door with a little sign that says "Avianca". A man peered out of the door, handed us a phone number to call, and then promptly shut the door.

While Cory was on the phone with Avianca to discuss our options, I searched online for options with other airlines. To add to the complication, I have another flight to catch about 12 hours after we were due to arrive at SFO, so if I don't get home on the same day, it would snow ball into 3 further missed flight connections. Though Cory and Aimee had less of a time restriction, the news was still not good when Avianca said that the next available flight is on Dec 1, three days later. I should mention that we were huddled in an office corner inside the American Airlines office. The lady there is an absolute angel to let us squat there and use the phone. She had also looked up the next available flight on AA for us but it would cost us an arm and a leg and still not get me home in time for my next flight, so that wasn't an ideal option at all. That is when it dawned on me how far across the world we were from home and our options are limited. Gasp!

Amidst the chaotic moments, I automatically dove into work/"do" mode. On one screen (and when I say screen, I mean the little iPhone Safari page, with slow and sometimes non-existent Internet data capability), I had the list of every flight that departs from SCL that day, so I can narrow down to a few airports that may have potential connections to the US. On two other screens, I pulled up the two airlines, LAN and Copa, based on the fact that they had the most counter space at check-in so they likely will have the most flight out that could get us closer to SF if not all the way. On the last screen, I had one of the flight search engines that conglomerate flights from all the airlines, but sometimes the search engines are just not as creative as human in finding unique solutions. After triangulating all the data, I found an answer! 

Here's my new master plan: Fly to Los Angeles via Panama City, rent a car because there are no flights out of LAX past midnight, and drive an all-nighter back to SF. Estimated time of arrival at SF is 5am or 6am, which gives me 2 or 3 hours before I need to be back at SFO. Que genial!

Given the day we were having, of course there was a catch: there were only 2 seats left. Fortunately, Cory found a similar option to LAX that leaves half a day after, and then she would fly instead of drive back to SF from there.

36 hours later.

My master plan worked as planned! Albeit lacking sleep, I got home at 6am, unpacked and repacked plus several critical tasks including laundry, and made my next flight! :-)

As for Cory, her backpack was stolen when she went into town to kill some time. She can tell a better story, but long story short, there was a commotion "Su mochilla! Su mochilla!", screaming "Ayudame! Ayudame!", and chasing after a thief who disappears into the crowd just like in a Bourne movie. Luckily, someone caught the bad guy, and her backpack along with her passport was returned to the rightful owner. She spent hours at the police station filing a report so the bad guy doesn't get off free. And now she's on her way home.

The adventure never ends! Stay tuned and I'll be right back after 36 more hours of flying....