My friend Jean has volunteered to travel with me on several equally remote trips. When I brought up the idea of Patagonia, once more she didn't hesitate.
Wisely, she supplied the name of a reputable travel company. Lost World Adventures of Atlanta had planned her successful trip to South America several years ago. I contacted Andrew at LWA and told him my priority agenda: navigating the Chilean fjords and exploring Tierra del Fuego and Torres del Paine National Parks.
It was only after I told Andrew I wanted to sail through the Chilean fjords that I realized I seem to have an obsession with these frigid bodies of water. I recalled that within the space of just one calendar year, from March 2005 to March 2006 after this trip, I would have completed THREE trips to explore fjords in faraway corners of the world: New Zealand's Doubtful Sound in March 2005, Norway's fjords in August 2005, and now the fjords of Chile which would take place in February/March 2006.
Even more surprising to me is the fact that I actually succeeded in flying to all three destinations courtesy of FREE frequent flyer tickets via United Airlines. Given the notorious difficulty of snagging even one frequent flyer ticket when you want to fly, I still can't believe this achievement. One other fact astonishes me. When I checked in for my free frequent flyer return flight via Lufthansa from Santiago to Sao Paulo, Brazil, the ticket attendant unexpectedly upgraded me to a first class seat ---and actually gave me additional frequent flyer points!
[Go to Patagonia Part Four]
