Vamos means “We go” in Spanish; it was a term we often heard from our guides after a rest break when hiking. We were told at our initial G Adventures orientation in Buenos Aires to “have patience” while travelling and were warned of the possibility of Force Majeure, meaning “unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.” We expected this to be more of an issue while hiking in Patagonia but perhaps less with our transit home.
Sat 5am: Wake at Park Royal, Buenos Aires, shower and ready for Final Four meet up in Lobby to catch pre-booked taxi for 940am flight to Toronto.
Sat 5:35am: See notification from Air Canada that our flight from Buenos Aires to Halifax had been delayed by 1.5 hours. Decided to leave the hotel at 6am as planned, due to huge fútbol/soccer match between longstanding rivals Boca Juniors and River Plates, with crowds, rioting and heavy traffic expected!
Sat 6am: Taxi driver is a bit crazy, talking on cell phone (presumably about the upcoming match) and singing along to AC/DC. We speed out of city as sun is rising, and driver notes massive black cloud and comments “big storm!” Oh great! Gets really dark, begins to rain heavily, and lightening flashes somewhere around the airport. Final four gasp and driver says “relax”, and relates the storm to the the movie he watched last night – Back to the Future! Highways become quickly flooded with water, and after getting splashed with water and zero visibility, driver slows from 110km/hr to 45km/hr.
Sat 6:40am: Arrive at the airport and happily exit taxi. Jody comments that he doesn’t think driver will live thru the day due to reckless driving or maybe the soccer match. Proceed to check-in, grab coffee … wait for 11:35am flight.
Sat 10am: Sit and watch the dark clouds, rain and planes driving through rivers of water. Check forecast, doesn’t look promising. Learn that plane delayed leaving Toronto is reason for our delay. AC905 departure now delayed until 11:55am. No gate assigned yet.
Sat 10:15am: Final four admit not going to make Saturday night connection (Toronto to Halifax at 840pm) and call Air Canada to reschedule on next available flight. Nice AC lady reschedules us on 805am Sunday flight and states a hotel/meal vouchers will be waiting for us in Toronto. Group in okay spirits and feels things will work out.
Sat 11am: Spend remaining Pesos on snacks and locate gate to board flight now delayed until 1230pm. Stand in line and wait.
Sat 1pm: Board plane and Jody and Tanya settle in seats. Remark how glad they upgraded to preferred seating with extra leg room. Rain pelts the plane while wind rocks it. It could be in a car wash. Flight attendant announces they have halted boarding due to heavy rain entering plane.
Sat 130pm: Remaining passengers board plane. Note significant rain and wind and express concern regarding taking off. Pilot announces plane needing to be fuelled and restrictions on fuelling with thunderstorms in area. Provided with small sandwich by attendants, Jody starts watching movie and Tanya sleeps.
Sat 310pm: Pilot announces still waiting for fuel, along with may other planes and getting close to point where passengers would need to deplane.
Sat 330pm: Tanya wakes as Pilot announces we are waiting for clearance for take off. Passengers applaud.
Fly from Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America to Toronto, Canada, North America, nearly 10,000 km. Travel back one time zone and back 1 hour due to time change while we were away. Watch 3 movies each, sleep on/off, eat lunch and supper sometime in the night.
Sun 1230am: Land in Toronto and deplane. Grab new boarding passes, meal and hotel vouchers at end of pedway. Proceed through customs and pick up luggage. Leave terminal to hotel shuttle waiting area for bus to Crowne Plaza Hotel. No room on first bus, catch second one.
Sun 224am: Arrive in room and crash in pillow soft bed. Nap.
Sun 5am: Alarm goes off! Ugh! Get ready quickly to catch shuttle, along with about 60 travellers.
Sun 530am: Crowd into shuttle with standing room only. Tanya almost looses it when a passenger is using a seat for his small backpack and tells him to move over! Sheesh! Arrive at terminal, check in and recheck bags. AC attendant notes that we may not be able to land in Halifax due to weather. Try not to think about it.
Sun 625am: Find Airport restaurant and order breakfast/COFFEE. Final Four thoroughly enjoy breakfast, spend travel vouchers and reflect on past 24 hours.
Sun 735am: Board AC Flight604 to Halifax.
Sun 810am: Take on board selfie and remark that we look like we feel – weary and tired.
Sun 1111am: Land in Halifax. Take moment to remember war/military veterans as it is Remembrance Day. Pick up bags and meet Krystle’s husband Mike. Drive to Waverley and pick up Betty Outback (Tanya’s Subaru).
Sun 1230pm: Arrive Home! Begin process to unpack and do laundry! Acknowledge that despite a few unexpected twists, all ended well and that Patagonia in Depth was an epic adventure.
Hope you have enjoyed following our trip. We plan to summarize the 4 day W-Trek and post this week. Then we might sit back and read our blog because it has been a blur.