Puerto Montt
Friday Feb 8th 3:00
pm
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| First sight of getting to the airport |
The simple sight of the
airport brought a sense of peace to our minds. But we knew our 'fight' to get
to Punta Arenas was not over yet. We still had to -somehow- check all our
550 lbs of gear into a domestic flight. I headed to the check-in counter
and asked how much weight each passenger was allowed to bring. 20 kilos for checked
bags and 5 for carry-ons. Any excess would incur in a charge of 2,000 CHP
per kilo extra!
 |
| Yeah, we were those people you see running at the airport. |
We were way out of luck!!! We
scrambled and shuffle our gear to make 3 bags in the required weight limit. We
thought we will have to spend our life savings (and credit!) to take our gear
to Punta. We started to put on all the clothing that we could. Sam even
wanted to walk in with our drysuits on! I was sure that would land us
straight into Carabineros hands and cavity searches. So we opted out of
it. We 'just' had a total of:
- 15
pairs of pants (including cycling shorts!)
- 7
shirts
- 4
pairs of socks
- 3
pair of bike shoes (the heaviest shoes we had)
- 1
pair of gloves
 |
The final cost of shipping a bike and 30 kilos of excess baggage.
About $90. |
Meanwhile a brilliant idea
was formed: let's ask if they do cargo shipments! As we entered the
airport I remembered seeing a cargo area. Sam mentioned it again so I ran in
that direction.
Running with 5 lbs of extra
clothing was a mission on its own. It was hot, heavy and uncomfortable. I felt
the instant heat wave generate and the dehydration of the past days kicking in.
The cargo office gave me the thumbs up and I headed back to check-in for
our flight and bring the remaining luggage and the bike box to the cargo.
 |
| Sam and I's carry-ons. |
We managed to check-in with a
few kilos overweight. Thankfully our carry-ons were not weighed since some were
probably pushing 30 kilos. Tom stayed with our carry-ons while Sam and I
took one bag and the bike box to the cargo area.
The cargo office was about
700 meters away. Sam and I were hot with all our clothing and way too tight!
We felt what an overweight and inflexible person would feel. Now we will
be much more emphatic about it. The bike and bag will leave in the same
airplane as we but it will cost us a fraction of the price! It only cost
us 43,000 CHP! Cheaper than sending the bike box in an American airport.
Finally some success for Team Four Continents!!!
Back in the airport the only
obstacle between us and the plane was yet another security check point. We were
trying to act like our carry-ons were light. But boy! They sure were not!
My bag and Tom's went by unnoticed but security stopped Sam dead on his
track.
 |
| Yeah, we lost a wrench... who cares! |
Oh no! The race food!
The climbing gear! The equipment! The excess weight! What
would it be?! A 4 inch wrench!
That we bought for car repairs and saved for bike box work. Whatever! Keep
it! Dropped it next to the sling shot at the impound box! It was the most
amusing non-dramatic event of the entire trip!
We were free! Just one
more flight to go. With lots of relief we saw
all our bags and bike box being loaded into the plane. The flight was 30
minutes late. We couldn't really care much. We sat on the second row of
our plane and rested.
 |
Sam and I looking a little bit heavier
with our extra pants and biking shoes. |
No further calamities
affected our trip. But we must have been really smelly since the flight
attendant kept spraying some sort of toxic air freshener whenever she walked by
us! If only she knew all the adventures and obstacles we had to surpass
the get there.
Once in Punta Arenas our
usual unusualness created a big commotion. While waiting for our baggage we
started undressing. We shed layers and layers of clothing to the amusement of
fellow passengers and other racers.
At the airport we were
greeted by our friend Rodrigo. His truck was big enough for us and all our
gear. By now, we have become moving experts so it only took us a few minutes to
be ready to leave. He drove us to Hostal Victoria our new home for the days preceding
the race. Taz was expecting us. Finally, after a week of travel,
mishaps and adventures Team Four Continents was together.
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| Last packing job... Punta Arenas Airport |
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