Planning Tools

If traveling withe the group:

• JULY 1, 2024:  $3500 Interim payment is due.

• FEBRUARY 1, 2025:   Your final payment must be received by the Group Coordinator.  Click here to see your payment history.  

• APRIL 24, 2025:   Electronic Travel Documents from the Travel Company are expected.  Click here to login

If you made your own arrangments:

• FEBRUARY 14, 2025:   Your final payment, including insurance, must be received by the Travel Company.  Click here to see your payment history.  

• APRIL 24, 2025:   Electronic Travel Documents from the Travel Company are expected.  Click here to login

• Pre-Trip Checklist:  All Trips  Click here to view or download file 

• Packing List:  Click here to view or download file.  Or use a packing app (go to Links to travel apps and gear).

• Health Record:  Consider bringing your health record just in case.  Important information to include is your name, date of birth, emergency contact, health problems you have, medical devices you may have, medications that you take, and your vaccination record.  Share this with someone you trust on the trip.  If you want Pam to create a template for you in Word, let her know.

Animals, Birds, and Plants

• Seek:  Identify plants, animals, bugs, birds  Download from App Store  Download from Google Play

• Merlin:  Identify birds by physical attributes and call  Download from App Store  Download from Google Play  Remember to download the Argentina and Chile bird pack prior to the trip.  There are 50 unusual species of birds in Argentina that might be seen.

Clothes, Packing, and Gear

• Amazon Ultimate Travel List:  You don't have to buy it....Click here to see what experienced travelers recommend

• Packing Pro:  This app (recommended by Gerald) helps organize your packing.  Download from App Store 

• SCOTTeVEST:  A source for good travel vests and clothes.  Click here to go to website.

• eBags: Need some luggage? Click here to go to website.

• Magellan's: Travel minded clothing and accessories. Click here to go to website.

Communication

• WhatsApp:  Download from App Store   Download from Google Play  Join the group here.

• Photocircle:  Download from App Store  Download from Google Play  Join the group here.

• Google Translate:  Download from App Store  Download from Google Play

Food and Wine

• Vivino:  Take a picture of your wine bottle label and you will have reviews and where to buy when you return home.  Download from App Store   Download from Google Play

• Open Table:  Search restaurants, view reviews and make reservations.  Download from App Store   Download from Google Play

• Eater:  A website that rates restaurants and reviews about new ones.  Click to go to website

• Argentina: power plugs and sockets (outlets) of type C and type I are used. The standard voltage is 220 V at a frequency of 50 Hz.  Type C is the standard European plug and is found in older areas.  Type I is also used in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, and China. No other plug types will fit into a type I outlet and it has become the standard for Argentina. 

• Chile (including Easter Island):  power plugs of Type C and Type L are used.  The standard voltage is 220V at a frequency of 50 Hz.  You may need a voltage converter for some types of equipment.  Type C is the standard European plug and Type L is the plug that is also used in Italy.  

• STEP:   Create an account and register your trip with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.  You will receive notices from the US State Department on issues that might disrupt travel, or changes in country-specific travel policies.   This process recently changed and requires a new login with MyTravel.Gov.  Click here to register.

• CDC Traveler's Health:  Find country specific information on how to stay healthy while visiting, vaccines that may need to be updated, and a packing checklist for health.  Click here to see information for Argentina.  Click here to view information for Chile.

• TSA Precheck and Global Entry Programs:  These are programs that expedite your transit through security on domestic trips and as you re-enter the US from an international trip.  Click here to find out more.

• CLEAR:  This is another program for expediting your clearance through airport security by using biometrics.  Click here to learn more.

• Google Translate: This is a text, photo, and voice translator.  Download from App Store   Download from Google Play

• DeepL:  This is another recommended translator.  Download from App Store   Download from Google Play

Argentina

• The recommendation is to bring $90 USD per day.  That is $270 total for our 3 days.  The Argentina economy is collapsing so very little local currency will be needed. They will generally accept USD.   The local currency is the Argentine peso ($).  We may need a little for some food items on Day 1 and 2 and probably nothing on Day 3. Pam is going to try to bring $50 worth of pesos total.  The peso holds little value. 

• The largest bill is the $10,000 peso note (equivalent to USD $8.5) and the smallest bill in circulation is the $10 peso (equivalent to 8 or 9  cents).The most useful peso notes for tipping are the $2,000 peso and $500 peso (tips are normally 10%). 

• DO NOT tip with USD (that $1 dollar or $5 bill is difficult to exchange).

Chile and Easter Island

• Chile and it's territory Easter Island use the Chilean Peso (CLP).   The CLP is more widely used than USD, so come prepared.  We will be there for 7 days and have several meals and other things to buy.  Credit cards can be used, although there may be a 3% transaction fee for use in addition to what your credit card company will charge for a foreign transaction.  A prepaid debit card might be the best way to go.  

• Bank note denominations are $1000, $2000, $5000, $10,000, and $20,000.

Other Information

• Dollars to local currency:  Maryann Cash may bring wallet-sized currency cards and hand them out at the airport. 

• Currency Converter apps that are reported to work offline:  Download from App Store   Download from Google Play

Books and Guides

• Trip Advisor: Guides for things to do, places to eat, etc. Click here to see attractions for Buenos Aires.  Click here to see attractions for Santiago.

• Prior Travel Company guests recommend:

ARGENTINA: Books

• • • In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
    • The Tango Singer by Tomás Eloy Martínez
    • The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
    • My Father's Ghost is Climbing in the Rain by Patricio Pron
    • Brodie's Report by Jorge Luis Borges
    • Perla by Carolina De Robertis
    • Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar

• • • The Clan (2015)
    • White Elephant (2012)
    • The Aura (2005)
    • La Cienaga (2001)
    • Crane World (1999)
    • Intimate Stories (2002)
    • The Road to San Diego (2006)

CHILE: Books

• • • The Postman by Antonio Skármeta
    • Pinochet and Me by Marc Cooper
    • I lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin
    • The Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso
    • Travels in a Thin Country by Sara Wheeler
    • The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
    • The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

• • • The Club (2015)
    • The Man Next Door (2009)
    • Rebellion in Patagonia (1974)
    • The Pearl Button (2015)
    • The Good Life (2008)
    • The 33 (2015)

Getting around

• Airport maps:  Relevant airport guides and apps are on the Air Travel page.

• Google maps:  Download maps for offline use.  Download from App Store  Download from Google Play

• MapsMe: MapsMe is an alternative to Google maps with the advantage being much smaller map storage sizes and good offline navigation.  You can move saved locations from Google Maps and Apple Maps to MapsMe.  Download from App Store  Download from Google Play

• Prepaid smart cards:  You may want to consider buying a prepaid smart card for travel by train or bus, especially in Buenos Aires.   It is required for public transportation. Here is a link to an article that describes the sube card and where they can be purchased.  In Chile, in order to use public transportation, you will need to buy a prepaid bip! card that can be purchased and loaded at metro stations or newsstands.  Here is an article with an embedded youtube video on how to do this.

• Uber:  A way to get a ride if you don't want to use a cab.  Download from App Store   Download from Google Play

Buenos Aires Average Monthly Weather:    Click here to view historical data for Buenos Aires.

• Temperature:  Daily high temperatures between 54°F  and 74°F.  Daily low temperatures between 43°F  and 64°F.

• Rainfall:  A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Buenos Aires, the chance of a wet day over the course of May is constant at 21%. 

• Cloud cover:  the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increases from 43% to 53% during May.

Santiago Average Monthly Weather:  Click here to view historical data for Santiago.

• Temperature:  Daily high temperatures between 54°F  and 79°F.  Daily low temperatures between 33°F  and 52°F.

• Rainfall:  A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Santiago, the chance of a wet day over the course of May is rapidly increasing, starting the month at 10% and ending it at 18%. 

• Cloud cover:  the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increases from 39% to 53% during May.

Hanga Roa Average Monthly Weather:  Click here to view historical data for Hanga Roa.

• Temperature:  Daily high temperatures between 69°F  and 79°F.  Daily low temperatures between 61°F  and 71°F.

• Rainfall:  A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Hanga Roa, the chance of a wet day over the course of May is constant at 25%. 

• Cloud cover:  the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increases from 54% to 58% during May.