In Chile, I go through to connecting flights and to the LAN counter to check in.  After I get my boarding pass I ask about my checked bags.  No problem, she calls down to baggage where they will make sure my bag makes the transition if it didn’t get issued a tag all the way through.  She tells me to come back in 45 minutes and she will have a LAN bag tag for me then.  Great.  45 minutes later and I’m back at the LAN counter.  She calls down to baggage, no answer.  For 30 minutes no answer.  She says, go to your gate to get on the flight and the bags will be taken care of.  I’m losing confidence.  The flight goes up, up, up and up over the Andes and then down, down, down and down to Mendoza, Argentina.  I proceed through Immigration.  In baggage claim I wait.  All the bags are unloaded.  All the people are gone with their baggage.  My bag is not there.  However, there is a large pile of unclaimed bags.  I’m guessing that they are delayed bags for the people on yesterday’s flight, not a good sign.

 

Outside of Immigration/baggage claim I see my tour driver who does not speak English and does not understand “lost bag”.  I go to the LAN counter and file a missing bag report.  No problem, they’ll have it the following day and deliver to my hotel.  Excellent!!!

 

I meet fellow climbers Jack and Vicki (USA), Thomas (Switzerland), Cynthia (USA) and my roommate Frank (USA).  The rest of our group has taken several extra days and we will meet them later.  They are Cesar (Argentina), Peter and Andre (Switzerland) and Jimi (Denmark).  At the hotel we check in and then go to the Aymara agency (I booked through 7summits.com and got Aymara)  Some of the group pay their trip balances, I’m there to see if they can help with getting my gear.  They assure me, no problem.  Late in the afternoon we meet one of our guide Andres.  Andres is really engaging type of personality and seems to really want to connect with the group.  He seems to be able to read people as they climb, what they need and to respond to them appropriately.  We do a gear check and I am really impressed with the amount of gear I was able to cram into my carry on pack.  So is Andres.  I am missing some important gear but borrow a pad/sleeping bag from Jack and Vicki, one that Andres had declared not good enough and had Jack and Vicki rent sleeping bags.  

 

I am hoping that my bag arrives before the serious climbing, as I will definitely need boots, crampons and ice axe and probably need the better sleeping bag/pad.  I also don’t have any extra clothing, water bottles, medication, vitamins, toiletries or even the little bit of extra food I packed.  These items are not required, however they certainly would make the trip comfortable.  I don’t have my climbing helmet, harness and extra food for Chimborazo either.  After the gear check I go to dinner with Jack and Vicki.  I buy toothpaste, toothbrush, floss, extra batteries and coke.  I drink the coke and plan on using the bottles for hiking.  I also contact Sunn at home to tell her of my baggage plight and see if she can work things from the other end.  I am so distracted buying stuff and trying to get my bag that I miss the Christmas carnival; Frank tells me that there were a lot of models parading on a stage in thong bikinis; Yes, I missed it.  Tomorrow we head to the mountains.