Going The Long Way Up

Chaiten Volcano

2008-05-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

If you've been watching the news you'll have seen amazing photos's from the south of Chile after the eruption of the Chaiten Volcano. The first eruption happened last week sending billowing smoke into the air and causing ash to rain down on neighboring towns. The evacuation of Chaiten began as this town's streets were layered in ash making life impossible. On Tuesday the volcano erupted again and along with Chaiten being fully evacuated other neighboring towns from Futalafu to areas in Santa Cruz, Argentina.

This volcano is devastating the lives of thousands living in this area. Paula and I fondly remember traveling here and it being amazingly beautiful. We spent a few days in Chaiten and commented on how much we enjoyed the people and about wanting to return. We really hope that things will return to normal soon for the people of this area and that friends like Nicholas from Chaiten Tours can get their business' up and running again.

We also hope that the fallout from this volcanic ash doesn't do to much damage the flora and fauna of this area. It is really one of the richest and diverse areas in the world and the negative impacts this can have on the water systems and forest could be tremendous.

With natural events causing grief all over the world our prayers and thoughts go out to those suffering in Chile, and aslo to the victims and families in Myanmar.

The Last Third: Chiloe Island

2008-03-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

The boat from Chaiten was six hours. It was foggy all the way so we stayed in our seats mostly snoozing and watching Platoon and other war movies they were showing, in Spanish of course. Our destination was Quellon, a fishing town on the southeastern shores of the Island. This is the official end of the Pan-American Highway, or beginning depending on your perspective. By bus, bike, or car you can drive all the way up to Alaska from here.

We wanted to base ourselves near the capital of the island, Castro, so upon arriving in Quellon we snagged a bus for a ride up the highway to a smaller fishing village about 20 minutes outside of Castro called Chonchi located in the middle of the big island. Chonchi was described as an old haven for pirates so Sean insisted on going there. The ride up was nice giving us a look at the mainly forested island with tiny fishing villages on inlets and sheep farms. We found the

place we were looking for in Chonchi called the Esmeralda, owned by P.E.I. Canadian ex-pat Carlos. His place was right on the water and he gave us the Dolphin room that had excellent views out onto the water. We didn't know it at the time but we would use the Esmeralda as a base for five days exploring the old Jesuit churches in the area and going to Chiloe National Park.

The first day in Chonchi was overcast but we

decided to go for a walk anyways and explore the coast. We walked north along the beach as a light drizzle began to fall. The tide was out and we came across big beds of mussels. We walked along the beach all the way to the next village of Villupulli where there was one of the old Jesuit churches. Like many others before us we took refuge in it as it began to rain much harder. We sat it out for almost an hour and then decided to just go even though we didn't have our ponchos. We got wet but it wasn't cold and the clouds actually broke on our way back to Chonchi. So we looked around a bit more and then went down the main market and found a place to sit and dry and have a bite to eat.

The next day we took a taxi collectivo into Castro, the islands capital. It has a population around 30,000 people and still has a small fishing village feel, just offering many more hostels for travelers. Castro is famous for its palifitos which are seaside houses built on stilts. We spent the day here walking around, exploring the artisan markets(Paula had a great time here) and we also took a boat tour around the harbor giving us views of the city and the palifitos from the bay.

Back in Chonchi the hostel was bustling that Friday night. The common room was full of travelers from Denmark, New Zealand, U.S., Finland, and other Canadians and as the beer and wine flowed so did the talks of plans for the weekend. After hearing reports that the next day was supposed to be clear we decided to do a day trip into Chiloe's National Park.

So Saturday we were up bright and early and caught a bus, with our new friends Vernon from the States and Mikko from Finland, to Cacau and the entry point into the park.

This park is famous for being traveled by Darwin when him and the Beagle landed here on the shores. We thought we'd be able to get into the rain forest from the entry point but it was quite a distance off and being March 1st it was officially the low season and the bus schedule changed its latest departure time from 9pm to 5pm. So we didn't have as much time as we'd thought and instead of trying to get into the rain forest we walked miles up the same beach Darwin walked a 150 years ago. It was pretty awesome coming up over the dunes and hearing the Pacific Ocean ahead, sounding like a waterfall. The water was rolling in, waves on-top of waves, one after the other. We walked and walked up the big long shoreline beachcombing, watching birds, and enjoying the sounds of the Pacific. Back in Cacau we had some really good seafood empanadas a litre of beer and then went to the side of the road to wait for the last bus of the day. While waiting Vernon went a talked to a couple of guys with a pick-up truck and arranged a free ride back to Chonchi for us. That night was much quieter than the last as we were all tired from the beach walk and crashed early.

The next day we went to Dalcahue and then over to Isla Quinchao for a look at the old Jesuit churches in this area. We caught the bus with our new traveling companions Vernon and Mikko and went into Castro for a transfer further north. First we went into Dalcahue where Vernon was going to stay that night.

He checked in and then we meet him at the towns old Jesuit church, then walked down the main street through the markets to the docks where a ferry would take us across to Isla Quinchao. On the ferry we bartered with a bus driver to take us to Achao where the oldest Jesuit church on Chiloe was. We went into the church to look at the old original construction, floors, roof, and then we walked down to the water and over to the market for a bite

and beer. We were back in Castro for the start of the Colo Colo vs Universidad Catolica football match, which proved to be a good match and even more exciting atmosphere. Chileans love their football and these two teams are big rivals so there was lots of team songs and heckles and celebrating and disappointment.

We finally left Chonchi on the Monday after five days. Using Castro as a hub we caught a bus to the far north of the island where we wanted to visit a penguin colony before ending our travels.

Ancud was the destination and we really lucked out at the recommended hostel.

They only had one room left - a cabana separate from the main building with its own bathroom and gorgeous views of the ocean. We stayed here for two nights and were treated to great ocean sunsets. After settling in we arranged a tour to the penguin colony for the next afternoon and used their kitchen facilities to make dinner. The next day at noon a van picked us up and took us out to Penguinera Punihuil. It was a nice day and a nice drive. The driver stopped a couple of times to explain some points of interest and to allow us to take some photos of the sea.

This sanctuary is very unique as both the Magellene and Humboldt penguins use this as a breeding ground. There is no inter-breeding and when all is done the Humboldts head north towards Peru and the Magellenes go south to Cape Horn. We arrived at a time when most of the penguins were returning to their winter

homes so unfortunately we didn't get to see the full colony. The van drove us right down onto the beach for the transfer to boat. They gave us time to wander and then we were off for a look at the penguins. There was still a lot of them around so we weren't disappointed, in fact we saw many other animals like pelicans, many other birds, and two really cute sea otters.

The next day was the last day of our vacation. We had an overnight bus to Santiago booked for that evening and it was our last chance to be vacationers so we rented a couple of bicycles for the afternoon to explore Ancud.

The last thing of interest was on the ferry off Chiloe Island to the mainland when we saw several dolphins playing in our wake. We even got a couple photos.

And that was it. The bus took us north and into the night and we woke up on the outskirts of Santiago ready to return to the life we'd set up there.

The Second Third: The Carretera Austral

2008-03-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

So we landed in Balmaceda after a 1 hour flight, given a meal and drink!, from Punta Arenas. To go anywhere from this area you need to use the main city of Coyhaique as a hub, unless you have a car of course which we decided not to rent. We planned to head as far south as possible on this southern road and and than loop around back towards Coyhaique and then to the top of the Carretera Austral. Origanally we planned on crossing big Lago General Carrera first, but because of bus and boat complications we first headed to Pto. Rio Tranquilo on the western shores of Lago Carrera.

The hiking part of our trip was now over and this part would be lots of traveling. We still planned to camp as often as possible for budget considerations, and we also like camping.

So first we spent the weekend in Coyhaique and found this really great restaurant called Lito's serving really nice dishes at nice prices. We had a day of sitting around a bar drinking

big drafts of beer listening to all the North Americans talking about fishing in the area. On Monday we headed south. The micro bus took us through Villa Cerro Castillo, where we stopped for a bite to eat and fantastic views of the mountains of same name. Then furthur south we went to the

shores of Carrera and into a spot called Pto. Rio Tranquilo. From here you could take boats to see the marble cave formations so we found a Hospedaje with camping spots and wandered around. It didn't take long to see all this town of maybe 200 people and as we were investigating boats for the next day a guy had a tour ready to go for that afternoon, at that moment actually, so we ho

pped aboard. The ride out to the caves was fun. The water was clean and blue with great mountains on the horizon. The caves themselves were also nice. Our guide drove the boat right into a few of the caves. The marble was of different colors and shapes and the water around them was a clear light blue that shimmered in the sun. The ride back was even more fun as the wind had picked up creating bigger waves that crashed against us.

The next day we were disapointed to hear that buses don't run on Tuesday and that we'd have to wait until Wednesday to get out of Rio Tranquilo. We both weren 't interested in hanging around for another night so we sat by the town gas station asking travelers for rides out. All morning without luck until around two in the afternoon we spotted a guy, alone, filling up and asked him where he was going, he said Cochrane, which was on the way to where we wanted to go, so we asked for a lift and he said o.k.! Daniel is Korean studying Spanish in Chile for a year for samsung and he was now on vacation. Turns out he was going to Caleta Tortel which is where we were actually trying to get to. It was a great ride and he stopped to take photographs of the

beautiful scenery. We stopped in Cochrane for gas, the last place on the Carretera where you can buy gas, and then contiued down the bad road. I say bad road because not only was it rough and only for off road vehicles but narrow too. Whipping around curves hoping no one was coming the other way. Daniel was a good driver though and he'd rented a good 4x4 for the trip so we enjoyed the pace of the ride.

We arrived in Caleta Tortel very late, close to 9 pm. The sun was going down but we were all very happy to finally be here. It was a long day of driving and so after getting information on places to stay and how to navigate the boardwalks we found a hostel and met Daniel for a late dinner. The next morning was overcast and drizzly but it felt perfect for this town. Daniel had left early as he was going even further south to Villa O'Higgins, the end of the line.

We decided to check in to a nicer place and found a cute Hospedaje at the far side of Caleta. There are no roads here. You park your car and get around by foot on boardwalks connecting houses to stores to everything else, or by water taxi. It was really an interesting little place. Very relaxed.

We spent this day relaxing in our nice room with even nicer views of the bay and then spent some time walking around in our matching ponchos out to the camping area, where we had a run in with a bull, and all over the boardwalks. We have some really great pictures from this town. So Sean spent his birthday morning, the next day, on a water taxi to Tortels entrance and then on a local 'bus' to Cochrane. After a night camping in Cochrane we got a micro bus to take us along the southern shores of Lago General Carrera to Chile Chico.

It was a nice drive, scenic, we have some road pics. In Chile Chico we found a great camping spot close to shore. We went to the port to inquire about boats across the big lake to Puerto Ignacio Ibanez. There was one leaving the next day at 4 pm so we booked that and then found a place to have some beer and french fries. Our tent was nicely protected from the wind by tall poplars and we were treated to a fabulous sky at sunset. The next day before our boat across we hiked up a hill that was once an old fort, now lookout over the town. We then hiked down along the shore, the blue water shimmering in the sun.

So across the lake to Puerto Ibanez and a connecting micro back to Coyhiaque for some more Lito's and transportation bookings/details for the north.

We arrived in Chaiten on Sunday giving us a couple of days before the big ship would take us across Golfo Corcovado to The Big Island of Chiloe.

The micro up from Coyhiaque was slow and scenic. There are many bicyclers on this road and at present lots of construction. So the bus was slow stopping at towns like La Junta, Puyuhuapi, and Villa Santa Lucia, which were all a nice break from the bumps and dust.

Chaiten is a major town for boats to Chiloe Island or Puerto Montt, and treks into Pumalin National Park. We went for an overnight hike basing our camp at Caleta Gonzalo and doing a day hike up to some waterfalls through the temperate rain forest. One of the most beautiful spots of the trip. Just camping in this rain forest felt great. Pumalin has one of the greatest variety of trees in the world, it was a magical forest.

So this was nearing the end of the mainland. We spent the day before our departure washing clothes, and we rented bicycles for a tour around Chaiten, but other than that we were ready for the last part of our trip on Chiloe Island.

The First Third: Torres del Paine

2008-03-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

Well here we are at the bottom of the world in Chile's most famous national park Torres del Paine. After a long flight to Punta Arenas and bus to Puerto Natales we were ready to begin final preparations for the circuit . We did some last minute gear and food shopping, and had a fish dinner at a nice restaurant.

Into the park the next day on the 8am bus arriving at Laguna Azul at 10. We received the Chilean discount because of our new national I.D. cards. (foreigners pay $40, Chileans - $10). Expensive entrance fee and expensive park in general actually. Anyways, we were on the trail by 11am.

We would hike the circuit taking us 8 nights 9 days, and here on Day 1 we felt fresh, strong and ready for anything!

Our first goal was campamento Seron. The trail took us along the eastern edges of the park through a tall grass plain(forest was burnt down by a careless camper a few years back). It was a nice hike along Rio Paine at points, with nice side views of the Towers. It was a 5 hour first day and gave us an idea what our routine would be hike...hike and hike, and rest and hike. Upon arrival at Seron we set up camp and cooked some food and talked with some other trekkers who we would be seeing everyday if they kept up the pace. There were some kinks in our packing that were worked out that night. We had a lot of weight especially with the food so we drank the (small) box of wine that first night.

Day 2 took us up a pass and around the bend to a long hike along Lago Paine. The early up and over was a challenge and once around the bend we really felt the power of the Patagonian winds. Until this point we had been sheltered by the mountain we hiked alongside, but now we were exposed and it was really something else. It's one thing doing a leaning walk into the wind but doing this while hiking a narrow trail that drops off to your right is delicate. We were glad to have new pieces of kit - our telescoping hiking poles that helped balance our pack weights and these crazy patagonian gusts. We expected this day to be grueling because of the 19km to the next camp and with this wind it made for an even longer day. After the pass we went down through forest, into grass plain, around through marsh, soddy, swamp, and then up up and down down down into campamento Dickson on Lago Dickson fed by glacier Dickson. Spectacular views. It was an early second night!

Up early for hot tea and hot cereal. Day 3 took us up through a forested valley giving us great views back onto the lake and glacier. The forest was thick and made for a humid, but peaceful, hike. We crossed a nice river fed by a small waterfall, and then scrambled up some rocks for a great view of glacier Los Parros. It was then down into campamento Los Parros for food and rest. We meet our two friends Annina and Grant, the Swiss-Aussie duo, who we had travelled with on the plane into Punta Arenas and the bus up to Puerto Natales. We had different schedules into the park but they managed to catch up to us by putting in two hard days at unmarked campsites. We'd bump into these two at most camps hiking the circuit.

Day 4 promised to be a difficult one. Talking with a guide the previous night he'd described it as the most difficult of the circuit, and with bad weather even harder. We'd had great weather up till now, but this day called for overcast and showers. The trouble wasn't so much getting up the 800 meter pass as it was going down the otherside. So we hiked out of the forest in the morning, in the drizzling rain, and out onto the rocky traverse that brought us to the base of the pass. Up the pass in the rain wasn't really that difficult. It brought us face to face with the flanking mountains and mist. At the top we were greeted with a cold wind and spectacular view of the southern ice-field. Having never seen anything like this before it is hard to put into words. It was spectacular and awing and made you want to put on warmer clothes eat some food and think how great life can is and how inspiring nature is. We were only seeing the part called Glacier Grey and others that fed it, but this field covers 17,000 km2 and runs for 350 km! We took it in and and then moved on....the hard part of the day was still to come. The 800 meter switch back up was really nothing compared to 1500 meters down( and not too forgiving with hardly any switchbacks). It had stopped drizzling so instead of our descent being suicidal it was just dangerous, very angled descent that left no room for mistakes. I was amazed to see porters almost running down this trail with heavier loads than our own. One wrong step and an easy tumble could lead to a sprain or worse. It was a painfully slow descent, physically and mentally and without being too dramatic we made it to the camp in one piece.

Campamento Paso wasn't much of a place...not too level and lots of trees, we were still in the thick of woods and next to Glacier Gray, but we had a nice little spot by a stream and we were really happy to be down in one piece.

Day 5 was a long traverse alongside Glacier Grey slowly descending to its end at Lago Grey where the camp was located. We had lots of nice views of the glacier and crossed over many streams taking ladders down and out of gulches. While stopping for lunch at a point parallel with the end of the glacier where we sat eating our peanut butter sandwiches when we heard a great crack boom and look a big piece of ice has broken off! It was pretty awesome and we got a couple pictures of the ice chunks falling into the water. Down into Campamento Grey was gentle and we set up our tent on the sand next to the grey lake with bright blue icebergs floating in it. After having our usual camp stove dinner we joined Annina and Grant inside the reugio for pisco sours and austral beers and talk of the hike. It was a nice to put off getting in the tent once the sun set.

The morning of Day 6 got off to a slow start. Whether it was the pisco sours from the night before or the five days of camping/trekking before, but we didn't get out of camp until 11:30. So we slept in expecting todays hike down to lago Pehoe and up to Campamento Italiano to be not so difficult. The beginning of the day gave us a quick 'up' for great last views of Glacier grey and the Southern Ice-Field and then a gradual down to Lago Pehoe. It was sunny and we were sluggish and upon reaching Pehoe it was difficult to muster excitement about the amazing color of the lake. So we refueled and pushed on to campamento Italiano in Valle Frances. We had more luck with spotting things and on this part of the hike we were pointed out two Huemels. Huemels are small furry deer, they are Chile's National animal, and it is very rare to see them...especially in this region. We had almost come full circle completing the east, north, west, and now beginning to hike along the southern part of the park. Up to Italiano was quite windy, we have pictures of little water tornados on Lago Scottsberg. The last challenges of the day were getting over a wobbly suspension bridge and finding a decent spot to set up our tent. The night before it rained and the water washed right down the valley into the camping area. Many people abandoned packed up that night and all were wet in the morning so when we arrived at the camp there were litle flood ditches dug around tents and lots of gear hanging out to dry. With the help of our friend Grant we found a nice piece of property to set up on. Later that evening while doing dishes in Rio Frances Sean witnessed a little avalanche from Glacier Frances. The bark was louder than the bite. We woke up relieved to see that our water ditch was unnecessary and we packed up our gear to begin

Day 7. We got lost for the first time on the trail today winding through thorny brush and horse poop until the trail just ended confirming our suspicions we had taken a wrong turn. The rest of the day was an easy traverse past the Cuernos del Paine and along the beautiful Lago Nordenskjold. We had a second problem of the day crossing Valley Bader and its now raging 'stream'. The rain from 2 nights ago was making this a very dangerous cross. You needed to accept that you were getting wet. Well Sean didn't , he's like a mountain goat when it comes to rock hopping, but most people including Paula put on sandals and rolled up their pants for the crossing. We had to go about 20 meters down to find a good place to cross and after using all courage and will power we made it across. The rest of the day was peaceful. We traversed down to Lago Nordenskjold and the up and down into campamento Las Torres. We would camp here for two nights before leaving the park.

It was nice to wake up on Day 8 knowing that we didn't have to break camp and that are hike into Valle Ascencio was only with a light day pack. What a feeling! Today we would be hiking up for a look at he famous Torres del Paine(the towers). The trail took us up 700 meters to a bend that had powerful enough gusts coming around it that you would sit down in fear of being blown off the path and down the cliff face. This was very difficult to get around and almost made us turn back, but we pushed on and like the river crossing we survived....well Sean's sunglasses didn't make it. They were blown off his face when he turned to make sure Paula was still with him. So having rounded the top we hiked down into the valley where campamento chileno waited for weary travelers to rest and regroup for the rest of the climb to the towers. Paula had aggravated her knee a few days back and today it was bothering her so she sat out the 2 hour hike up to the towers. Sean armed himself with the camera and trail mix and tackled the last portion. It was a difficult ascent that seemed to keep going. It was gradual in some places but most were steep and the toughest was getting through the boulder field that led up to views of the towers. After a look and rest it was back to chileno where Paula was waiting. We had a drink in the Refugio and then climbed back out of the valley and hiked back down to our camp for our final night in the park.

The final day was here. We had conquered the circuit and the W and hopped on the bus back to Puerto Natales. We had a celebratory dinner that night with Annina and Grant with lots of food, wine, and beer. When your camping and cooking for yourself for 9 days having food prepared that isn't boiled in water is a real treat.

We decided to stay in Puerto Natales until our flight that Friday from Punta Arenas. It's a smaller town and we were quite comfortable not packing until we had to. So we explored the shore line and relaxed in our Hostel and then two nights later caught a bus to the airport for our flight to Balmaceda and the next part of our travels; the Carretera Austral.

Travel Update

2008-02-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

Here we are on the Big Island of Chiloe and finally giving you a quick update of our progress. Everythiong has neen great so far, no major problems to report. We survived 8 nights, 9 days of hiking in and around Torres del Paine National Park and then flew to the southern part of the carretera austral where we traveled far south into a small town between the northern and southern icefields. We then did a 180 back up through other small towns, across a big lake and up further north into Pumalin Park. It was from there where we crossed the channel to this big island of Chiloe and where we find ourselves now in a small pirate coast village Chonchi. We are into our last week and will write a more detailed account of our travels after all is said and done.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

2008-01-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

So we are a couple of weeks away from our big trip to the south of Chile. I guess I've been planning this for many years but now that it's almost here it seems my list of things to do keeps getting bigger. Slowly, though, we are checking items off, like gear/kit, health insurance, flight confirmations, what to do with our plants. Of most importance is keeping our bag weight reasonable. We'll be taking down gear and food as we begin a trek into TDP as soon we arrive. Well we still have 12 days before we fly to Punta Arenas.Sean's parents are taking advantage of us being down here and are taking a trip to South America. They are now in Argentina and arrive in Chile next week. When they arrive we will take them to the coast for a tour of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, and then down towards Algarrobo and Isla Negra. We'll be back Santiago in time for one final night of packing before we fly out the next morning. The Roothams will then use our place as a base for trips into the Cajon del Maipo(beautiful mountain area near Santiago) and we're also planning a wine tour for them of the Colchagua Valley, one the best wine regions in all the world. Any would be travelers are more than welcome to follow their lead and come down for a visit and personal tour of the region. Paula has been working at a day camp this month and is presently on the coast in Zapallar. She is working with children doing arts and crafts and teaching them some English. They are very young and wandering but it sounds like she is really enjoying the experience. She also says the area is very beautiful and that's reason enough for me to head up there this weekend for a visit, and because I miss her too. The next time you hear from us will probably be after our trek through Torres del Paine National Park. We'll try to post pics and stories as often as possible as we'll be in many places on and off the road for the month of February. It should be an amazing trip and we look forward to sharing our time with you.

Onward and Upward!

Christmas and New Years

2008-01-06T07:28:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008 everybody!

It was a hot December here in Chile but we managed to make it feel like Christmas around our apartment. Paula decorated with popcorn strings and she had some friends over for a day of christmas cookie baking. We hung socks from our wall and found a little pine tree to put presents around.

Santa had no problem navigating the southern hemisphere and he brought boots for Paula and a guitar for Sean. We had an excellent morning drinking irish coffee listening to putamayo christmas songs and opening presents.

For New Years we went to Valparaiso for a couple of days. The sea breeze was a nice change.

We walked around the city breaking in Paula's new boots and taking photos. The fireworks show there is supposedly one of the best in the world and it didn't disappoint. We watched them from one of the hills with a great view of the port. There was 5 or 6 different spots where the fireworks went off....from different cities along the coast. Load and spectacular! It was a big party in the city afterwards and we walked the streets wishing everyone un feliz ano neuvo.

We celebrated Paula's birthday the next day by going out for a great Thai dinner with our friends Francisco and Marie. Also a big congratulations to them as they were married on friday!

Now we're getting ready for our big trip to the south. We leave on feb. 4 so as it quickly approaches we continue to check and revise our list of gear, food, and other preparations.

It goes without saying we are super excited!

Check out our Flickr link for photos from Valpo and others.

Back to the Beach

2007-11-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

We’re engaged!

The question was popped and the answer is yes!

We are super happy and want you all to know we think of you and love you and when we get back to Canada we can celebrate this together.

Some friends invited us to their parents beach house in Algarrobo last weekend. We posted some pics in flickr and on this site. It has been unbelievably hot here the last couple of weeks so it was really nice to get out of the the city and into the fresh sea air. We spent our time playing frisbee on the beach, hiking around the shoreline, and soaking up sun. We also hiked through a eucalyptus tree farm to a Blair Witch house(thank god it wasn’t at night).

We relaxed at night playing cards and the guitar with our friends Marie and Francesco, all in all it was a fun relaxing weekend.

El Morado in the Cajon del Maipo

2007-11-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a long weekend in El Morado park. Thursday the first was the ‘dia de muerte’ for most Latin American countries. It’s a holiday for families to visit cemeteries and celebrate the lives of people past. We booked the Friday off to make a long weekend of it and went camping.

It was only a hundred kilometer trip into Cajon del Maipo, but with bus stops and unpa

ved roads it took roughly three hours.

Anyways we left early enough in the morning to start our trek before noon. The sun was shinning and the scenery was spectacular and even though our packs were heavy our spirits were high and we enjoyed the hike in.

It is still spring here but the temperatures are consistently in the high twenties. I think the summer is going to be much to handle. Also the hole in the ozone down here doesn’t leave you much time in the sun before you start burning, and at the elevation we were at the exposure is even greater, so you must take care to wear plenty of sunblock and a wide brimmed hat.

There were only a dozen people at the lake 5 kms in, and only a few camped over night. Upon arriving we set up our te

nt cooked some food and relaxed. I was nice all day but you could feel that the temperatures would drop this high up and so early in the season. It did ,but we were prepared with our warm sleeping bags and warm long underwear. Early to bed and early to rise.

A cool calm morning. Little yellow chested birds.

We hiked up towards the glacier that day getting a good

distance up the mountain. We had lunch below El Morado peak. The slide down the mountain was a lot of fun(check out the video) and we followed the glacier fed stream back to the lake for another relaxing evening. There were even less campers there the second night but we made friends with our neighbors and everyone had some wine or brandy to share.

We hiked back on Saturday, just in time, as the weekend crowd was rolling in!, and managed to hitchhike back to Santiago in one shot directly to our apartment.

It was only two nights and it felt good to be home. This was some early preparation for Torres del Paines where we’ll spend several days hiking and campin

g through this renowned park. It gave us ideas for food prep/planning and pack weight and the kind of shape we have to be in come February.

A great weekend all in all. We went for Peruvian food for fresh fish, yams, and steak to top it off and now we’re back to our regular schedule till Christmas. Opps did I say Christmas....I guess now that Halloween has come and gone the end of the year is here. Eeep!

Keep working and studying hard! the new year is almost here.

Have good ones and keep in touch!

Chile National Days

2007-09-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have to say that Chile's National days rival China's New Year celebrations. We partied for five days here taking advantage of all Santiago had to offer for their Independence day. The 18th was the National day, the 19th was Military day, and because these fell on a Tuesday and Wednesday we also celebrated a 'sandwich' day on the Monday. Around 2 million people actually left the city to vacation in coastal towns like Vina del Mar or head south into the Lake District, and as unpatriotic as it sounds many went into argentina for cheap eats and sleeps. For us it Santiago was unusually tranquil....the streets were quieter anyways.

Bridge Linguatec had a party on the Friday leading into the long weekend. They had food, drink, dance and karaoke.

On the weekend we spent time

with our Brazilian friends Daniel and Fabiana, and their friend Paula visiting from Brazil. We walked around the central market and main plaza and into a cultural museum underneath the presidential palace. We also went into other cultural neighborhoods like Barrio Bellavista for food and entertainment. The highlight was finding a little restaurant at the end of the day and sitting down for beers and empanadas, while being entertained by traditional dancers dancing the cueca, Chile's national dance.

On Monday we had people over to our apartment building roof-top for a barbecue. It was a nice time with lots of food, pisco sours and beer, that reminded us of summertime in Canada.

The next day we had refueled our tanks and went to party at a nearby Fonda. We went to

Parque Inez de Suarez for live music, dancing, food and wine and had a great time celebrating Chile's Independence days.

Day Trippin'

2007-09-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

We just spent a great weekend on Chile’s coast.

Our friends Philipe and Zanatoa invited us to their beach house for the weekend in Concon. They picked us up in Vina del Mar and we drove up the coast to their place taking pictures and checking out the surfers along the way.

We had a great dinner that night at a local restaurant of seafood and white wine. The best seafood ever..? I would have to say yes. Mixed seafood platter to start followed by crab cake, fish and chips, and cooked fish jumbilee. For dessert we had two crepes - papaya and pineapple. We walked it off and then relaxed on their balcony overlooking a beach.

The next day we went back down the coast to Valparaiso and spent the afternoon walking through the streets, up and down the hills through different neighborhoods. Actually I should mention before going to Valpo we went to Las Deliciosas in Concon and filled up on the best seafood empanadas in Chile; seafood, crab and cheese, scallops and cheese, - again the best empanadas ever!

So with full stomachs we walked the streets of Valparaiso taking pictures of the cool graffiti and colorful homes.

We used a couple of the funicular elevators to get us up certain hills for great views of the city and port. The city has a certain atmosphere...like old Quebec, a cool old-charm. UNESCO named the city a world heritage site in 2003.

We took a lot of pictures and I’ll have them uploaded soon(I hope)(Elqui Valley pics are finally loaded). It’s slow without home internet access. We are seriously reconsidering our position on getting the service.

Tomorrow is National Day for Chile. We are having a barbecue here on the roof of our apartment tonight and will be checking out all the festivities around town tomorrow. Stay tuned for September 18 update.

September Weather

2007-09-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hi all.

August was a very busy month. Lots of work. All of a sudden it’s September now and there’s not as much work, but Paula has secured a private class! Spring is around the corner and thank god, we’ve been a long a time without a summer and now it’s almost here.

We’ve been exploring the mountains close to the city. Last weekend we went deep into Parque Mahuida along the pre-cordilla mountains. We hiked up and over them for some really great views of the Andes. We had a picnic and met a old ranger patrolling the area on horseback who told us to come back in a couple of weeks and he’d give us a tour further into the mountains.

With all the free time on our hands, we’ve been doing a lot of homemade cooking! (yum!) As I write, Sean is frying up fresh naan to eat with some chickpea concoction I made up.... We’ll let you know how that works out! It’s hard to find ethnic food out here, unless it’s Japanese. Sushi is huge and any blue-blooded Chilean will tell you that raw fish is at the top of their favorites list along with Peruvian food. We’re not too sure how to distinguish between Chilean and Peruvian yet, but the Chileans are astute in pointing out the differences, sure it will come with time!

We’ve bought our tickets to the south for February! We will fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas on the 4th and then head to Torres del Paine National Park for 8 or 9 days. We’re planning on doing the circuit. Then we have tickets for P.A. to Balmaceda. Will will spend a couple of weeks exploring the carretera austral(southern highway) between Peurto Montt and Cohaique, Chiloe Island, Orsorno Volcano, and then head into the Lakes District where we’ll hopefully visit with some friends in their summer home.

Big plans that require a lot of preparation. We really need to buckle down and save as much money as we can during the time between so there will be plenty of home-cooked meals and walks in the parks.

Around town; there was a violent protest last week with molotov cocktail’s and full riot police(don’t worry folks we stayed away), the city is getting ready for Chile Independence day on September 18, and we’ve increased our Spanish lessons to 3 times a week!

Winter in Santiago

2007-08-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

It’s been awhile folks. Hope everyones having a good summer, staying out of trouble, and having fun. Things are good here! It’s relatively cold but September is just around the corner and for Chile that means Spring! It also means Chile National day or Independence day, on September 18. The 19th is military day,..for all the Pinochetists, and the 17th being squeezed in on the monday is going to be a ‘sandwich’ day. It sounds like it should be a real party with 5 days of drink, drum, and rodeos.
It snowed here in Santiago for the first time in 10 to 40 years depending on where you live in the city. The elevation change is extreme ,being so close to the cordillia, so the folks in Las Condes have a different take than the folks downtown. It was nothing like a snow storm in Canada but it was really something new for most. For us it felt like Christmas as we walked up Vicuna Mackenna to the metro and looked up at a nicely dusted Cerro San Cristobal in all its snow dome glory.
We’ve started spanish lessons!
A movie recommendation: What the Bleep! Down the Rabbit Hole. If you liked The Matrix or are interested in quantum physics this movie is key.
We’ve just bought a new refrigerator! This should be the last of our major purchases, I think(still like to get a guitar and a blender), so we’re settled in now! Wouldn’t it have been cool to have the fridge in the photo page?
We’re having occasional dinner parties with some teachers from our school and there’s also a regular football game being played every sunday. It’s nice finding people you can hang out with and have a few. I think sometimes it helps with any homesickness of our friends and other times makes me wish more than ever, you were here.
Namaste.

Long Weekend

2007-07-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

The Chileans really know how to liven’ up their winter. This weekend was the second long weekend in July.

On Canada Day long weekend we tried to go to El Morado but were unsuccessful mainly because we couldn’t understand exactly when and where the bus would leave.
It was a good though, because we now understand that it’s not the best time of year to visit this area. It is close to the mountains and not very accessible.

So we started researching and asking questions about an area north of Santiago near La Serena. We were told that there was a beautiful valley to the east of this city that’s well known for its Space Observatories, spirituality, clear skies, magnetism, papaya’s, pisco distillery’s and UFO sightings. This area actually has the highest levels of magnetism on earth and its telescopes are some of the biggest and most powerful.

So after our classes on Friday we caught a bus 500km north along the Pacific coast into a dry cactus covered land. We arrived in La Serena around 6pm and immediately bought tickets into the Elqui Valley. The bus took us to the main town, Vicuna, in the valley with a population of 7000 people. We got a room had a couple pisco sours and had a little time to gaze up at the stars before we fell asleep from a long day of travel.

We woke up in the morning to a beautiful cloudless day. We walked through the streets and then out of town and up a big hill for some nice views of the surrounding landscape, the town below, and the observatories far off on hills in the distance.

Later we went further into the valley towards the Andes by catching a bus to the end of the line - Pisco Elqui. It was a really nice drive even though the valley isn’t as lush as it usually is during the summer. We went through Monte Grande, the birth place of Gabrial Mistral, Chile’s other nobel prize winning poet, and continued down the road to Pisco Elqui. We had reserved a cabana here where we chilled out for two nights. Other than relaxing by the pool or going across the road to watch locals play soccer we went for a nice long hike up and around a nearby mountain going down through a vineyard over a fence and then followed the road back into town. The sun and altitude made for an exhausting trek so we went to a local juice bar afterwards and each had an all natural papaya drink.

We are back in Santiago now and don’t know when we’ll see another long weekend. We’ve hit winters peak and are looking forward to getting some of that sun you’ve all been basking in the last couple of months.

In other notes Chile is very excited about it’s junior soccer team that is well in the under 20 championships being held in cities across Canada. Tonight they are playing Argentina for a birth in the finals. Go Chile!

This just in....Chile lost and got in a fight with the Toronto police afterwards! We are laying low on being Canadian for a few days!

Deadwood Days

2007-07-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hi People, hope you had a good Canada Day long weekend. We celebrated our Canadian heritage by climbing a big hill for some nice views of the city and then had a couple beers. We posted some pictures of the way up and from the top of Cerro San Cristobal. It might be hard to make out the buildings with the thick layer of smog blanketing Santiago. Not so healthy. Being tree hugging greenies it’s a bit hard to stomach but the reality of the poor air quality we create is obvious . In winter the smog here is at it’s worst. We are looking forward to the summer winds blowing in to make our hill hikes a little easier.

We have been passing our nights making home-cooked meals and watching episodes of Deadwood. Our days are busy preparing for classes and our teaching hours are gradually increasing. Paula has picked up a 4 hour Saturday class. We are also close to finalizing spanish classes that should begin next week! The weather is mild and we’ve had warm sunny days here and there.
The internet hook up is not happening. The long delay involved in getting registered with a Chile ID got us to thinking we could do without the home service. So we’ll put the money we save towards spanish lessons and use wi-fi at school and at the many locations around town.

Ciao for now!

Good Gear!

2007-06-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

It was chilly in our apartment till we found this little powerhouse. We’ve also outfitted the bed with a warm down blanket to help us through this Chilean winter. The cold temperatures, though, are giving us time to find a cheap/used refrigerator to buy.

The real rush is to get the internet hooked up in our apartment. Paula is having Facebook withdrawls and I miss Skyping my friends and checking the baseball scores. It has been a bit of an ordeal trying to talk with these fast speaking Chileans over the phone. If it’s not the speed they talk at it’s the Chile slang and expressions. We are getting nowhere so we’ve enlisted the help of a new friend in our building and hopefully tomorrow we’ll be online.

We’re hoping to be taking Spanish lessons soon too! Our school also teaches Spanish and offers to swap teaching hours for lesson time. It’s a really good option because Paula and I are on similar schedules and should be able to take the Spanish lessons at the same time basically giving us a 2 for 1 deal.
We’re both loving our classes and Paula is really liking teaching. I am really enjoying the organization and methodology this school provides. It’s a far cry from what I experienced in China.

Anyways hopefully the next time we post it will be from our apartment!

Yep, we´re employed!

2007-06-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

We’ve got work and a new apartment!
Hmmm, living in Canada wasn’t THIS good, apartments are really nice and affordable. We quickly learned why, Chile doesn’t winterize or heat them! (brrr!) Also, they don’t usually come with a fridge. We’ll be hitting up the markets this weekend to get these final important pieces and a few trimmings to make our apartment truly guest worthy.

As for work, we’ve been fortunate to find a company that will arrange working visas for us. We’re slowly gathering teaching hours and looking into tutoring on the side (this is where the real money is at). Also, we’ve been arranging volunteer opportunities and looking into other organizations within Santiago. We won’t be firm on times though until our teaching schedules are all worked out.

The school, Bridge Linguatec, caters to business clients in and around Santiago. Sean has been gathering classes quickly with most of them being at the business’ office. He gets paid travel time which is a nice bonus and he’s happy to travel around the city. Paula’s happy to see him in a shirt and tie!

Enjoy the pictures of our new place. We also posted a couple of videos from inside the apartment.

Back in Santiago

2007-06-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

Well we’ve been back in Santiago de Chile for a week now. The weather seems to be nicer than Argentina, but it’s still heading into winter so it’s chilly and we’re starting to get multiple overcast days. We bought an umbrella today!

The true sign that winter is on its way are the people in the streets selling umbrellas and the skiers getting stoked for the season.
We are told that watching the mountains gather snow and then watching it recede is a good way to pass the next couple of months. We are also told that it’s not supposed to be a rainy winter, but that doesn’t help with thoughts of Canada soaking it up in the sun right now.

Paula and I are passing the time with multiple projects including; finding volunteer opportunities in the community, finding a job, finding a place to live, and finding cheap watering holes. The holes aren’t to hard to find actually, you can go anywhere for a good cheap drink. Pisco sours are Chile’s cocktail and good beers at good prices are at every restaurant(Kuntzman (sp), Escudo, and Cristal are regional). The key to being thrifty though is finding restaurants that have a happy hour. We’ve been lucky enough to come across a great sushi bar and a great thai food joint offering half off everything on their menu’s. Along with finding a place that offers ‘real’ caesar salads we think this is the key to good living. As unemployed transients and mindful buddhists we take what we can get and give as much as we can.
We love hearing from you.

Esteros del Ibera

2007-05-31T10:08:00.000-07:00

Don't Step in There
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

After spending 5 days in Iguazu, we decided to head out to the “Misiones” province to check out some famous Jesuit ruins. (San Ignacio being the most well-known) It was a bit of a surprise to come across the ruins, they were quite elaborate with beautifully carved entrance archways and huge “longhouses” built from rock and used to house the natives in the mission. We learned that Portuguese Jesuits entered this part of Argentina (along with bordering Paraguay and Brazil) in the early 1600’s. The ruins are like nothing you’d see in Canada as they were built from volcanic rock “bricks” and other mineral sources.

The native people are called Guarani, and while there are still some full blooded villages in existence to this day, their population has downsized considerably. Many of the people in this region are mixed blood (or Mestiso) which is a mix of European and Guarani. (Believe I’m getting this right).

The next day we made a beeline to a town called Mercedes where we hoped to have the opportunity to visit the Argentinian Wetlands Esteros Del Ibera. The weather was cold and we were glad to have packed the long johns for this part of the trip! Camping was out of the question (most campgrounds are closed for the season and only offer cold water, brrr!). We holed up instead in a great little hostel called Delices Del Ibera and arranged a trip into the swamps.

Another set-back, out little car would NEVER make it on the gravel roads to the base camp Carlos Pellegrini. We needed to travel about 150 km directly into the swamp to get to the national park border. So along with our new travel buddy Adam, we arranged for a “collectivo” (mini bus) to take us in. It took us 3 hours to cross that distance, but it was well worth it!

We arrived in Carlos Pelligrinni at about 4 pm and were immediately greeted by an older gentleman (Martine) and 3 horses. We rode into the sunset while taking in the countryside. The town only has about 1000 inhabitants, 1 grocery store and 1 restaurant (both of which were run out of people’s homes I believe). It had a true provincial feel to it. We took a walk down the main road and were greeted by people on horses (the main mode of transportation here). There were also random horses and cows grazing along the side of the road seemingly with no owners as well as chickens and (yipee!) guinea pigs!

In the morning we went for a hike through the forest bordering the swamp and were surprised to find out they have monkeys! (very very loud monkeys!) There were also millions of birds stopping to check us out. Later in the day, once the sun came out and it warmed up, we went out on a boat to check out the floating islands and were thrilled to get up close (we could almost touch them!) to the swamp deer, capybaras and caymen. These three animals have no natural predators in the swamplands (besides man) therefore were not afraid of us…A capybara waddled right past us for a juicy grass mound when we stepped out onto one of the islands!

And so after our two exciting days on the swamp, we’re back on the road heading back to Buenos Aires to drop off the rental car and catch our flight back to Santiago. No worries parents, we’re on the job and apartment hunt now!

In the Jungle

2007-05-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

It was a great time in Iguazu. I wanted to put a link up to for our pictures from the last five days here. There’s a ton! I edited some but everything is just so spectacular most of them I just left up.

I don’t really know what to say about Iguazu falls other than awesome....It was a once in a lifetime experience seeing these wonders.

We are heading back to Beunos Aires now but plan on having one more adventure before we do. We’ll write soon!

Along the Rio Uruguay

2007-05-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

Banks of the Rio Uruguay
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

We hit the road on Friday. The guys at Alamo were helpful giving us easy to understand directions out of Buenos Aires and onto the main road north over the River de la Plate and into the country. Like any country it was nice to see land outside the big city.

Day 1 - We headed into the Parque de Palmas, a natural palm “oasis” (or savannah to be technical) where we set up camp for the night. After slaving over pasta on the MSR stove (Sean tells me that’s the “gear” term for all you nerdy camp nuts) we didn’t realize night had hit. Two capybaras (or Carpinchos in spanish) were standing just outside of the camp light and waddled into the underbrush (Donnie, that one’s for you).

There are also these really cute giant chinchillas that squeak at each other all night, they’re called Vizcacha (no pics, they only come out at night and run VERY fast!).

Days 2 and 3 - Next stop, Yapayu! This little town had a great provincial feel to it with dusty red dirt roads and horses parked at street corners. Yapayu is set right in the middle of farming country on Rio Uruguay, all you hear when you stand in the town square is chirping crickets, dogs barking and cows mooing.

Yapayu is the birthplace of Liberator San Martin, a prominent political hero in Argentina. We wandered through the old ruins, and then went for a walk on the main streets of the town. Living here is very modest, homes are small and most people keep gardens to grow their own fruits and veggies.

Monday we left Yapeyu for provincia Misiones. The roads got worse but the scenery was much better. We were out of farm/ranch land and into the sub-tropics! Around 2:00 that afternoon we were gridlocked by farmers on strike. They are upset by the unfair prices they are getting for their crops and blocked the two main highways accessing the province to bring attention to their fight.

While chatting with other stuck motorists we were recommended an alternate route to keep us on our way. So we back tracked a few miles and took a winding roller coaster of a road to another small road that snaked up the banks of the Rio Uruguay. It was slow going but the scenery was just great and there were hardly any other cars on the road! We ended up that day in a wet and muddy city called El Soberbio. We holed up in a cheap hotel and had an early night to recoup for our drive deep into the jungle and Puerto Iguazu the next day.

Food in Buenos Aires

2007-05-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Aregentina Breakfast
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

Well here we are in Buenos Aires, Argentina everyone! The bus ride from Mendoza was long but luxurious (we got to play bingo on the bus for the grand prize, a bottle of wine!). We arrived Saturday May 12 and have now had a few days to walk around the city trying to take in as much as we can. Our Spanish is improving every day!

There are 13 million people here and with all the apartments from the outskirts to the downtown core it’s no wonder. The architecture is old and European influenced and the streets are cafe friendly. Yerba Mate is the Argentine coffee used to aid in night life (it’s something like a strong loose-leaf green tea loaded with caffeine, you drink it through a straw). The party usually doesn’t get started until after 2 am and wraps when most start their work day. We don’t have any picks of this night life (although Sean did fall in with the wrong crowd one night...see photo link), but follow the link from photos for our shots from around town which include Recoleta Cemetery! We’ve also tried including some food and drink pics for all interested. The food portions are big but the menu isn’t too different from home. We are going to a regional food restaurant tomorrow night and bringing the camera. I’m not ordering any guinea pig!
The beers are also big! 750 and 900 mL big! 3$ Cdn at a restaurant or diner and even cheaper at the grocery store!

Paula and I really like El Sol Hostel we’re staying in and decided to extend our stay till the end of the week. This gives us more time to take in the streets and prepare for our big adventure to Iguazu Falls. We are renting a car for a couple of weeks to do some camping and get off the beaten track. It’s a long haul between Buenos Aires and Iguazu and we want to give ourselves enough time to relax and enjoy the land along the way. Check Wiki.com and you’ll see why we can’t pass up the chance to take this trip north.

So...you might not here from us for a few days, but don’t worry we will be taking care and taking care of each other. Hopefully we can get some pictures of our road trip out to you along the way!

Goat for Dayle

2007-05-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Goat for Dayle
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

Dayle you asked for them so here you go...goats and other animals.
Check out this Mendoza link for some pictures of zoo animals and other areas of this high altitude border town of Argentina.
Randy we’re still working on some food pics, but in the meantime there’s a couple restaurant shots for you in the Mendoza set.

We’re on our way to Buenos Aires for a few days folks...
Have a great weekend!

Donde Argentina?

2007-05-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

After a few conversations with fellow hostelers over a few bottles of wine, we decided to make a change in our plans and cross over to the Argentina border town of Mendoza. We hopped onto a double decker bus at 11:00 am and sat ourselves at the very front, top floor.

Driving through the Chilean countryside is incredible! The scenery is very similar to what you might see in Colorado and Arizona. Very dry, scarce brush and plenty of cactus standing taller than us. The sun beat down on the arid landscape as we drove past cattle ranches and small dusty towns. The scenery started to change the closer we got to the mountains, passing through valleys with vineyards and small streams.

Then the scary stuff! Sitting at the front of a double decker with a first hand view of the scenery is incredible, until you hit the switch-backs just before the Argentina border! Then you get a first hand view of the sharp drop-offs at each turn and the sheer gutsiness of the South American bus drivers! (check out the photos)

But once you get over the pass, it’s just amazing mountain scenery, glaciers and old railway tracks by dried river beds. A cowboy’s paradise!

Surf and Sun

2007-05-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

Hi folks., we really enjoyed our first weekend in Santiago walking the vibe and taking in the streets,..It’s a great city and we both decided that we really like it here....
That being said we headed for the coast on Monday. We met a girl at our hostel from Brazil who also wanted to see Valparaiso and Vina del Mar so we packed our bags with wine, cheese, bread, flan and caught a bus for the Pacific.
It was such a beautiful day...not a cloud in the sky.
Check out our pictures of the surf. Vina del Mar is the place you should all use as an excuse to come and visit us!

Around Town

2007-05-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

We spent the day doing a tour of the city. The weather was overcast all morning but the sun came out and made for a great day of walking around. Above is a picture of Paula from high atop Cerro Santa Lucia in the heart of Santiago.

Check out the photo page and the movie page for a look at what we happened upon at the Plaza de Armas....

10 Hours of Flight!

2007-05-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Santiago, May 2007
Originally uploaded by Travels and Escapades

We touched down today at 11am Chile time. Very nice flight down into Santiago. Very much like google earth. The terrain looks so dry with mountains and Pacific coast in distance.

Sean enjoyed the taxi ride downtown to our hostel picking out all the motorbikes on the road. There are really a lot of bikes on the road, the temperatures are fine for riding still(and probably year round) so it’s really a practical way to get around.

The city itself has a European feel to it like Spain or Italy. We walked around our neighborhood after a short nap and had dinner at a nice restaurant named Patagonia.