I have to start this blog by saying we will totally come back to Chile, like Guatemala it has really surprised us by how much we love the country. So much diversity, so many things to do and conveniently only one flight from Oz, we have so much more to see here.
We landed in Santiago after a night flight from Bogata, the temperature difference was notable at 6am in the morning. Having spent most of the last 5 months in climates warmer than 30 degrees, 7 degrees felt pretty cold. We also only have 1 pair of trousers and 1 jumper each...
We had an amazing few days in Santiago our Airbnb was so central in the Lasterria area which is full of restaurants, cafes and bars. It felt very European. It also is very clean and felt very safe. We had some good insights from a friend of things to do and places to visit. We did a bike tour of the city with La bicicleta verde. Alonso and Nacho giving us a tour of the parks, culture centre, the palace riding on cycle ways and also roads through the city. The boys loved it.
We went on a day trip to the Andes which included wine tasting (the wine is amazing and very reasonably priced here, our no drinking has gone out the window...) we saw some llamas, managed to avoid being spat on. Portillo very close to the border of Argentina and is Chile’s oldest ski resort, the resort was closed for the season as it’s now spring but the lake was spectacular and the old hotel had stunning views. Lucky we had all bought some coats and warmer clothes in the city. It hadn’t been a great ski season this year instead of the normal 500cm of rain/snow this year, the area had got less than 80cm! Another reminder of how much our climate is changing.
We then hired a car and drove through Casablanca wine region out to the coast, with a stop in a winery to learn more about Chilean wine and buy a few bottles. We stayed in an Airbnb beach house at maitencillo, a little beach town north of the popular Valpairiso. The days were bright and sunny, a little fresh at 16 degrees but didn’t stop us exploring. We went to bioparque puquén, we arrived at the gate to see it very closed (and locked), common theme as we realised most of the coastal towns only really open for the summer months. Not to be deterred as I had read about sealions and after an hour in the car and one super unhappy Archie we needed to do something. So we climbed over the wall and broke into the national park... it was beautiful, loads of lovely walks along the coast. We reached the end and Archie heard the noise of a lion... we looked over at the island and saw hundreds of sealions! Some playing in the water, some leaping up to the rock with the waves. It was amazing to watch and listen too, a great reward after the drive!
We visited a number of the other beaches, all stunning, very clean and reminding us of Australia. We are totally coming back here in summertime when the place surely comes alive!
We went down the coast to Concón as we had heard about the sand dunes and possibilities of sand boarding. Unfortunately being mid week in the off season meant no sand boards for hire... the boys climbed, jumped and slide down the dunes instead. We had lunch in Viña Del mar a little further down the coast.
A trip north lead us to Papudo a small fishing town, that day the sea mist had rolled in and the pelicans were waiting in masses for the fisherman’s scraps. The boys played bat and ball on the beach often joined by the local dogs.
Final coastal day trip was to Valparaiso the large port town, home to the nobel peace prize winner poem writer Pablo Naruda. After small seaside, ghost towns Valpo was crazy busy. We managed to park and head for a walk to find somewhere for lunch. The kids were ecstatic about climbing the steep hills and stairs..... we past so much street art, something which the town is famous for. Found a great little pub for pizza and burgers and a few pisco sours for me... Tim even had a lesson on how to make the pisco sours behind the bar. We then had more of an explore and saw so much amazing street art. I have too many photos to even post here!
Back to Santiago to Cerro San Cristobal on the funicular and cable car before a lovely lunch in Barrio Italia, final few days now....
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