Hello Chile
Trip Start
Mar 18, 2007
1
40
101
Trip End
Mar 16, 2008
Santiago,
Chile
Friday, July 13, 2007
Arriving in Chile was quite fun as flying over the mountains was very turbulent (we thought of you, Ollie!), other people on the plane didn´t enjoy it so much screaming, crossing themselves and the luggage fell out of the overhead lockers. We all made it in one piece though!
Unfortunately we haven´t had much time in Chile after changing our route to include Argentina, however we managed to get a few days in Santiago ahead of the flight to NZ. Our first day was very wet and cold (just like home!) so we headed for the cinema to catch up on the latest Harry Potter, since then the weather has improved so we took a trip up our 3rd teleferico to enjoy some wonderful views of the city. Santiago is very close to the Andes, so you see the city surrounded by stunning snow capped mountains
Park near the hostal
. It is rather strange seeing palm trees and mountains in one view!It is hard to believe that we are now 4 months into the trip as time seems to have flown, although at the same time it seems such a long time ago we started out in Quito.
We have had a wonderful time in South America, in the past few days we have been trying to put together a list of the top 5 things we have done....but there are always more than that to add!
To cheat I´ll opt for things in each country!
Ecuador: The Galapagos (easily the best place we have visited in the whole trip), Riding in the mountains in Vilcabamba, learning a little bit of Spanish in Quito.
Peru: Macchu Pichu, Sipan and the pyramids in the north, dune buggy in Huacachina.
Bolivia: The pampas, Salar de Uyuni.
Argentina: Riding with the gauchos in Salta and the following BBQ, Iguazu falls, real cheese (SA´s one big drawback.....fortunately Roquefort has made it to Argentina!)
Plaza de armas
.Chile: Views of Santiago (sorry Chile, I´ll have to visit you again, you have much more to offer).
We have met some great people here too, and I´m already thinking of where I would like to visit on a second trip!
It is certainly a sad goodbye to South America, but I´m looking forward to the second leg of the trip, first stop New Zealand.
Bye for now.
