Blogs from Copiapó, Atacama, Chile, South America

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South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó September 25th 2016

We spent much of Monday wandering around Santiago unfortunately it is a holiday and most places including the museums are closed which made acquiring medication for my sick wife a difficult exercise. The Lastarria district was pleasant to wander through on our way to the Plaza De Armas the central square where many off the more stunning colonial buildings and museums are found. We then made our way up to the district of Bellevista where many of the cities bars and restaurants can be found for a chorrillana vegetariana and a huge Escudo cerveza. The rest of the day we chilled at the hostel before enduring a night from hell as everybody in the place got pissed and screamed their heads off at 4am. I asked the night manager to quiten things down to no avail, ... read more
Guanaco
Plaza Caupolican
Lastarria Church

South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó March 10th 2012

Friday 9 March I was a little apprenhensive about today as this would be my first ride out into the desert alone. It was what I had come for and I had picked what I thought was a safe route that took me high up into the mountains up to the Argentine border. I was apprensive because of the distance and I had discovered in the few days I had been o n the F800GS it had no where near the range of my R1200GS, especially loaded up. It was touch and go to get between fuel stations on Ruta 5. On the c-31, a minor semi-paved road I could not expect to find any. I got the map out and the guide book and estimated the journey to Laguna Verde would be about 250 kms ... read more
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South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó March 10th 2012

When I told my family friends and loved ones I was going to keep a blog I hadn'y realised how much of an obligation it is. So I apologise if you are sat at home worrying why you've not heard from me. I hope you don't fear the worst. It is just I have been too tired at the end of the day to write. So in future panic not! I am OK just tired, lazy or drunk or a combination of all three ! I forget to mention why the last entry was entitled 4 socks. Some of you may know the trip organisers advised to take 4 socks - not 4 pairs of socks, just 4 socks. The trip out was a struggle, not least across London and at CDG airport becuase of all ... read more
Made it !!
The traffic was horrendous!!
Mining trucks on Ruta 5 north of La Serena

South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó March 8th 2012

I have finally found somewhere that has the internet! The trip over was a nightmare. I have forgotten how boring and tiring flying was. The taxi collected me at 9.30 am on Monday 5 March and the trip to London City Airport was not the easiest. The cirle line to monument and the DLR to the airport. In theory easy but with all my luggage and no escalators it was a nightmare. The flight was due to leave about 3.30 ish (I forget as I write now exactly when) but was delaid about an hour due to strong wind! Yeek! It was only a small plane for the hop to Paris too! In fact it was not to bad. In better weather you would get good views of the O2 areana as you take off. The ... read more

South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó January 20th 2012

Quemadura de sol. Sounds very exotic doesn´t it? What does it mean, you may ask. Sun burn my friends, sun burn. Let me tell you the truly tragic story of my plight at the hands of the sneaky sneaky sun... So my last day in San Pedro was, as I had expected, fairly boring. Luckily there was a girl from Germany at the hostel who was getting the same bus to Copiapo so we spent most of the day lounging around in the hostel. I did go to the market but you will either by pleased or disappointed to hear that I refrained from purchasing any llama-related clothes although I did buy myself a llama keyring and a llama wall decoration which I fully intend to adorn the walls of my house with when I get ... read more
Me at Bahia Inglesa
The rather colourful church in Caldera
Felix 2 Capsule

South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó November 14th 2011

Hey iedereen!! Gedaan met de luxe en de hulp van Cota :) Deze nacht hebben we voor het eerst in een hostel geslapen. Even aanpassen na de luxe van warm water, een fatsoenlijke kamer en een aangenaam bed haha. Het belangrijkste is dat we ons hebben kunnen douchen (bbbrrr) en dat we een plaats hadden om te slapen. Ondanks de mindere omstandigheden hebben we beide zalig geslapen!! Namiddag vertrekken we richting het nationaal park 'Pan de Azucar' en daar kamperen we vannacht. Morgen nemen we de nachtbus richting Atacama, de droogte woestijn ter wereld.. Ik kijk er enorm naar uit want daar is zoveel te zien!! Dit is totaal niet het algemene beeld dat je (of ik althans) van een woestijn hebt.. Can't wait!! Het weer is ondertussen al wat aangenamer.. We komen van een koude ... read more

South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó February 9th 2011

Hello all and sorry about the long delay with these pics! Things have been busy since I got back to Chile at the end of December, so here are a few little notes on what I've been up to the last couple months, and I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves! Laura came with me and spent the last couple weeks of her winter break down here and we had a great time! My good friend Alvaro moved in with me, and it was really nice not living alone any more! He became sort of my big brother and it worked out really well for me having a man around to fix things and drive me around, but I also got a humbling look into a reality that was once worlds away from my own. ... read more
New Years Fireworks
New Years
Jano Laura and Me

South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó October 29th 2010

I've been getting used to life here again... and this time around I've found myself stopping to think about some of the things that I had gotten used to before! I'm realizing that if my plans go as planned, I'll be spending the next few years here and that's going to be a lot different than just being immersed in a culture for a 10 month exchange. The upside of that is that I will get a much deeper look into the chilean culture and my spanish will certainly benefit. The downside is that I'm just going to have to get used to the parts of chilean life that I don't like or find frustrating! - The Chilean day is much like the traditional Spanish day; people work in the morning, come home for lunch and ... read more
Sunset 2
Amaro 1
Rocio and Amaro 1

South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó October 29th 2010

- I had a little scare a couple weeks ago when I was walking back to Yaya's house after going out for a beer with a friend. It was about 1 in the morning (in Chile considered an early hour to be coming back on Friday or Saturday nights) and the colectivo dropped me on the other side of the supermarket from Yaya's house, which was a little further than usual but just a few minutes walk. In front of the supermarket (closed at that hour) there was a car parked with three men inside. I was the only person around, except for an open fast food place about half a block behind me. One of the men got out of the car and started walking towards me. I turned and walked as fast as I ... read more
Chichalandia house 2
Chichalandia elephant tunnel
Chichalandia house 3

South America » Chile » Atacama » Copiapó October 23rd 2010

There are lots of pics in this entry! The first ones are the very first pics I took of the apartment, followed by some pictures from yesterday now that I've been living here for a little over a week and have made it into my lovely little home! After those are some pictures of what I've been up to lately. The Apartment I found a great furnished apartment on the 5th floor of a really nice condominium that's actually pretty close to the high school I attended while on exchange. It's on Copayapu, a main road that has colectivos (cheap taxis that follow a certain route according to their number) that go downtown (and to Yaya's house) and to the university. A short walk down the street there is a Jumbo (super market), an Easy (home ... read more
1st Apt. pics 2
1st Apt. pics 3
1st Apt. pics 4




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