Blogs from Providencia, Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 4

Chile Our flight into Santiago from Auckland went off without a hitch (despite this route having been cancelled for about 1 month before our departure due to volcanic ash – lucky us!). We spent 2 weeks in Chile going north to La Serena and then back down to Santiago via Vicuña. Highlights of Santiago include: 3 day Spanish class with Nastling (managed to just about understand how verbs worked in that time); 2 earthquakes (we were all set to panic given any slight look of apprehension from the locals – none came, we survived); trip up the funicular to the top of Corre de la Virgen; and the Santa Lucia hill walk. North Chile highlights include: trip to the Humbolt penguińo reserve (great trip – we managed to see a handful of these miniature penguins, 2 ... read more

Hi All, Well we´re safe and sound in South America. The flight from Oz was long but as yuo saw from the last blog at least we got to get off in Aukland and make use for the facilities there. Then it was a 10 hour haul and bodies that really did not want to sleep so by the time we got here we were zonked. We had arranged to get picked up at the airport and this all worked out very well. We were met by a driver and a guide who then gave us a running commentary as we drove into town as well as a security brieifing that would rival anything I had while working at BG Group. Anyway we have been warned and plan on being careful. After a couple of hours ... read more

Chileans drink instant coffee. Specifically, Chileans drink Nescafe. I thought, initially, that this was some sort of strange cultural tick, that really, they save the good stuff for special occasions or something. Nope. It turns out that Nescafe is the ONLY sort of coffee-esque drink readily available here. It's so popular that there was even a Nescafe promotional trailer at my university for a week. I am NOT a coffee snob. Really. I just became addicted/accustomed to daily shots of espresso from working at my former job, where we have a fancy, professional-grade espresso machine at the office. The instant stuff just wasn't going to cut it. Three weeks without a decent cup of coffee drove me a bit mad this past weekend. In fact, it drove me to Starbucks. I caved. I'm not proud to ... read more

Perverted? Me? Like no other country in the world (that I've been to) they love the Public Display of Affection in Chile. To see two people going the pash in the middle of the street, at the bus stop or (especially) in the park is pretty much the norm. For someone from as conservative a nation as Australia and especially for someone from England, this has been a bit of a novelty. So the Boss and I decided that the 21st of September would be the Innaugural Annual International PDA(y). The idea was simple. We took to the streets armed with the Boss's camera and its more than ample 12x optical zoom and snapped away at the PDA's. Really, the pictures speak far louder than words ever could. So I'll just say that we had a ... read more

We´ve been in Santiago since last Monday night (8/16), which is probably the longest we´ve spent in any one place. Our expectations were low for Chile since we heard negative opinions about Chile how the people aren´t that friendly and they can´t dance salsa. However our minds started to change right away on our bus ride into Santiago where we befriended Maria Elena, a professor at the University of Santiago Chile, who not only helped us find a hostel, but she drove us there. So far Chileans are very friendly. On Tuesday we met up with Lex, Espen, and her parents, which was sooo lovely. It´s such an amazing feeling seeing familiar, warm faces when you´ve been traveling for so long. We perused the city and caught up on life. They also warned us that the ... read more