Blogs from Zapallar, Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America

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South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar May 29th 2021

This post is coming months late, because it's about summer, and summer ended here about 3 months ago, but I did really mean to post about our COVID-y Chilean summer vacation because well, it's all been part of this experience of being an expat, but mainly being in a pandemic wherein not everything fundamentally, makes sense, or goes even remotely as expected. I think when I last left you, we'd recently spent Christmas semi-locked in our house, after a return to weekend quarantines left us without the ability to leave Santiago. Well, a little after New Year's the government decided it would institute a "permiso de vacaciones", wherein regardless of your fase, it gave people the ability to travel to a single destination during the summer within the country. You had to stay in that region, ... read more
A good place to quarantine
El Rey del Asado!
That end of world feeling

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar March 6th 2020

It’s summer in Chile, and that means Santiago drains of people and everyone heads off for summer vacation. Traffic is lighter and the city is quiet. Everyday is sunny and 30-35, every Sunday includes an afternoon BBQ at your friend’s (including lots of wine) and really, my favourite, most evenings include sitting out on our terrazza and enjoying the beautiful Santiago summer nights. This also means that the protestors, politicians and maybe police have all gone on vacation too, as despite the ongoing turmoil in the country, there has been relatively little protesting going on, except for the usual Friday night shenanigans in Plaza Italia/Dignidad that have been ongoing since the social crisis started in October. It is however, still on everyone’s mind, as right now there is a lot of anticipation for the return to ... read more
Christmas in Zapallar
Feliz Navidad...
Preparing for a different kind of Christmas Eve Dinner

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar March 22nd 2019

So, if you recall when you last joined us, our car was viciously attacked by some sheet metal on a Chilean highway. And so, since then we decided to jump headlong into the wild world of Chilean car insurance claims, and the car disappeared for about a month and after jumping through some hoops, actually many hoops, we got it back (not fixed of course)...and so hopefully someone got my reference to an 19 year old stoner comedy with Aston Kutcher and Stifler with the title of this blog. Ooof....although to be honest, is this at all worse than ICBC? So what has happened since my last entry...every day I think about so many little things to write about, and just wish I had the time to do so...including our current insurance situation (when we bring ... read more
Can you smell the Penguinos?
Visit from Grammy and Grampy
Upside down school year

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar November 2nd 2010

Last weekend was Eric and my 4 year anniversary and we decided to spend it camping a couple hours north of Viña del Mar. We left early on Saturday morning not quite sure of how to get to the camping spot. Turns out it was not very difficult and we only had to walk a short distance from where we were the bus dropped us off at. We were very pleased with our camp site, it was out in the woods and very peaceful, except of coarse there was a father son outing going on at the same time as well. They didn´t bother us to much though and ended up giving us a lot of entertainment in the end. After we set up camp we took a walk along the beach of La Laguna and ... read more
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar April 18th 2010

Our first weekend in Ventanas was great. Jeremy and I have off on Fridays and took the day to visit Zapallar, the Hamptons of Chile. It was beautiful!! The beach, the homes, the everything. We felt like the kids from the other side of the tracks. After lunch in Zapallar we met up with our friends Lauren, Bennet and Allison in Cachagua, where Lauren lives. Her hostmother served us onces (the Chilean tea time) and we saw her town before heading to Allison's house outside of Puchuncavi. We met there with her co teacher, Alexis, and headed to our first real Chilean asado in the campo. Despite the large amounts of pork on the grill it was a great way to be introduced to Chilean culture. The host even made a salad for me after my ... read more
Beach
Zapallar
Zapallar

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar April 17th 2010

Geo: -31.6986, -70.7583Today we headed up the coast of Chile to a small oceanside town called Zapallar. We enjoyed the lovely ocean scenery along the way. We are staying in a wonderful old hotel with a fabulous view of the ocean. We can hear the waves crashing in all day long. We spent part of our day wandering along the beach and for lunch we enjoyed empanadas and beer.... read more
Cachagua Beach
Zapallar Beach View
Our hotel

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar July 13th 2007

Hola! After some big sites, now I am going to write about some smaller ones. For starters, I am writing from a tiny but interesting shop in El Melon, Chile (a small town where my Mom and Dad lived). They sell Coke, chips, crackers, and sweets. They also have an interesting pinball game and three computers with connections to the Internet. The walk here was even more interesting. It is very dark and kinda scary. Unfortunately, there are not too many stars because it´s too cloudy tonight. During our walk, we saw a drunk bloke and several wild dogs, both of which are common here. I even saw horses on an island in the middle of a small river. It is freezing here at night (in fact, with temperatures below freezing and no central heating, some ... read more

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar March 25th 2007

ITA - Sabato mattina riprendiamo la macchina e, carichi di provviste partiamo verso la costa, sempre con la mamma si Felipe. Meta: Pichidangui, a circa 200km al nord di Santiago. Lungo l'autostrada, bancarelle di frutta interrompono qua e là il paesaggio montagnoso e sempre più arido. Il sole ci accompagna fino ad un tunnel, all'uscita del quale purtroppo troviamo nuvoloni che, proprio quando ci avvicinavamo al mare, non ci lasciano più vedere un gran che.. Arriviamo a Pichidangui, e, dopo una prima impressione di paese abbandonato, proseguiamo fino alla casa, che offre una bella vista sulle rocce che si tuffano nel Pacifico. La spiaggia è del tutto riparato da un piccolo golfo naturale, e da questi scogli, ma dall'altra parte della rocce le barche di pescatori sembrano ballare, su e giù seguendo le onde. Il paese ... read more

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar October 21st 2006

Many Chileans ask me why I moved to Chile, "para estudiar (to study), intercambio (an exchange), or solo para conocer (or only to know Chile)?" And my answer is that, para conocer, to know Chile. In order to continue my quest to know Chile, after spending the day in Maitencillo I went a bit further north to see the town of Zapallar. Zapallar is known for its historic mansions, a few of which are pictured in my blog. I walked a seaside path and enjoyed another day of solitude and studying on the rocks with the waves crashing around me. As the sun began to go down I watched a dolphin jump and dive along the shore. Very magical. There are not many accommodations for backpackers in Zapallar so I was fortunate to have a nice ... read more
Road Trip to Chile?
House in Zapallar 1
House in Zapallar Close-up

South America » Chile » Valparaíso Region » Zapallar March 19th 2005

If you could see this place through the photographs my eyes have taken today you would appreciate its beauty in its fullest. I have added this place to my list of sights as one of the absolute most beautiful places my eyes have ever seen. The sad part is that I only had the privilege to see this beach only once just before it got too cold for the beach setting. However, one time is better than none and I am glad my eyes had the chance to see something so utterly amazing. Getting there was definitely a little on the tricky side. We all gathered at the house here because it is located closer to where all the buses run. All we knew about how to get there was from advice and word of mouth. ... read more
Carina
Carina, Emi and Me
Me and Emi




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