Geo: -53.1479, -70.9303On Thursday, we berthed at Puerto Chacabuco. This is in a beautiful location, surrounded by mountains in an area known as the Chilean Fjords. We went into port on tenders and were taken by shuttle bus to a small centre, where there were some handicrafts on sale. We then caught a local bus for $US1 a head and were driven in to another nearby town. This was Puerto Aysen which had one very long main street along which we walked looking for WiFi cafes etc. There was not much on offer. There were many small shops but nothing exciting. We did finally reach a very pretty small square with the local church on one side. We went in. This was fairly modern with some very nice wood panels; one of the Last Supper was ... read more

Geo: -13.3111, -72.1152Today we spent a full day exploring the Sacred Valley. Our first stop was near the town of Maras. In a valley is the salt mine of Maras. Our first view was from above as w wound our way down the mountain. This area has a salty spring which emerges from the mountain side. The local farmers, following the Inca tradition, dry out the water in a complex of salt pans. We walked down the hill to see them up close. Because it was the wet season there was just a series of brown muddy pools but in the dry it is a mass of white crystals.From there we drove through the town and to the impressive Inca site of Moray. This is set in a valley and is a series of concentric circular ... read more

Geo: -13.52, -71.99We left Lima at 9-30am and had a 2 hour flight to Cusco. This is high in the Andes mountains and is the gateway to the history of the Incas and their invasion by the Spanish. We checked in at our hotel which is in an old Spanish building with a great courtyard in the centre. Our room is comfortable but lacks light.Once we were checked in we were taken to a restaurant for a lovely lunch. It began with the compulsory Pisco Sour then we had an entree of a local dish, a ball of mashed potato topped by avocado and chilli and mayonaise. It was delicious. For main we had chicken with the local Andean chips and then coffee. Very pleasant. From there we walked across the main square to the huge ... read more

Geo: -1.66702, -83.5977We set out at 7am this morning for a visit to Seymour Island. Again we had the bus trip across the island to where the Altamar was moored. Once on board we motored out of the port and this time turned right. We travelled along the length of Baltra Island which is mainly taken up by the airport.Once at Seymour we anchored off shore and were ferried across to a rocky landing place at the foot of stone steps. Each time we have alighted from this rubber dinghy I keep thinking of the children's book, "Who Sank the Boat?" On shore we found ourselves surrounded by the local inhabitants, namely crabs, sealions, iguanas and birds, 1000s of birds. This has no human occupants and is covered with much more vegetation than Bartolome. There were ... read more

Geo: -2.20584, -79.908This morning we loaded our luggage onto the bus and set out on our City Tour of Santiago. This began by driving us through the streets of Downtown Santiago . Maurizio, our guide, emphasised they were a nation of immigrants and this is brought home by the fact that there are separate areas dedicated to the British, French, German, Italian and Spanish communities, each with their distinctive architecture and culture. Our first stop was at the Racecourse which the British built. There is another one built by the French. It was still relatively early in the morning and we saw the jockeys exercising their horses on the track.From there we drove through the British and French sections of the town , flanked by the former houses of the rich families which are now converted ... read more