We can't believe we forgot about the 18 month anniversary since we left the UK! That passed a week ago now. So, here's a selection of things (note for family and friends: we don't consider people things!) that we miss from home! ... read more

Did I mention in the previous entry just how stunning the scenery is here?! We took a whole day tour to explore the “Lagunas Altiplanicas” including several small villages and the enormous salt lake. Okay, so it’s not the Salar de Uyuni, but it was very interesting to see and the flamingos were cute. The salt formation is very different to what we expected. Uyuni is smooth and gleaming white whilst the Salar Atacama is rough and dirty looking as various minerals erupt from the rapidly evaporating surface. Up in the hills (up to 4,300m amsl) we were constantly in awe of the ever beautiful scenery. To walk by a lake flanked by 2 volcanoes is quite an experience and definitely a highlight of our entire time in South America. The two villages we visited differed ... read more

The small town of Pisco Elqui used to be called La Union until they decided to change the name to promote its local product - Pisco! We had a wonderfully relaxing few days in a small cabaña and made good use of the swimming pool too. So, after the disappointment of the beach, we finally got to do some serious work on our tans. The only problem we had was when we ran out of our Nivea sun cream and had to resort to a national brand. It had a carrot extract in it which gave it (and us) a lovely orange tint, not to mention an odd smell!! Also, the Factor 12 part of it was questionable as we both caught more sun than we bargained for! The night sky was incredibly clear as we ... read more

We only spent half a day in Coquimbo but we left wishing we had stayed there instead of La Serena. It had a good South American vibe to it and the atmosphere around the port was fantastic. We ate fish for lunch in a cheap restaurant where the locals gather every weekend for family feasts. Nearby we were able to see the multitude of pelicans gliding gracefully inches above the water and resting on dormant fishing boats. In town they built a huge cross on a hill to commemorate the Millennium. You can even go up in a lift inside - we didn’t! Sticking with religion, we were amazed to see an Islamic style tower similar to what we have seen in Morocco. It is in fact a cultural centre named after King Mohammed VI of ... read more

Viña is one of Chile’s premier resorts, and we hit it at peak time! Quite why we don’t know because the weather wasn’t as fabulous as expected and the sun rarely came out before 2pm. Thinking we had come across some anomalous weather I asked around only to find that it’s always like this in February! Despite the disappointment with the weather we loved Viña. It’s hard to say exactly why but the general atmosphere was much nicer than Valpo. It is also very clean in comparison. I wanted to go to the Casino but our money was perfectly safe - it costs US$5 to enter and gentlemen require a jacket and tie (what about ungentlemanly backpackers?!). The beaches are nice but the enormous rollers crashing onto the shore from the Pacific Ocean certainly put me ... read more