Blogs from Coquimbo, Coquimbo Region, Chile, South America

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South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo March 6th 2018

Day three, day at sea! Jack makes 100!! A lesson in selfishness And pool side chilaxing We have had a relaxing day at sea today on route to San Martin in Peru. We have another sea day tomorrow, love em! This morning we attempted to go play basketball but the court was in use by some guys playing paddle ball. We waited patiently.... we waited and waited. One guy then suggested we come back later as they always use the court.... oh really???? I asked him if it was a planned event to which he said no... so then I said well you don’t have sole right to it then? They continued playing, there were a number of them taking in turns to play. We initially left but then my indignation got the better of me ... read more

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo March 5th 2018

Day two Coquimbo. Football, dogfights and spectacular views. See photos and video! The only good thing about having to use facebook to post my blogs is the speed I can upload photos and now videos too! Enjoy! The one of Dave almost getting savaged by a dog is a good watch. We docked in Coquimbo early morning and, after breakfast in the dining room, headed out to explore. ?? Chile is long and thin, the top end being desert and the lower part more lush with varied weather. We are close to the top third so the signs of desert were everywhere. The land itself is sand coloured and dusty. Even the tarmac roads had a thin layer of desert dust atop and cactus ? were absolutely everywhere. It was hot but not at all unbearable. ... read more

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo March 5th 2015

Docked early and our private tour we booked from home was for 9.30a.m. so a leisurely breaky and off we go again. Nicholas was our guide - a local boy in his final year of mechanical engineering - being a tour guide part time - very nice guy and we had a great day! We had wanted to get out in the Elqui Valley - to see a Pisco distillery and the countryside - the mountains around are just so bare and desert like and then you have this very fertile valley growing a lot of grapes, veges and and array of fruits as well as peaches and oranges. The valley is watered by a huge dam backed up halfway along the valley but the water catchment to this area has been very little and they ... read more
COUNTRY TOWN OF PIQUENA
PISCO DISTILLERY
PISCO DISTILLERY

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo March 13th 2014

11 March 2014 – Tuesday – La Serena, Chile Cold, steel-gray skies greeted us this morning – not the welcoming clear blue that we have become used to. The hostel offers breakfast inclusive with the price of the room: the breakfast is a plastic Tupperware-like container with two slices of bread and thin piece of cheese, a package of crackers, a small tetra-pak juice, a tea bag and a measure of instant coffee in a sachet, two packs of sugar. The Chileans just don’t do breakfasts! I went out to a nearby shop and bought six eggs and Joan whipped up an omelette. We caught up with our correspondence and the national news online – strange about the missing Malaysian airliner. When we began our walkabout of La Serena it was still grey skies and cool ... read more
La Serena 020
La Serena 026
La Serena 029

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo March 7th 2014

I have enjoyed many excellent flights now to Chile with Lan/Qantas, but this was one of the worst. During the flight the airconditioning just couldn't cope and we were so hot and on top of that our section of seating had no inflight entertainment, so all in all it became a very LONG night. We were met at the airport by Gerardo and our taxi van. on arrival at the hotel we presented our passports and rego papers to our agent, to get a jump start on the release of the bikes, the only problem was, that Bob and Mary were still on their way back from Easter Island and would not be in to Santiago until 9.00 pm. With a bit of practice, I had perfected their signatures and we were in business.... After a ... read more
Flat battery-Bugger
Bob - Good to go
Mary - Charged and ready

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo September 18th 2011

Leaving the cold South of Chile we were heading for the metropolitan area of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, which are two cities that have almost merged over the years. Valparaiso is a city of students and artists, build on a lot of beautiful hills, whereas Vina del Mar is more a tourist centre, but still nice. Both have their charm, no doubts, but we soon remembered that neither of us is a big-city-person and so we left after two days (even one half of each of these two we spent outside the cities).The surrounding areas are a mixture of tourist towns, epic beaches and industry zones with big carbon power plants and oil refineries. Chile is definitely the most developed South American country; however in this area you can experience the downside on wealth fare ... read more
Vina del Mar
Vina del Mar
Valparaiso

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo September 8th 2010

So here it is, four nights away from boarding the B767 for that 9+ hr flt to Santiago. Sunday morning around 8AM local time we'll be landing @ SCL. Both of us have packed and are pretty much ready. Since the last time I was here we've gotten the passports, tickets and more goodies for the trip. We've also extended our trip to a full two week; 14 day stay. Looking forward to Kay meeting the family and the family meeting my wife. Play some golf, do a bit of hiking, visit different natural attractions. It's going to be a long awaited honeymoon for us. Can't wait! Will post on here and Fb throughout the trip! TICK TOCK...... read more

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo September 4th 2010

On the road to Coquimbo There is a boulder. It sits on the left side of the road Alone, before the walking overpass, before the turn of to Totoralillo beach. It called out to me, but I didn't answer. We were unable to stop. CHADWICK is it's name. I wanted to take a photograph, for this name is shared by my brother twelve thousand miles away.... read more

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo July 28th 2010

So we're roughly six weeks away from our trip to Chile. We will be there right now looking at 10-12 days witha total of 16 days off from work. saturday we went and applied for new passports. It was $130 each. There's also a visitors entry fee into Chile. It's $130 each also but issues you a card that is valid the life of the passport. We'll be able to return to Chile and enter fee free for the next ten years. So we're at $520 now on the costs. Our employer is a big deal cargo moving company and has perks with all major airlines. We can travel standby almost anywhere we want for a heavily discounted price. We were quoted earlier this week tickets prices for ATL-SCL-ATL at $342 + $18 process fee. so ... read more

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » Coquimbo July 14th 2010

So we are about two months from our trip to Chile... Just getting some prep time. Got this blog ready. tomorrow will submit paperwork for passport. Next week we will purchase our tickets. Before we leave we have to buy a new camera for detailed photos along as prep our point and shoot ones. Looking forward to this trip and excited for my wife, her first time going to Chile. We will be there 10 days and my sneak out to Easter Island for two of them if the price is right. Anyway, more to come soon. stay tuned. ... read more




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