Blogs from Viña del Mar, Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America

We booked all our tours in Chile in advance except a trip to Valpariso. What I found after studying internet, Valpariso is very close to Santiago and a day tour can be easily arranged from hotels when we were there. After we checked in at Best Western, I asked the front desk if they can arrange a day trip to Valpariso for the next day. The hotel was a decent one, conveniently located close to the underground metro station and next to a busy thoroughfare. People at front desk were friendly and helpful. “Not a problem”, the gentleman at the front desk confirmed and he arranged a pick up from the hotel on the following day. We were advised to pay to the tour guy directly. Valpariso is a port city around 116 km from Santiago. ... read more

The BIG Ride - Epilog. After making our way North to Vina del Mar, where we washed the bikes and prepared to ship them home, the three of us left, then made our way to our shipping agent. A couple of months later, our bikes arrived home here in New Zealand which kinda marked the end of a fabulous and remarkable adventure. Here are some observations….. Total distance : 40,050 km’s. The circumference of Earth at the equator is 40,075 km, but from pole-to-pole — the meridional circumference — Earth is only 40,008 km around. This shape, caused by the flattening at the poles, is called an oblate spheroid. Border Crossings: We crossed 19 borders in total, not all of them easy…. Fuel Consumption : Average 5 Litres per 100 Km’s. 40,000 kms divided by 5 ... read more

Supposed to dock at 5.30a.m. but ended up getting the ship on port around 8.00a.m., broken crane had to be removed/repaired - docked in working port - bused to port terminal around 2 miles. Been here around 2006 when we went to Santiago the first time. Very cute place - with all the unique houses scaling the surrounding hills, from the ship you can see numerous fununculars. Teamed up with 5 other couples, three from the world cruise 2012, and off we headed for a fun day. Very lucky we are with Carlos - Spanish/Chinese decent - living in San Fran - knows the lingo - so caught the local bus up to the plaza - first stop a pharmacy so people could stock up on prescription drugs etc - then took a walk through the ... read more

Here we go again! All the motos are on their way to Valparaiso for our Patagonia Expedition - we fly in at the end of October for more South American adventure. We have a great team ready to ride with us from Chile, over the Andes into Central Argentina before exploring the fascinating terrain of Argentina Patagonia on our way to Ushuaia. With only four weeks to go before we fly out to Chile to rendezvous with our motos we shipped to Valparaiso a couple of weeks ago, the excitement is mounting amongst our small group of adventurers. Joining us on this Patagonia Expedition we have four riders that have been with us to the High Andes a couple of years ago - Tiny and Rippa Campbell from down the Naki, both riding their KTM's and ... read more

Well, folks, this is it. This will be my last blog entry here in Chile. After a trip so incredible, how can I sum it up in a blog post? How can I do justice to everything I have learned and experienced here? I think the truth is that I can’t. However, there are a few thoughts which I would like to share as my time here comes to an end. When Katie was here, she asked me about the three things about being in Chile that I would miss most when I am back in the US, either because we don’t do them there or because we do them differently. I found it a great question and have spent quite a bit of time thinking about it. Though there are so many things I will ... read more