The white tigers of Chile

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Santiago - 25th to the 27th of May, 2009

Santiago is one of those big cities of South America. Although its population is smaller compared to Buenos Aires, it's still one of the cities most travellers fly in or out from. It's also got a mixed reputation. Many people who I've met on this trip advised me to skip Chile, and Santiago in particular. But after my few days in Santiago, I think that reputation is unjustified.

We arrived early in the morning and waited in the restaurant area of the train station for a few minutes while we figured out where to go. A few people I know, included Fiona, have stayed in the Casa Roja so off we went. It's a nice hostel and is pretty chilled out, especially compared to Loki. After a nap and a shower, I went off to the nearest internet while Richard continued sleeping. I recon he'd win a sleeping contest no problem. That afternoon, after dropping off our laundry, we took the metro (subway) into the centre of the town and spent the afternoon exploring the city and trying to decipher what language the locals were speaking - Spanish here is so different. We tried to organise white-water rafting but the hostel weren't able to book it for us so we gave up and decided rafting would have to wait until Arequipa. That night, we made dinner in the hostel and hung out there until bedtime.

The next day, after a bit of a lie-in, Richard and I got the metro to town again. We wandered down through the university district towards Cerro San Cristobal (St. Cristobal's Hill) where we spent a very nice day. Cerro San Critobal is one of the main parks in Santiago. It's located on a large hill, over looking the city, and is accessed by either a lot of steps, by funicular (a strange train type thing) or cablecar. Richard and I opted to get a ticket which combined the funicular, the cablecar and entry to the zoo. First stop on the funicular was the zoo where Richard and I spent a very happy few hours. There were lots of animals in the zoo including beautiful white tigers, lots of giraffes, lions, zebra and a polar bear. After going down through the zoo (it's on a hill so you have to walk down to get to the exit), it was a few more minutes' walk from the exit back to the funicular. It brought us to the top of the hill this time, which is meant to offer spectacular views of Santiago and the mountains behind. While the view of Santiago was clear, the mountain was covered by smog and cloud. The top of the park is filled with many attractions, including swimming pools, gardens and a 22 metre tall statue of the Virgin Mary. This is where Pope John Paul said mass when he visited Santiago. We explored the park using the cable car, enjoying some ice-creams along the way. That evening, we signed up for spaghetti night in the hostel. It was tasty and the portions were huge. Good times.

On Wednesday (Champion's league final), we wandered away from the old part of town to the shopping district and bought ourselves two flights to Arica, at the top of Chile, for the next day. The afternoon was spent watching the match and having a few drinks. I left a somewhat depressed Richard to play cricket in the cricket net and a slightly drunken boy joined me around 10.30pm that night to pack his bags. Our French room-mate and Richard proceeded to speak in Spanish until mid-night when I suggested bed might be a good idea.

At 5.15am the next morning, I was rudely awoken by Richard's phone. We quickly got ourselves organised and took our first taxi bus thing of the day to the airport. Surprisingly, our flight duration was more than a couple of hours but they gave us a nice breakfast (which a hungover Richard didn't enjoy). Once we arrived in Arica, we got ourselves a taxi to the terminal. From there, it was a shared taxi across the border from Chile to Tacna in Peru and a bus from there to Arequipa. It sometimes takes a lot of effort to get anywhere!

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Comments

[james st. james]

santiasco
santiago really is a nice town. i don't quite know why so many in the backpacking crowd really dislike it. it's not flashy like buenos aires nor as hedonistic as rio, it has a very low-key character that reflects the low-key character of chileans in general. it's quirky and has a lot to offer the traveller once you get past the superficial impression that it's just a smoggy boring city. congrats on not listening to people who really don't know what they're talking about. just goes to show sometimes you have to find out for yourself. enjoy the rest of your travels, ¡cheers!