We finish our last game of cards at the top of Cerro San Cristobal before commencing our last drive through Santiago back to Hotel Galerias and then onwards to the airport. What we hadn’t accounted for was Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. After only one wrong turn, we find ourselves about two blocks away from […]
We all pile back into the car, make a pit stop by Pablo Neruda’s cliff-top, ocean-view house, and continue onwards to Valparaiso. This colorful port city, which is oftentimes called Valpo brings out the photographer in two of us as we pass through its winding, hilly streets. We get to skip climbing up one hill […]
As our trip comes to a close, we appreciate some of Santiago’s nightlife by exploring Barrio Bellavista, a neighborhood chock full of restaurants, bars, cafes and clubs. On consecutive nights, we find dinner at a local spot and then venture out to find some dancing. Bar Constitucion, a club with very eclectic music from electroclash […]
We find a piece of home, and more specifically of Trader Joe’s, when we visit Viña Concha y Toro, the famous wine producer of Casillero del Diablo. After a couple tastes at this winery just southeast of Santiago, we continue southward to the Colchagua Valley where we enjoy wines, lunch, vineyard-filled hills, and walks among […]
We ask for a late check out because our flight that we had to change due to our previously non-existent tickets is scheduled for 11pm. Our late checkout is not granted, and given that our day began at 4am with the Tatio Geyser tour, we feel like resting at the lodge for the rest of […]
A 4am alarm is never pleasant, but alas, we want to see the Tatio Geysers at sunrise and doing so necessitates an early wake-up. We are picked up by Mauricio, the same guide from Cosmos Andinos, who toured us around yesterday, and the whole bus minus the driver proceeds to fall asleep until we arrive […]
The landscapes today are inspiring. The rains of yesterday deposited snowcaps to the Andes Mountains that surround us, and the crispness of the air compels my trigger finger to keep taking pictures. From the day’s start with the flamingos at Laguna Chaxa in the Salar de Atacama to the Lagunas Miniques and Miscanti, each site […]
I hear that our first full in San Pedro is going to be a rest day, and although I’m fully on board with the idea, I feel that if I go on a nice morning bicycle ride, I will feel great about resting afterwards. The owner of our lodge tells me of a ride to […]
Our accommodations while in San Pedro de Atacama come complete with a “wellness center”, wood-stove-heated Jacuzzi, and small swimming pool for Hydrogym activites. Meals are served in a centrally located kitchen around a communal table that is shared by other guests at the Lodge. Our first dinner, as an example, is shared with a Brazilian […]
On the same afternoon that we arrive in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile’s high desert adobe-Disneyland, we venture to Valle de la Luna along the way taking some photographic pit-stops at Valle de la Muerte and Tres Marias. In my effort to try to compare foreign landscapes to something more familiar, I try to match […]