My 2004 trip to Chile came out of the last-minute realization that my finances, vacation time, and desire to travel all intersected, and that there was really no good reason why I couldn't go. So I went!
After a slew of weather/Christmas airport hell- related flight delays, I arrived in the glorious summer sun of Santiago on Boxing Day. I spent a couple of days in Santiago, taking in the city, interacting with the locals ( a.k.a partying with Claudia and her friends), meeting Claudia's family, getting my ears used to the rapid-fire Spanish being spoken around me at all times.
Claudia had been living in Montreal and had recently returned to Santiago. When she was living here, I'd met quite the motley crew of people through her, many of whose identities were some variation on the term Chilean-Canadian. And by chance, three of these friends, Alejandro, Marie-Claude and Joel, were also in Chile at the same time as I was. So we ( me, Claudia, Alejandro, Marie-Claude, Joel, Claudia's best friend Jesica and her boyfriend) all set off to Valparaiso, Chile's big port city, which is the place to celebrate New Year's in Chile. The city is made up of a bunch of hills that ring a huge bay - picture Halifax with several Citdel Hills all along the harbour. Boats go out into the water to shoot off fireworks, and the top of each one of the hills becomes a spontaneous party as everyone gathers around to watch. It was awesome. We stayed at Jesica's grandmother's beach house in Con Con, just north of Valparaiso, which meant we were able to get in some beach time. (I was the whitest person I think anyone on the beach had ever seen...)
Joel happened to be heading north towards La Serena to visit family, and I had been plannign to head north on a quest to see the desert, so I jumped in his rental car and we took off on the Panamericana, while everyone else headed back to Santiago. What started as a daytrip to the Valle de Elqui east of La Serena ended up me spontaneously deciding to stay a couple of days, and telling Joel to leave me there. As you can see in the second photo, the Valle de Elqui is this crazy green valley amongst these desert mountains that are the eeriest grey-pink colour. Grapes are grown there, and it's the home of one of the best-known breweries of pisco, Chile's national liquor. The little village where I stayed had a great laid-back vibe and the stars at night were amazing. And there was also this Chilean Joey Jeremiah lookalike who lived in this weird adobe-style summer hut down the road from my hostel.
I then went back to La Serena for a couple of days, where I took a boat trip to this penguin colony of the coast ( check out the third picture above - those are desert animals called guanacos that we saw ont he way to where we took the boat). I then took an overnight bus back to Santiago for a couple more days of city living before heading back to winter in Canada.I really enjoyed my time in Chile, and I guess the proof is that I'm going back there again! I felt quite comfortable around Santiago and around the country; and it was pretty easy to get around. And despite the differences in character of the different cities and different regions, overall, I really liked the vibe there. And the natural phenomena, scenery, landscapes, etc, don't leave much to be desired. Let's just say it's a good sign for a country, scenery-wise, when you're awestruck before the plane even lands as you come in over the snow-capped Andes...
Anyway, that's a short summary of my first trip to Chile. For the long version, you'll just have to call me.
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