Mar 8, 2009 - Easter Island

Easter Island - what can I say but "wow". We had a lovely time at Easter Island. We were staying at the Minohoa Campsite but were actually staying in a double room there as it was only an extra £3 a night so we decided to splurge! The campsite was fabulous - it was on a point right beside the ocean and had the best views of the sunset on the island. We decided to walk into town to get some groceries and have a look around. Unfortunately, we forgot about siesta and everything was closed until 4pm so we walked around until the shops opened....

Mar 3, 2009 - Valparaiso, Chile 13th Port

A major port, Valparaiso, with a population of over 300,000, is the second largest city in Chile. It is also home to the Chilean navy. This blue collar city is a jumble of colorful clapboard houses and Victorian mansions balancing precariously on a circle of steep hills. This majestic panorama is backed by the distant snow-capped peaks of the Cordillera. Its unique scenery is matched only by its raucous nightlife, as sailors' bars and bordellos line the winding, hilly streets. Valparaiso is a great contrast to its twin sister, Vina...

Feb 23, 2009 - Valpo and Vina Del Mar

Colonial Vina del Mar was originally a huge hacienda belonging to the Carerra family. It became the playground of the upper classes of Chile, and indeed, even the wealthy Valparaiso residents build vacation homes here. It’s a popular weekend destination as it can be reached in less than two hours from Santiago. The beaches are overcrowded during the summer months of January and February but the chilly Humboldt current keeps all but the most hardy swimmers out of the water. The contrast between ‘Valpo’ and ‘Vina’ cannot be overstated. Vina...

Feb 19, 2009 - La Isla Negra

"Compañeros, enterradme en Isla Negra, frente al mar que conozco, a cada área rugosa de piedras y de olas que mis ojos perdidos no volverán a ver. ...Abrid junto a mí el hueco de la que amo, y un día dejadla que otra vez me acompañe en la tierra." (P. Neruda - "Disposiciones"/Canto General) Visitar la casa en donde se inspiro Pablo Neruda para escribir la gran mayoria de su obra poetica y donde hoy yace enterrado junto a su querida Matilde me trajo sentimientos encontrados. No todos los dias uno puede estar en el mismo lugar donde...

Feb 17, 2009 - Valparaiso

We were beginning to get pretty restless. After four weeks in Santiago, one wine tour and one scraped knee, it was time to hit the road again. We wanted to start our adventure by heading to the coast to visit the port city of Valparaiso. We have both remember Valparaiso from our geography lessons of old. Valparaiso was the first major port that sailors reached after passing through the Straits of Magellan or rounding Cape Horn. Several factors contributed to Valparaiso’s importance during the 1800s. The California gold rush brought a...

Feb 4, 2009 - Easter Island

We arrived at Easter Island this morning. We are still on EST if you can believe that so sunrise is between 7:30 and 8. Apparantly since Easter Island is technically part of Chili, they maintain the same timezone. We had to use the tenders today to get onto the Island. We've learned that many ships have to miss this Port of Call due to weather, but we have been blessed with a beautiful day. Despite that, the break in front of the harbor is a surfer's dream. Beautiful waves. The tour guide is an American living on Easter Island for 16 years,...

Jan 24, 2009 - Viña Del Mar & Valparaiso

The bus ride from Mendoza across into Chile should really only take about 3 to 4 hours but it takes 7 because you spend three hours at the border waiting to go through customs to enter Chile. That said, it is a breathtaking trip through the mountains and really picturesque. We have some great pictures of the ride that we promise to upload as soon as we can get that process to take less than an hour per pic...hopefully in the next couple of days. While we´re on the topic of buses, they are absolutely incredible here in South America. The...

Jan 22, 2009 - Easter Island to Valparaiso

Another beautiful hot and sunny day in Santiago. Today we are off to the port of Valparaiso for 2 nights before we join the cruise on Saturday. We are really looking forward to joining the cruise. We'll try and add more when we can. Viv and Gerry We arrived by bus in Valparaiso and of course went out immediately walking up and down all the hills. San Francisco has nothing on this place. The ascensores (funicular) are over a hundred years old and are a bit scary to use but they save a lot of leg power. Second day in Valparaiso we took the...

Jan 21, 2009 - Valparaiso

On our return to Santiago, we opted to get out of the city and see something other than buildings and pollution, so we headed off to Valparaiso - 2 hours away on the coast. It´s a city ¨full of character¨, which basically means it´s lots of old buildings in very bright colours arranged in a completely illogical way. The town looks over the port, and stretches up into the hills. The popular way to get around is to use the ascensors - very old elevators climbing the slopes at different points on rail tracks. Apart from that, Valparaiso...

Jan 5, 2009 - Embarkation

Our dinner last night was delightful. We went out to dinner with a couple from Brentwood whom we met on the city tour. We went to a lovely Italian restaurant and it was delicious. Marty and Tamara are great and we laughed a lot during the evening. They are also going on the cruise and we anticipate hanging out with them a lot. Today was pretty standard for an embarkation day. Got picked up from the hotel and drove to Valparaiso where we boarded the ship, Insignia. We have been on Oceania before and it is a very nice ship. We looked around...

Dec 3, 2008 - Valparaíso, Chile

Ravi -- Not originally on our radar when we planned this trip, Valparaíso (Valpo for short), and its hills of colorful homes, has definitely been a highlight of our visit to S America. Located just two hours from Chile, this city of a few hundred thousand sits on the Pacific Coast, and was once one of the most important port towns in South America until the Panama Canal opened. While still having an interesting and busy port life, its charm is the numerous hills just beyond the coast full of homes painted one bright color or another. After...

Nov 23, 2008 - Easter Island - Day 3

Yesterday was all about Moai and Ahu sites, but today was mostly cave paintings and petroglyphs. Our first stop was just over the hill from our hotel to see paintings in a cave that ended up running beneath the hotel property. We also saw Rano Kao, which is the oldest volcano on the island, and it was so windy up there, we actually had to fight to stay upright. On the other side of the volcano, we saw the area where the Bird Man contest was held each Spring. It pitted the top warrior of each of the 10 tribes against each other by having...