2025 Sep 26, 27: Chile!

Next up: South America. A month in Chile, two months in Argentina, including six weeks in a camper through Patagonia, some tbd more time in tbd location.

Left Sacramento on a flight scheduled to depart at 7:40AM Friday June 26th (the uber arrived at 5!) but which actually departed at 9:05, just giving us time to make our 10:55 flight from SFO to Panama City. Flew from there to Santiago, arriving 6:00AM on the 27th. Our AirBnB hostess allowed us to move in at 9AM (normally 3PM), took a taxi from the airport.

The AirBnB is fine, has everything we need but is small & nondescript on the 6th floor of a late 20th century building in kind of a student ghetto (cool but loud, bright & run down); about a 10 min walk to Centro Histórico:

Total door to door time: 25 hours.

So we took showers & had a nap, made it out onto the streets of Santiago somewhat after noon.

By the way we’re spending four days in Santiago before moving to Valparaiso, where we’ll stay for a month.

Santiago has about 7 million people, sits up against the western slope of the Andes. It’s spring (equivalent to late-March in the northern hemisphere). You can see snow capped peaks in the distance.

First up: Santa Lucía Hill.

Here’s Santiago from the top of Santa Lucía Hill:

Then on to Paseo Estado in Centro Historico for lunch outside at Dominó, kind of a mid-scale chain. It was nice sitting outside, the weather was perfect.

At some point we got cash from an ATM and got the first admonition from a local: be careful! Close the door to the ATM vestibule! It was fun figuring out what she was saying; on this day I realized that maybe what I like most about traveling is the feeling you get when you succeed to communicate in the native language, no matter how brief & basic.

Plaza de Armas is pretty much the heart of the city. It has been part of the city since its founding in 1541, when it was customary to leave a large open plaza in the center of the towns, where the citizens could be defended in the event of an attack. Today, street performers, religious barkers, money exchangers & a smattering of homeless. Grand but a bit frayed & touristy. Must see anyway:

The surrounding sights:

Stumbled onto a really interesting hotel on the walk back. Perhaps this is a good time to mention, prices are good here, money is going much farther than anywhere we’ve been since Montenegro:

…and the back of Santa Lucía Hill:

Walked almost seven miles.