Category: Chile

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Chile South America

Balmaceda & Serrano Glaciers

A day trip from Puerto Natales, in a small boat, takes you through the Ultima Esperanza Fjord. We traveled past a seal colony, waterfalls and a cormorant colony. There are also cattle ranches in the area- farming first commenced here in 1880s. We stop for a very tasty barbecue lamb and chicken lunch at Estancia Perales.

The most captivating stops for the day, are however the two glaciers: Balmecada and Serrano. The Balmecada glacier is retreating through a valley, away from the fjord it once touched in the 1980s. The photos so how much this has retreated in the last 30 years.Ā 

The Serrano glacier is a short 1 hour return walk. All the boats stop here for this walk, making it pretty crowded unfortunately .Ā 

Both of these glaciers are in Bernardo O’Higgins National Park.Ā 

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Chile South America

Torres del Paine

The most famous of all national parks in Chile and Patagonia- Torres del Paine (Towers of the mountains named Paine). This park is located 2 hours by bus from Puerto Natales. It is known for the W-trek and O-treks. however you need to be pretty organised and book 6 months in advance to book camping or accommodation spots. I was not this organised, so stayed in town and commuted daily. Note this park is also the most expensive!

The first day (Christmas) was actually planned at Christmas Eve diner and involved a bunch of us from the ferry. We took the 7am bus, waited in a fairly long queue to purchase our entry tickets and took another bus to Pudeto. It is from here that we caught the catamaran across Lake Pehoe at 11am. The trip to Paine Grande camp site took 30min and we had some great views. We then headed towards Campo Italiano and planned to turn around once 2.5 hours were up, so that we can get the bus back.Ā 

The next day, the weather remained clear and warm- and very rare find this far south! So I decided to head off and do the most well known of the one day treks- to the viewpoint of the towers- Torres Mirador. The walk was shown as 4.5 hours one way- which was a close call t make it back to the bus on time. The walk was tough and pretty much all uphill. Then I got to the last- steepest section which is due to take 1 hour 1 way. I was already pretty drained, but thought that I would give this last bit a crack, as the whole walk culminated in the view of the towers, which you pretty much cannot see as you walk through the forest and valley. The last section is all uphill- clambering up the remaining large rocks and glacial moraine of the glacier that used to exist here. I got about half way up and looked at the time,and with a heavy heart I decided to turn around. I slowly made my way down the rocks, absolutely disappointed and devastated with myself that I didn’t make it to the viewpoint. Mostly due to my lack of fitness. I have included a photo from a friend- Marcel to show what I missed out on. It was taken on the same day.Ā 

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Chile South America

Navimag Ferry

As I have mentioned I needed to get to Puerto Montt for the ferry to Puerto Natales. It leaves once per week (on Fridays). It is a 4 day, 3 night trip through the channels and fjords of Patagonia as well as Pacific Ocean ā€“as the glacier area is impassable to ships. I have included the route in the pictures.

Day 1 of our trip was check in and sail. We left approximately 17h30. The weather in Puerto Montt was sunny with blue skies. This is of course great as you could see all the volcano peaks in the area.

In the afternoon of day 2 we hit the Pacific Ocean. The paramedic came around to offer us all sea sickness tablets. Most people took them, and those that didnā€™t immediately before hitting the ocean took them later. The tablets have a side effect of drowsiness- so much of the shipā€™ travellers also passed out. The sea was relatively calm- but the swells were obviously larger than in the channels. I felt fine, but sleep alluded me this night.

Day 3 was a rainy day- a pity as the fjords would have been a sight to behold. However the constant drizzle and low cloud cover did not allow for this. The weather cleared a bit in the afternoon, so we were fortunate to view fjords after rain- which means that there are many waterfalls. We dropped off a few passengers, and picked up some new ones in the tiny village of Puerto Eden. This is the most remote of Chileā€™s community- the 120 odd people are only serviced by the Navimag ferry. There are no cars or roads here. The wind howls through this channel and though beautiful, I cannot imagine the cold of a winter here! There is also a naval base here.

Day 4 was Christmas Eve, and the day we disembarked at Puerto Natales. It was also on this last day that we crossed the narrowest of the fjords- made tricky by the dotting of little islands throughout the channel- this is called ā€œWhite Passā€. This is one of the critical points of the cruise, where slack water must be available and high tide is a must. It can also only be passed during daylight hours.Ā 

There is a faster way to get to Puerto Natales- by bus. This slower, and more unique way was my preferred option- and I am glad I took it. At the end I spoke to most of the passengers on board, made some new friends, got to experience some bone chilling winds and had good company for Christmas Eve dinner- a first for me -Pizza ! About 12 of us from the ferry met up and had an orphan Christmas at a great pizza place- Base Camp.

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Chile South America

Chiloe Island

A large island, accessible by regular ferries, is a lovely quaint, predominantly farming area with 3 larger towns: Ancud in the north, Castro in the centre and Quellon in the south. I didnā€™t have adequate time to head all the way south as I was time bound by the ferry I was catching to Puerto Natales from Puerto Montt.

I liked the country feel of the island. It is most well-known for penguins and itā€™s church circuit of 16 Unesco churches. They are made predominantly of wood. Some of them lie on the islands off of Chiloe.

First stop was Ancud, where I stayed just across from the San Antonio Fort. This home had a great view of the bay! I also got to know the notary publics and printing places in Ancud as I was selling my house in New Zealand during this time. Note to self: selling a house in a time zone that is 16 hours ahead, certifying paperwork in a country where you do not speak the language is a character building experience!

There is a public bus from Ancud to the penguin colony in Islotes De Punihuil. Humboldt and Magellenes penguins come here to mate for several months of the year, starting in September. The difference between the adult penguins is their stripes. The Humboldt has one stripe around the neck, while the other has two. The juveniles are difficult to tell apart. There are also several species of birds endemic to the area.

There is only one bus out of the penguin beach- 17h15. However, 17h15 came and went, 18h00 came and went and 18h30 came and still no bus. You could see it half way down the beach- but I hadnā€™t moved for the last 1.5 hours. I turned out to have a flat tyre. A pick up ute came past the three of us waiting for the bus. We asked when the bus is coming- and were told it wasnā€™t. We were offered a ride though at the back of the pickup.Ā  So we all gladly hopped in as 30km is a long way to walk back to town! We were dropped of 10km down the road- where one of the guys offered us a lift into town in his pickup. This was really kind as he had no other business there.

Castro is known for its palafitos (homes on stilts) and is the point from which my Czech friend (from Pucon) and I did a day trip out of, using public transport. We visited three churches: Achao, lunch in Curaco, another church in Dalcahue and then further to Tenaun. Tenaun is the smallest of these towns, I would hardly call it a settlement, but the church is very beautiful. We were lucky to get in 2 minutes before they started fumigating. This would have been painful after a 45-minute wait for the bus and another hour or so of a bus trip from Dalcahue. Back in Castro we visited the Unesco church in Plaza de Armas (main square). The exterior is corrugated iron, painted yellow and the interior is exquisite wooden panelling. I must add the Chiloe is well known for pretty rough weather- and yet luck was on our side and rain mainly came when we were on the bus šŸ™‚ .

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Chile South America

Pucon

Pucon is known as the adventure capital of the South. You can do white river rafting, climb an active volcano (Villarica) , including gas mask & oxygen due to the sulphorous gases it continuously emits. There are are also national parks to keep hikers busy.Ā 

This is of course if the weather plays its part. When I arrived it happened to be pretty rainy- you wouldn’t even know that there is a volcano around due to the low cloud cover!Ā 

However, when you stay in a hostel there are always other travelers to meet- so I be-friended two German girls with whom I spent the next two days.Ā 

Our first outing on the best weather day- was a hike inĀ Huerquehue National Park. We were very happy to go with a easier option -and thus set our sites on the Los Lagos (lakes) hike. Upon getting to the bus station we saw a sign that stated that this trail was closed for maintenance. Damn! The other option was the San Sebastian trail. This sounded tough in the descriptions we read the day before…”You think you have reached the top but you haven’t!” was used at least 6 times! However, when we got to the national park we found out that this trail was closed due to snow! So we had one option: Quinchol trail. This is a continuously climbing and steep trail, but rewards you with great views! I went at my usual granny pace. The trail winds up through ancientĀ AraucanĆ­a tree forest. Several people described it as being a “Jurassic Park feeling”. At the top circuit there are great views of Villarica on clear days.

There was an incident while we were having lunch on top of the hill- one of the girls spotted a very large spider. It turned out to be a tarantula!!Ā  I did not know that they are endemic here- until this very moment!Ā 

The area around Pucon has tens of thermal springs of all sorts and temperatures, sizes and costs. The day after the hike we went to Los Pozones, serviced by public buses and the cheapest of the hot springs. This was good to relax, and at the shoulder season, didn’t have too many people.Ā  Unfortunately I do not have photos as there were many warnings of theft- so I took the bare minimum with me. This trip was together with the German girls as well as a Czech lady that i met on the bus ride back from the National Park. We continued our exploration the next day of the waterfalls of the area. The weather played along most of the time… we clocked 18km between waterfalls and heading back into Pucon before we hitched a ride.Ā 

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Chile South America

Lota

El Chiflon el Diablo (The Devil’s Whistle) is an underground coal mine in Lota, Chile. It is just over an hour bus ride from Concepcion. The town of Lota has run into tough times after the mine closed in the 1997 due to cheaper Colombian coal hitting the market.Ā 

The mine tunnels are supported by eucalyptus wooden beams, and are developed under the sea.Ā Operation started in 1857 , when the town became the center of Chile’s coal production. Lota boomed as a small port.

The mine is ventilated by strong coastal breezes and is one of very few mines that does not require forced or mechanical ventilation in the world.Ā 

A truly beautiful attraction in Lota is the Isadora Cousino Park. The botanical gardens were planted by the original mine owners with various tree and flower species, and overlook the Pacific Ocean, the old port and mine shaft.Ā 

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Chile South America

Chuquicamata Mine and abandoned Township

Chuquicamata copper mine has been operating for the last 103 years as an open pit. The life of the open pit mineĀ  is coming to an end in 2020, however production is being taken over by the underground section prior to this end date.

The tour commences after a 30 minutes drive from Calama city, to the abandoned ghost town of Chuquicamata. All personnel who worked on the mine inhabited this mining town. The town had schools, hospital, churches, theater and a stadium as well as housing for 20,000 residents. All personnel were moved to Calama by the company, into company housing, by February 2008. Half of the town was then tipped over with rock waste from the mine ā€“including the hospital. The remainder of the ghost town ā€“inclusive of the town center – is now however considered national heritage and part of Chileā€™s history.

The open pit is the largest copper mine in the world- 5km long, 3.5km wide and 1.1km deep and is stated owned (CODELCO). There are an impressive 87 dump trucks on this mine! Though non-impressively most of them were queuing when I was there.

A bit confusingly (is this a word?) ā€“ all people drive on the left hand side of the mine roads, due to the left hand drive trucks, and when you leave work you drive on the right hand side again.Ā 

If you are interested in visiting, you need to email visitas@codelco.cl with the amount of people and date you would like to visit. Tours happen Monday to Friday. A 40 seater bus is used for the trip and fills up fast. The tour is free, CODELCO suggests making a voluntary donation to a children’s charity as “payment”.

Ā 

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Chile South America

San Pedro de Atacama Part 2

Laguna Cejar is North Chileā€™s Dead Sea. Floating and relaxing effortlessly is the name of the game. UNFORTUNATELY, though, there are no magma chambers under this lake- so the water is a bit cold for my liking. Having said that, the view of the Andes is glorious!!

Part of the trip is to go to Ojos de Salar (Eyes of the salt pan) which is nothing exciting, but gives Instagram fanatics a place to take perspective photos due to large, dry lake. No a very exciting stop though.

The last stop- for sunset drinks and snacks- is the best. Tebenquiche is located in the north of Salar de Atacama (Atacama salt flat) at 2,300m amsl. It is scientifically significant in that it contains stromatolites. Stromatolites are formed by bacteria and are thought to have significantly increased the oxygen on our planet several million years ago by the process of photosynthesis. They are now only found here, in Australia and in the Amazon.

Stromatolites are the mounds that you will see in the lagoon in the photos. From a purely aesthetic point of view- the blues around this lake are so beautiful and so many hues- together with the blue sky, and then changing colours during sunset- it is purely WOW.

Laguna Chaxa contained the most flamingos out of all the lakes at the time of visiting. The lake gets visits from the three types of flamingos that call Chile home: Andean, Chilean and James flamingos. They differ in height, beak and tail feather colours.

As I seem to be writing this post back to front, I will actually close off the San Pedro de Atacama portion of the blog with photos of the actual township!Ā 

This area has been known to be inhabited since 11,000 years ago. The local people are called Lican and the indigenous language is Kunza. This language has nearly died out as the Spanish would cut the local’s tongue out if you spoke it!Ā 

San Pedro is not an attractive town by any means, but the surroundings are.Ā 

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Chile South America

San Pedro de Atacama Part 1

A relatively short bus trip of 5 hours, gets you from Antofagasta to San Pedro de Atacama. This is a small desert town, out of which you can explore the Atacama Desert and volcanoes surrounding the area. Iā€™m sure that the tourist to local ratio is at least 5:1 ā€“ itā€™s very popular!

I spent nearly a week here- not because I had such a packed schedule here but it tied in well with a very cheap flight I managed to get from Calama to Concepcion, in the south. Five days would be just perfect.

Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) is a mixture of sand dunes and a large crater giving it a moon-like appearance. It also has salt caves to explore- mind you, you do need to contort a bit to get through them. The Valley is located in the Cordillera de la Sal. We went in the late afternoon and stayed for sunset too. The colours across the volcanoes and Andes is great- not sure that the photos capture it.

Licancabur is a 6,000m amsl volcano that overlooks San Pedro, and has a classic shape but cannot be climbed from Chile. It is too dangerous due to the landmines that Pinochet dropped on the Bolivia/Chile border during the 20th Century War of the Pacific. The locations of the landmines are unknown- and every time there is a large downpour they move.

The Laguna Altiplanicas (highland lakes) are located at 4,200m amsl. They consist of Laguna Miscanti – 15km2 surface area and Miniques-1,5km2 . ā€œMiscantiā€ means “frogs” in the local language and the volcano by the lake is named after the lake. The smaller lake also has a volcano next two it. There is a theory that states that the lakes may have become two after a volcanic explosion. Flamingoes do live in these lakes- though there were only two when I was visiting šŸ™‚ .

The lakes do freeze as sub-zero temperatures do occur regularly at this altitude. Ā 

The smaller volcanoes between the larger ones are known as Punta Negras (black points) and do have some thermal waters.

During this trip we were lucky to spot some local animals. The vicuna- highland relative of the llama- lives between 3,500 and 4,500m amsl. The suri is an Andean ostrich and the viscacha which is like a rabbit/chinchilla rodent. Ā Vicuna wool is the most expensive in the world, however due to the protection of the animal hunting and wool gathering is not allowed.

A 04h00 rise and shine and a pick up between 04h30 and 05h00 means that a trip to El Tatio geysers was coming up.Ā  El Tatio is the third largest geyser field in the world, behind Yellowstone and a field in Siberia that you can only fly over. It is also the highest geyser field at 4,300m amsl. Amazingly you can walk through and around the geyser field. The feeling of walking on top of a very active volcano- with magma chambers ONLY 6-8m below your feet and water that squirts out of holes at 85Ā°C is a bit unsettling. The temperatures ranges experienced during the day- San Pedro de Atacama was approximately 6Ā°C, -5Ā°C in El Tatio and then 28Ā°C when we got back at midday. I later heard that two days after I did this trip it was -12Ā°C in the morning!!! The reason for the trips being so early is for the greater variation in temperature between the steam and outside temperature. It gives a more dramatic and visible impact.Ā 

The road to and from the geysers is a dirt road ā€“which is great as you can explore more outback areas. We stopped in a couple of places which included two wetlands in the desert!! Machuca is a tiny town of 10 families and is supported by tourism- the best things here are the church and the wetland of the same name.Ā 

Had a lovely time at Hierbas Buenas (Petroglyphs) and Valle del Arcoiris (Rainbow Valley). It was a great morning out ā€“in the only area around San Pedro that must not have 23 tours happening at the same time! Had a peaceful walk around the petroglyphs ā€“which were between 1,000 and 5,000 years old. Images include llamas, foxes, monkey and dog.

The rainbow colours in the valley are due to many different minerals.

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Chile South America

Antofagasta

Antofagasta reminded me of Whyallaā€¦the only two similarities being that they are both on the coast and the amount of mining vehicles around in town. Antofagasta has several mines around and is the port out of which all the copper from Chuquicamata Mine is exported and the mines around Atacama. I stopped here after a 12-hour bus trip from La Serena-and due to being in mining have heard the name of Antofagasta a few times- so thought that I would stay a day.

The city is long and narrow and has campamentos (locations) running up into the hills. Again, the poorer people live in the hills, while the richer people live closer to the coast.

Below is a collection of photos from the day. Includes a very nice modern library.

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Chile South America

La Serena & Elqui Valley

A lovely smaller city, with an impressive bus station- some are just shocking, La Serena was my base for seeing the Elqui Valley. This valley runs from the coast into the border crossing with Argentina.

The first stop was Puclaro Dam. It has apparently been designed to withstand a 10.0 earthquake- which is good considering it holds 200 million cubic meters of water.

The making of Pisco- Chileā€™s national beverage /(under argument with Peru) ā€“ was next on the agenda. Pisco is made similarly to white wine, though it is kept in large barrels for 2 years and some varieties are aged in burnt French oak barrels for 1 year. This spirit is used most often In the making of Pisco sours. It tastes a fair bit like tequila- though tequila is made from Agave.

As one drives through the valley, the valley floor narrows considerably and becomes more dramatic as you have mountains that rise rapidly to approx. 2,000-2,700m above sea level. The valley is covered with white grapes for Pisco- (only Pisco from this valley can be called Pisco in Chile- the same as with Champagne) . Surprisingly there is also a large avocado plantation here. Avocados are very thirsty trees- and vines like dry arid climates. They pump water to the avocado trees from the river in the valley.

Lunch was at Elqui Pisco- a quaint little village ā€“with a charming atmosphere.

In the evening was- the best part really- watching the stars in the best country for itā€¦ no, I mean it. Chile has the worldā€™s best skies for viewing the galaxies. The worldā€™s largest telescope is currently under construction by 12 countries in Europe- it is un-originally called Extremely Large Telescope ?!?! It will have a laser that is 60cm wide and can point to objects 150km away. The mirror of the telescope is the size of a swimming pool- 40m in diameter!!!

On the hills (2,700m) you can see 3 telescopes (GEMINI, SOAR, Tololo) ā€“which cost approximately Euro 40 000 per hour to operate. I asked the astronomer how one pays for the cost and if there is a long waiting list, how do these astronomers determine who gets to use these bad boys?Ā  Basically you need to get sponsors, with a justification of what you are out to prove or find and how you suggest going about it.

The sky was glorious! We saw Saturn and Mars, some nebula and stars of Orionā€™s belt. The clarity from Mamalluca ā€“the public observatory we were at, at 1,100m ā€“ was crisp clear. It is also from this valley that everyone is getting majorly excited about for June 2019, when there will be a solar eclipse.

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Chile South America

Valparaiso

There are funiculars and stairs and narrow passages and roadways that get you lost in the most colourful city in Chile- if not the world! The town is most well-known for its spectacular street art and Bohemian vibe. Itā€™s not something thatā€™s easy to describe- so Iā€™m just going to spam you with photos.

This city was once known as the Pearl of the Pacific as it was a crucial stop and port for those travelling around the South American continent. The traffic through here changed dramatically in 1914 though- when the Panama Canal opened and ships no longer had to go around the horn.

Barring this importance, it was never planned to be a big town- which shows in the extremely winding streets that go nowhere and everywhere and donā€™t join where you would like them to! There is a small strip of reclaimed land between the see and the hills; however, then itā€™s a steep climb to all the neighbourhoods- I know I did a 600m walk up those hills with my backpack and all the kit, coming from the bus station. The whole town is made up of hills- and unlike most places in the world, property prices decrease as you go further up the hill!

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Chile South America

Santa Rita & Concha Y Toro Wineries

Carmenere is not a red wine that I was aware of until I had my first taste of it and some amazing history on my wine tour to these two huge wineries. Carmenere vines had become extinct in Bordeaux due to a Phylloxera (louse that eats vine roots) breakout that killed all known plants in 1867. Fast forward to 1994- an ampelographer- person who studies vine leavesā€¦yes, one can specialize THAT much!!! Realized that the merlot vines in Chile were turning red in the fall; BUT merlot vines turned yellow in the fall before losing their leaves. Further testing revealed that Chile now contains 95% of the worldā€™s Carmenere! Vines were brought from Bordeaux in 1850s and were well protected from attacks by Chileā€™s natural borders.

Santa Rita was the first stop on the day trip out of Santiago. The winery was founded in 1880 in the Maipo Valley. It is located 40km south of the city. The current most popular brand of the winery is ā€œ120ā€, named after 120 army personnel who took refuge on the estate during the battle of Rancagua.

The winery has magnificent gardens and a boutique hotel that costs 500 USD per night. It also boasts its own church-due to the fact that its original owner was a very religious man. One of the owners was also a fanatic collector of pre Colombian Art- which is now housed in a free museum on site. This collection is very extensive and has gold pieces that I had not even seen in the museum in Santiago! There is a total of 3,000 pieces that are well displayed and described, and included earthenware, textiles and metal work.

After this winery we went to lunch- having an opportunity to meet the others in the group and chat. While most of the group was Spanish they introduced themselves, when all of a sudden people around the table started clapping-being behind on story here I inquired as to what was happening. The couple next to me were on their honeymoon. Upon finding this out the Mexican lady sitting opposite me, says that she has something to wish them well with- Elxir de Amor (Elixir of love) ā€“ and whips a hip flask filled with tequila from her handbag. To this we all passed the flask around the table and drank to their health- SALUT!

Concha Y Toro ā€“ the second winery for the day, is located in Pirque. It is the largest producer of wine in Latin America! It was founded in 1883. The company is listed on the Santiago and New York Stock Exchange.

The brand is best known for its ā€œCasillero del Diabloā€ / Cellar of the Devil range of wines.

I asked out guide as to the numbers of visitors they have dailyā€¦ low season is about 300 to 400 and high season- 1000 per day!!

As a matter of fact Chilean wines are very cheap- not because they are nasty- but because the wine is not taxed. A good bottle of wine will set you back 5-10 USD. On another side noteā€¦books are taxed at 19% in Chile ā€¦ leading the to the highest illiteracy levels in Latin America!

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Chile South America

Easter Island

So named due to the landing of Europeans on the island on Easter in 1722, the island is better known as Rapa Nui to the locals. No one is 100% sure as to where or when the first people arrived on the island. DNA tests have shown Polynesian descent- not as previously thought that locals came from the South American mainland- as per the famous Norwegian Kon Tiki sailing.

Some words that you should understand:

Moai: the statues that the island is well known for

Ahu: the platforms upon which the statues stand. The name proceeding ā€œAhuā€ is the name of the statue/ congregation of statues.

Pukao: the top knot/ head piece that some statues have.

Something to note is that the Rapa Nui language is not a written language and thus there is no written record of all the ā€œhows and whysā€- information has been passed down verbally from generation to generation.

The question that most people have is why the Moai were put up in the first place. They were carved and erected after the passing of someone important in a given tribe. It is said that the person who died ā€“the ancestorā€™s mana (spirit/ nearly like a good karma) would then stay and watch over the tribe. All Moai are facing inland-facing the area of land where the tribe lives- to protect their tribesā€¦all bar one. Ahu Akivi faces west- towards to ocean. It is assumed that it actually faces the island from which the original settlers were thought to have come from (Marquesas); and thereby protects that tribe.

Moai protection was relevant as long as you could see the Moai from any part of the land that it protected- lets refer to it as the area of influence.

The Moai are nearly all made of volcanic ash- found in one area of the island- Rano Raraku- or the quarry. Very few statues were made of basalt. There are hundreds of statues that remain here in various phases of carving and transport. All tribes on the island carved their Moai at the quarry and made certain to use the limited material that they had wisely. You can thus find Moai carved left/ right/ upside down/ diagonally etc.

The Moai were ā€œwalkedā€ from Rano Raraku ā€“the quarry- to their location. The latest theory is that long ropes were thrown around the statues and they were inched / wobbled from side to side and ā€œwalkedā€ to their final Ahu- or platform. The base of the Moai is a D-shape which allowed for this; but also made them susceptible to toppling over. Once a Moai toppled then it was left in place as it was believed that the mana was gone.

One can tell whether a Moai made it to its Ahu/platform and toppled over once there or toppled before arriving to his platform. The reason behind this is that the eyes are only finished once the Moai is in place on top of the Ahu. Ā What that means is that the eyes are carved out V shape at the quarry, then once atop the Ahu, they got carved out to be concave and finished off by adding white coral to be the white of the eye and black obsidian to be the pupil of the eye.

The top knots are mined from the red scoria quarry- Puna Pau. They were transported separately and the largest is 2m high!! Ā (it belongs to the largest transported Moai- at 12m high and 80t in weight!!) The name of this Moai is Ahu Te Pito Kura. For a theory of how the Pukao were placed on top of the heads of the Moai see this link.

The statues that are standing on the island have all been restored- all statues had been pulled down by the Rapa Nui people when they stopped believing in their powers. When exactly this happened it is not known. When Europeans came to the island in late 1700s their records showed that they helped the locals pull down the last standing Moai. On trips dating from 1722 through 1804 the number of standing Moai reduced at each encounter.

Orongo- which is in the very south of the island is dominated by the Rano Kau crater- is the place known for the Birdman competition. The competition included the strongest men in the island competing by climbing down a sheer 300m cliff face, swimming around an islet, climbing up cliffs to get to the top and getting the first laid egg of the tern that nests here. They could of course wait a few weeks for them to first get there! Then the winner needs to swim back from the island and climb back up the cliff without breaking the egg. The winner gets the palest virgin as a prize and to rule for a year-until the next competition. The ritual ended when Christianity was introduced to the island. It is worthwhile noting that Red Bull came to the island a few years ago to determine whether to have a modern day competition and said that it was far too dangerous and they wouldnā€™t!!!

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Chile South America

Santiago de Chile

As the capital city of Chile, one would expect a stack of things to do and see, however it is a bit underwhelming.

There are some heritage, old European style buildings, a few modern skyscrapers, but otherwise the architecture is pretty bland and I would even say dirty- nothing a lick of paint couldnā€™t fix.

I was lucky to spend a weekend with a Chilean friend of mine whom I met in Whyalla, Australia.

The first thing on the list on Saturday was to organise a ticket to Easter Island- having had issues with paying with my debit card online since being in South Africa, this was eventually sorted after a couple of hours- it wasnā€™t easy- but it got sorted!

Lunch was at the central market- a traditional corn pie called Pastel De Choclo. Which has mincemeat and chicken with a thick, glazed topping of corn.

In the afternoon we walked through Park Forestral ā€“ the cityā€™s central park -and came across hundreds of people. We were both excited- thinking we have come across something good happening-like a festival- it turned out that everyone was there chasing Pokemons !!

On Sunday we did an East (rich suburbs) to West (poor suburbs) trip via the metro and buses to see all sides of the city. The eastern most stop of Metro 1 is Los Dominicos . Here one finds the church of the same name, after the first order of monks that arrived here and a very diverse market of Chilean products ā€“leather, copper, horse hair art called crin (see this link for an example- itā€™s very fine work!), ponchos and traditional gaucho (cowboy) hats.

As my friend was ensuring that I taste traditional Chilean food- I had my first Empanada ā€“ ā€œpinoā€- which is with mincemeat, onions, half a boiled egg and an olive. I must say that I find Chilean food bland- like the buildings ā€¦. It lacks a bit of spice, not heat, but spice.

We then travelled west by bus all the way to Maipu suburb, and as you do so you can see the poverty more as time progressed. The Basilica of the Virgin del Carmen (Patron Saint of Chile) is located here. The structure is absolutely enormous and has a grand stained glass window. It was built between 1948 and 1974, in place of several previously damaged chapels/ cathedrals that were placed in the exact position where the fight for independence of Chile was won after the Army of the Andes asked for intercession when fighting against the Spanish and won.

Museums are closed on Mondays- as in pretty much ALL museums, so I did a walking tour that commences in Plaza de Armas at 10am and 3pm daily. I always enjoy doing these as you get a good summary of history and way around the main attractions. It is also on this tour that I learned about ā€œcoffee with legsā€. This was started by a female entrepreneur in the 70s to entice people to drink the bad coffee in Chileā€¦so what is it? Coffee bars where you stand around bar type tables and are served your coffee by scantily dressed ladies. Clearly this is more popular with the menā€¦ and there isnā€™t a ladies option for me to enjoy šŸ™Ā  .

Tuesday was my cultural museum day. I visited the National Museum- which unfortunately didnā€™t have English descriptions; after which I spent a large portion of the early afternoon in the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. This has the history of Chile prior to European settlement and was interesting ā€“ I hadnā€™t recalled that the Inca empire stretched all the way to Santiago area. TheĀ Museum exhibits artefacts and describes the history and use thereof- like the spatulas that Shamans used to empty their stomach contents prior to getting high on their chosen concoctions.

Excited to see some of the arty bits of the city the next two Museums (MAVI and Museum Belles Artes) and their exhibitions were a letdown. I do not profess to have any knowledge of art but do find some pieces interesting/intriguing when I visit ā€œartyā€ placesā€¦ however I left uninspired!

Ā 

I do have a love of old libraries- and the National Library of Chile did not disappoint- when walking into the old majestic library rooms the perfume of old books is in the air and it feels like if you are going back decades in time! Below areĀ some photos of the library and a few other buildings of note.Ā 

The area around the student house (with chairs etc hanging out of the windows???) has several spaces where people come together to practice their dancing/ juggling/ street art and you can just go there and watch. Several galleries are located in close proximity.