Chile diary
February 18, 2016
Flights from
Copenhagen over Madrid to Santiago
February 19, 2016
Landed
in the morning and was greeted by our guide Zuni
City Tour in Santiago.
We started with San Francico Church. It was rebuilt
after an earthquake, and one can see that the materials are recycled.
Then we saw murals on the subway. They show the history of Chile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Church,_Santiago_de_Chile
We went for a long walk in the central part of the city, came by the stock
market, Placa de Armas,
Presidential Palace,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Moneda_Palace
Metropolitana
cathedral where we went inside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Metropolitan_Cathedral
We visited the large food market, and to the end of the day we climbed the
viewpoint Cerro San Cristóbal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Crist%C3%B3bal_Hill
February
20, 2016
Day
trip to the port city of Valparaiso (Paradise Valley)
The town lies on the slopes down towards the sea. It is known for its murals of
unknown artists. We went for a long walk through the city. First in height past
the streets of painted houses. Then we took a cable car down to the commercial
center by the harbor. We ended out northwards along the coast in an affluent neighborhood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valpara%C3%ADso
February
21, 2016
Flew
from Santiago to Calama which is a mining town in the
Atacama Desert in northern Chile. We drove to San Pedro de Atacama, the main
city in this area. It is an oasis in the middle of the desert. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Pedro_de_Atacama
Later
the same day we went on a trip to the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) and to the
Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley). The first walk
went up to a mountain edge where we had a wonderful view over the desert. On
our way back we passed some strange stone formations called the three Mary’s.
Then we drove to the Valle de la Muerte, a narrow
blind valley. We ended on a mountain platform where we could watch the setting
sun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_de_la_Luna_(Chile)
February
22, 2016
On this
day we were hiking in the desert. We were following a creek upstream. After two
hours walk we ended in a hotspring where we could
take a bath. We had been walking along the drain from this source. After the
bath we had lunch, and the we returned to San Pedro.
February
23, 2016
We left
about 4am in the morning without breakfast. We were going to El Tatio, a big area with thermal activity (geyser) We could
watch the sun rise over the area while we were walking around. We were in the
altitude of 4320 m and we all were short of breath. San Pedro is 2438 m for
comparison. Later we visited a place where we could have a hot bath. Only few
of the group entered. The air was very cold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Tatio
On our
way home we visited a small Indian village called Vila de Machuca.
The village was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuild again by the government.
Despite this only a few of the original inhabitants returned to the village.
We were
back before lunch, and now I had a chance to see the center of the town. We
found a restaurant where we had lunch.
Late in
the afternoon we started on our second tour of the day. This time we visited the
Salar de Atacama a huge salt flat. We went to a Salt
Lake where there were flamingoes. Again we watched the sunset before we
returned to San Pedro. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Atacama
During
the evening it started raining. The road to our hotel was passing a dry river
bed (wadi). Now our wadi
was turned into a big river, and we had to make a great deviation in order to
reach our hotel.
February
24, 2016
Flew
from Calamas to Puerto Montt
with stopover in Santiago. Drove to Puerto Varas
situated at the shore of lake Llanquihue.
February
25, 2016
Today
we went on a daytrip north east of Puerto Varas. We
visited the national park: Vincente Péres Rosales. It
is a huge natural resort not far from the Argentine border. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_P%C3%A9rez_Rosales_National_Park
Later in the day we went up to the top of the volcano Osorno. We hiked the last hundred meter to the edge of the
volcano. (2652 m) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osorno_(volcano)
There were no snow on the top at this time of the year.
February
26, 2016
Daytrip
to Chiloé the second largest island in Chile after Tierra
del Fuego. We sailed to the island on a small ferry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilo%C3%A9_Island We
arrived at the city of Ancud. Here we were invited to
see an ordinary home. Later we visited the church. All buildings including the
church were made from wood.
From Ancud we drove to Castro which is the largest city on the
island. We saw the big church in the center of the town. It is called San
Francisco and it is built of wood. After lunch we drove to a smaller fishing
village called Dalcahue. We visited the fish market
close to the sea. In the water were several seals swimming close to the market.
They were waiting for the waste from the market.
February
27, 2016
We flew
from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas (sandy point). We
arrived in the afternoon and had time for a tour in the town. From a platform you
could look over the town, the Magellan Strait and the Land of Fire (Tierra del
Fuego) on the other side of the Strait.
February
28, 2016
Today
we were on the road all day long. We drove from Punta Arenas to the National
Park Torres del Paine. Late in the evening after sunset we arrived at our hotel
inside the park. The most interesting thing we saw was Cueva de Milodon. It is a huge cave where there were found a piece
of skin belonging to an extinct giant sloth. In the cave opening is a statue of
the animal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cueva_del_Milod%C3%B3n_Natural_Monument
On the
road we saw a group of rhea’s an I took a couple of photos. The rhea is a South
American ostrich.
Just
before we arrived at the National park we made a stop at Laguna Azul (the Blue
Lake).
February
29, 2016 (leap day)
On this
day we were hiking in different places of the natural park. We went to a cave
with prehistoric paintings. We saw the Great Waterfall (Salto Grande). We took
pictures of many Guanaco’s. I took a picture of a great condor sitting on a
shelf on a vertical wall. I also took pictures of the patagonian
grey fox. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_del_Paine_National_Park
March
01, 2016
We were
up very early in order to reach our boat. We were sailing the Grey lake up to
the Grey glacier. From the entrance to the boat we had a half an hour walk. The
path lead over a suspension bridge crossing a turbulent river. The boat was
landing directly on the sea shore. As we approached the glacier the icebergs
were bigger and bigger. We sailed all the way along the glacier before we
returned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Glacier
We were
back before noon and had time for another hike in the park before we returned
to Puerto Natales where we stayed for the night.
March
02, 2016
Drove
from Puerto Natales to Punto Arenas and flew from
there to Santiago.
March
03, 2016
We flew
to the Easter Island in the morning and arrived at noon. We were free for the
rest of the day. We went through the village of Hanga
Roa and along the coastline to the museum. We spent
an hour there. In the evening we had dinner in a place near the harbor.
March
04, 2016
We went
on a half day trip to the southern peninsula south of Hanga
Roa. The first stop was the volcano Rano Kau. From the edge of the
volcano you look down over the crater lake. The main visit was the village of Orongo which is an open air museum. This is the center of
the birdman cult. From an altitude near the coast we were looking down on the
bird islands lying a couple of hundred meters from the coast. The village
consist of low stone cottages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orongo
On our
way back to Hanga Roa we saw
a group of overturned Moai.
March 05,
2016
Today
we had a round trip along the coast.
The
first two places we visited was Vaihu and Akahanga. Here we saw overturned Moai
statues. At Tongariki there are 15 upright statues.
They are raised in modern times. The most interesting visit was at Ranu Raraku the quarry where all
the statues were made. A couple of half made Moai is
still lying there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rano_Raraku
Late in
the evening we were bathing at Anakena where there is
a nice beach. Most of the coastline are rocks and cliffs and therefor unsuited
for bathing.
We flew
back to Santiago at noon.
March
07, 2016
Back to Denmark.