On Sunday we woke up late and went to downtown Santiago to the original area where the town was founded in 1541. The city was founded by the Spanish on a hill at the confluence of two rivers.  A castle still stands and the parliament is not too far away at the Plaza Des Armas.  We climbed the castle and then grabbed lunch at a French breakfast place.

On Monday we decided the we couldn’t miss the tallest building in South America located in Santiago.  The kids were very excited even though smoke from the forest fires was very dense and we couldn’t see much of the mountains at all.  It was still a great view of the city and surrounding area.

Our last day we visited the Aracuar park near our hotel and had lunch.  The girls discovered a bird that was wounded and made a nest for it.  We then went to Kidzania which was a strange under ground world where kids can get jobs and do activities, it kind like a Disney imitation of the world but in Spanish and no rides or characters.  It was a bit over priced and the kids had trouble with the language barrier.

Anyway Santiago was great, but onto Colchagua valley and wine country.

On Friday after finishing school Maddy joined us for lunch and we headed to the Cerra de Bellavista, which is the large hill near the center of Santiago but on the far side of the river from the city center.  We rode the teleferico up to the top of the hill where we ate lunch at the Santuario de la Inmaculada Concepcion overlooking downtown, we took the funicular down the hill and got tickets to the zoo.

It was at least 90 degrees out so we all chugged water down and walked around the zoo; it was a very quality zoo, lions and tigers, penguins and elephants as well as many other exhibits, not all that much different from an American zoo. We were all exhausted after a few hours so we went back and crashed out for a few hours at our  hotel, the kids on their ipads.  We had dinner out at a seafood place which was nothing spectacular but a good day all in all.

On Saturday we went to the Museo Interactivo Mirador which was an amazing museum with so many interactive exhibits, they had an earthquake room but we missed our appointed time to go see it.  They had a bed of nails which the kids loved so much they had to go on it multiple times.  After staying at the museum for several hours we were all exhausted and  retired back to the hotel and the pool.

Our first day in Santiago, I took care of getting a small repair completed on the van, the tire bolt that I sheared off.  I tried the firestone shop first and then discovered the street where repairs happen.  I got flagged down by two fellows who said they could get the bolt fixed.  I parked on the street and they went to work.  They wouldn’t give me a price until they got a look at the bolt but after telling them I didn’t want an overpriced brake job They got the job done.  Of course once the job was done the parking guy charged me for parking what a racket.

Maddy took the kids to a park and playground in the morning and saw a peacock.  I got back in time for Maddy to take a call at noon.  The girls finished up Their schooling and we went walking around the Bellevista neighborhood, one of the older areas in Santiago.   One of Pablo Nurida’s houses is in the Neighborhood, the kids rebelled so we didn’t go in.  We had dinner then ice cream and got back to the hotel to relax.

This is kind of a random video but it is one of my favorites, Caroline and I filmed this in Copacabana, Bolivia.   This is Lago Titicaca at sunset.

We spent our last morning on the coast visiting Valparaiso and a Neighborhood known for it’s graffiti and interesting streets and walk ways, we had lunch and set off for Santiago.

On our way to Santiago we stopped at the Casona Viramonte Vineyard.  We had a wonderful wine tasting with the vineyard sommelier, the tasting was very in depth and so much fun, they even didn’t mind our kids running all over the place.

we arrived in Santiago and checked into our hotel at the Marriott in the Las Condes area of Santiago, we got this hotel on points and it was significantly nicer than places we have been staying.  We relaxed in the pool and chilled out until bed time.

My favorite place we have visited so far, Vina del Mar is a city on the ocean at the confluence of a river that enters the sea.  It has funiculars (large diagonal elevators), a casino, beaches and surrounding mountains, sea cliffs, hidden stair cases.  They should set a James bond movie here.  It is only located an hour and a half from Santiago and the ocean is beautiful.  We rented a apartment just outside the city with a view of the harbor and the downtown.  We had two days to do lots of school work and Maddy got some vchiefing done (don’t think that is a word but I don’t care).  The first night we ate dinner down town, I was unable to locate a tv to watch the packers, probably a good thing as the packer got crushed, we walked along the board walk and got some dessert.

The next day we did schooling, Maddy found a co-working space and the girls and I sought out the funicular.  I made the mistake of walking their without food; we had full on melt downs on the the 10 block walk back to car… such a rookie mistake.  We got empanadas and bananas at a corner store and restored peace to the galaxy.  We then drove around the city for a bit which was a bit harrowing, but we once we got out on the north coast of the city the beaches there were a bit less crowded and had tons of playground equipment so we were in heaven, they had slack lining and a bungie trampoline thing which in the kids words was the best thing they have ever done in their lives!!!

The next day mom joined us at the beach before going off to a couple calls, we played in the surf which is not to be messed with, one wave knocked us all down and I had to grab Julie from being swept backwards.  We weren’t in real danger but the kids were excited about it.  We had dinner on the beach and then headed home to rest.  Couple of long days… tomorrow we head to the capital of Chile, Santiago.  We are starting to experience some smoke from forest fires south of the capital and it is clouding some of our views… I know poor us.  It will be interesting to see how it affects our upcoming travels.

After arriving in Coquimbo and after having both trouble finding out where to find our airbnb for the night and getting our host to meet us we finally arrived and relaxed. What a gorgeous view!!  Unfortunately we didn’t have Wifi so we haven’t posted pictures until now; we loved the area and were able to cook in our place so breakfast was a bit less aggravating.  We had access to a pool and plenty of beach time, so the kids were very happy.  I had a run on Saturday morning and discovered lots of rocks and shells at one end of the beach so that was the main activity for Saturday.  Otherwise we stayed near Coquimbo and and beach, there were lots of activities for the kids and tons of people.  The kids always want to eat helado (ice cream) which is readily available on the beach with vendors shouting in loud megaphones.  The girls seem to be eating a bit more but it is still a struggle when we are eating something unusual.  We had a last meal at a wonderful place over looking the Coquimbo Cove and got to hear the sound check to what we assume was wonderful music in the realm of “The Girl from Ipanema” but alas we have children that are screaming and must go to bed.  Ciao until later.

After several days of relaxation in Bahia Inglesia we set off down the coast in search of pinguinos.  We stopped at Punta de Choros where there were boat tours to two islands off the coast that are a national reserve for Humboldt penguins.  We arrived around lunch time and paid for our boat ride and parking, we boarded our boat with a single out board motor, with bench seating without a cover.  The seas were relatively calm so none of the people in our boat got sick which was a minor miracle.  The boat ride out to the island took a half an hour and we just missed seeing a whale, we were able to see a dolphin and an sea otter, sea lions and multitudes of birds, and we were about to give up seeing penguins when we spotted several in a secluded cove.  They were hanging around in a little cluster, looking a bit ragged.

A Cormorant

Caroline and her Penguins

A Sea Otter outside of Monterrey Bay

We were not allowed to disembark on the island due to a quota of how many people per day were being allowed but we enjoyed the boat ride and the marine layer was starting to burn off and it was warming up.  We had lunch back on the main land which was mostly empanadas and veggies; I had a loco variety which was some sort of shell fish.  We set off down the coast to our final destination which was La Serena/Coquimbo a few hours north of Santiago.

We finished our time in the Atacama desert by doubling back to the pool to look for a towel and water bottle.  No luck.  We sped out of town and got a look at the geology of the valley of the moon.  We had a long drive of 8 hours some of which was on the coast.  It looked a lot like the rugged California coast but totally parched with very little vegetation.  Maddy insisted on stopping at a sculpture called Mano del desierto.

we finally arrived at Bahia Inglasia our beach town for several days, we went out for Sushi as the kids were clamoring for it. Then walked the beach and watched the sunset.

The next couple of days we did a combination of school work and beach time.  Maddy also got some good time at vchief.  The beaches were full of shells and the cove that the town was located in was an interesting mix of rocky promenades and beaches.  The girls had a great time exploring and collecting shells.  We spent a ton of time in the pool as well, we finally got a kitchen and started making some of our own meals.  It was fantastic to have more energy associated with being at sea level.  The weather was gorgeous and we were happy to be getting our beach time in.

We decided that even though we were a bit behind schedule that we would drive into the night to make it to San Pedro de Atacama our base for exploring in the region.   It was Saturday night and there were tons of people out in the town, we didn’t realize before hand that the town was a big backpack haven and seem to be kind of a party town.  We didn’t have reservations but we were able to find a hostel a bit outside of town.  we had our own room with 12 beds for the two days we were in town.   We crashed early because we were tired. The next day we went out and found breakfast and discovered that the geysers that we had planned to see were not accessible due to rain. In the driest desert in the world?!?!  Instead of the geysers and hot springs we visited several lakes in the south with flamingos. The lakes in this area are a very important hydrological features in the desert but would have been more interesting if it hadn’t rained on us every day in the desert.

We then went to a community pool had a good swim and had a lovely time soaking up the sun and the water. We were going to end the day in the valley of the moon but it started raining and there were too many clouds to see the sunset. Every road we went down had large puddles and the arroyos were full of water.

Previously I had read that there was a drought in the area and that they had not received precipitation in six years but once they did receive water 2 years ago there was a massive bloom of flowers due to the rain.  We  searched for color and flowers but no avail there was none to be had, probably in about two weeks it will be gorgeous.   Sunday night we went out for dinner and Maddy took the kids home and I went in search of the Packer game. I caught the second half and celebrated the win over the Cowboys by meeting some new friends and speaking bad Spanish and showing my Wisconsin spirit.  Go Packers!!