SANTIAGO, CHILE
Having a good flight from Buenos Aires and meeting two Chileans, I arrived at 9:00 pm only to be accessed with an arrival tax of $100.00. It was set up in retaliation for the photo I.D. required by the U.S. The Chileans gave me the name of a hotel, however we had no address, therefore, after a little riding around, I finally picked one. It turned out to be very good. I crashed after checking e-mails.
Santiago has it going, the economy and infrastructure is good. It reminds me of Los Angeles - spread out and surrounded by mountains. The next day I checked out our Consulate for information on visas for some of the countries I will be visiting. They were not much help. I will work on it in Peru later.
Tom Charrette, a Yale professor and emergency room doctor had met on the Antarctica trip. We had e-mailed since he would be in Santiago. He had a couple days left before he went back to Boston. We decided to go to Valpariso for the day by bus. He speaks Spanish better than I, however, neither of us do a very good job. It was a relaxing day walking around this coastal town having lunch up at a restaurant overlooking the city and harbor. We returned by bus and I relocated to his hotel as it was less expensive and more centrally located.
The next day we went to the Chilean‘s poet home on the pacific ocean, Isa del Negra. It was a beautiful place. The waves were pounding against the rocks. Everything he purchased was from flea markets, except certain butterfly collections, and ships in a bottle. He had great taste. Tom and I met Murielle who wanted to work on her English. We had a helleva ride back on the bus to Santiago.
The next day we again took the bus to Santa Cruz for a tour of the wineries and the celebration of the harvesting of the grapes. A good time was had by all. Tom left the next day for Boston and I stayed in Santiago to celebrate my last night.
I went to Akarama restaurant that was owned by a New Zealander. It was an acquiescent dinner. The water had cucumbers in it thereby giving it a tangy taste. The salad was unbelievable. The fish was cooked in a paper bag, only to be cut open at the table. The dessert was a banana split served like no other. The bananas were fried and crusted with pineapple crumbs. They were all sitting on a crepe with chocolate and raspberries sprinkled over the plate. This restaurant, Roscoff, reminded me of the one in Belfast, Ireland. Both are five star restaurants. I waddled out of the restaurant located by the Ritz Carlton with ten Ferraris parked in front.
Today I leave for San Pedro to the Atacama Desert for about 5 days. It is the driest place on earth. It stretches 600 miles and meanders along the foothills of the Andes, where alluvial salt pans give way to the lofty white capped volcanoes that reach 20,000 feet. Some places have never had a drop of rain since record keeping.
Afterwards I then go to Arica, Machu Picchu for about a week, Then the Amazon, then Peru, and finally the Galapagos Islands to hopefully swim with the turtles. Then the world tour really begins as I will then fly to South Africa.
ATACAMA DESERT
Leaving Santiago by bus may seem strange especially since it takes a little over 24 hours to get to the Atacama Desert at San Pedro. I am in my 18th hour and it hasn’t been too bad. They even serve meals on aboard. It was better than some airplane meals. Unfortunately I had just bought a sandwich off of a road side stand… I met four Irish women who are traveling around the southern part of South America, as well as New Zealand and Australia. Two knew each other and they hooked up with the other two in South America. They have another five weeks to go before they go back to Ireland.
The ride down was scenic especially when we came to the edge of the Atacama Desert with the Pacific Ocean’s waves pounding against the rocks. Atacama Desert stretches for over 600 miles. It runs along the Andes and at its center it is known as the driest place on earth. They have never had a drop of rain since humans have been recording it. I’m told I won’t see a bug, gnat, and definitely not a blade of grass.
We just left Antofagasta heading towards San Pedro del Atacama, the hub for dropping off into desert
THE GIRLS OF IRELAND
The Aatacama desert proved to be a beautiful place with the girls of Ireland. Maura O’Rahilly, Eimer Cassidy, Carol Forbes, Sharon Duffy all were strong women with a lot of inner beauty. They have a passion of life and they will make someone a great partner. One can only hope that the one will recognize it. Watching their interaction between them was phenomenal.
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