Renting a car and driving through Chile’s Lagos region (Los Lagos) from Temuco to Pucon and then on to Valdivia, Puerto Varas, and Puerto Montt was the ideal way to get a sense of just how big the country is. I was surprised at the number of volcanoes that walled the western horizon and how vacant the landscape appeared alongside them. Stretches of road feel like you are in an untouched, virgin frontier that has yet to succumb to people. Marce navigated through the geography as a copilot, flavoring my understanding of the Lagos region with anecdotes about the local cuisine, personal stories about eating it, and also helped translate Chilean when needed. For example, as good as I think my Spanish is (“meh”), it’s not good enough to understand turbo Chilean from the huevón facilitating my rental car at the Temuco airport. You’ll want to have a Marce for that. In case you are unaware, Spanish speakers often cite Chilean Spanish as the most difficult dialect to understand owing to the many idiomatic expressions and slang terms in use. Chileans have their own separate vocabulary, cachai? It’s a good thing I was with a woman who listens to Chilean […]
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After a handful of visits during the past twenty years, Santiago has finally earned its place among my regular destinations, fitting conveniently along my South American migratory path after Colombia on the way to Argentina; it has always been an easy place to live and work for a while. Santiago is convenient to other destinations like the Atacama Desert, Patagonia, and Easter Island, making it a great adventure launch point and an easy place to live and work remotely. An additional plus is that it doesn’t get much hype on the international radar, and you aren’t likely to find a lot of other foreigners living and working in Santiago — they are attracted to more popular destinations like Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina. I’m not quite sure why, though because you can find a lot to love in Chile — and the majority of Chileans live in the city of Santiago, which makes it an exciting place automatically 🙂 I stayed in downtown Santiago this time, unregarded by the locals I talked to. Since Covid, it’s more dangerous, and it isn’t the most beautiful part of the city compared to other neighborhoods. Still, I enjoyed my time staying there — walking […]
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It had been seven years since the last time I was in Chile. I’ve never been particularly fond of Santiago despite spending a month there in 2016 and passing through in 2005 on my way to Tierra del Fuego. That being said, I realize that I have never really done Santiago “right.” I’ve stayed in inconvenient neighborhoods and not really taken advantage of the features of the city that so many locals enjoy. Since I am spending an increasing amount of time in South America, and Santiago is such a convenient hub for launching into Patagonia and other destinations up and down Chile, it would be really convenient if I could find a reason to want to come back, for longer and make Santiago part of my regular rotations, like Bogotá and Mexico City. So when I was leaving Mexico, en route to Brazil, I took the opportunity to stop over in Santiago for three days. I only had three nights, so I picked a new neighborhood to stay in, Providencia, in hopes of experiencing a new side of the city. I found Providencia for working and staying. Lots of hustle and bustle of morning work commuters, plenty of restaurants […]
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I visited Santiago, Chile for the first time twelve years ago as the gateway to my first South American adventure. American Airlines was running a promotion that gave a free international round-trip ticket anywhere in the world that the airline flew in exchange for buying a round-trip ticket to Florida and California. I did a weekend trip with my roommate Nick to Fort Lauderdale and then I must have visited my sister in California (because she’s the only person I knew in California at the time). When redeeming, I chose the destination that American flew furthest away from Boston, Massachusetts where I was living which turned out to be Santiago. I spent a few days exploring Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar and the Cajon del Maipo — of which Santiago I found the least interesting; I didn’t see much personality in it. I continued elsewhere throughout Chile and Argentina having decided there was nothing I need come back for in Santiago. I did return though and this time around, though it was just for 11 days, it felt like a lot longer. Nothing much has changed including my rather offensive opinion that Santiago doesn’t have much going for it from a travelling gringo perspective. It’s […]
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Isla de Pascua (AKA Easter Island or Rapa Nui in the native language) has been a travel destination of mine ever since I was young. The large, mysterious moai statues are the most iconic and unique artifacts I have ever seen. Adding to the splendor is the surprising lack of tourists and a fascinating, intact native culture. When you step off of the plane it feels as though you are entering a really interesting, special place so isolated from anywhere else. The geography and climate of the island is also unique — dry, temperate with palm trees, grasses and rocky coastline. The color of the ocean — beautiful. A deep, dark royal cobalt that perhaps must only occur in such isolated parts of the south pacific — no debris, dirt grass or beach muddies it. To me it mirrors the mystery and intrigue of the island it surrounds. It is really easy to imagine how life existed 500 hundred years previously owing to how undeveloped the island is and accessible to exploration. I spent four days on Rapa Nui exploring in a rental car I shared with a French Canadian and Argentine couple I met at the bed and breakfast […]
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