La Serena & Santiago, Chile

Some 2 and a half months previously, we left the green, tree lined expanses of southern Argentina. From that point on we the air had become drier and drier, and the deserts more and more inhospitable and unsupportive of life. On the 11 hour journey from the extremes of Atacama to the agricultural region of the Elqui Valley we finally started noticing little green patches of... could it be... GRASS! TREES!! FIELDS!!! It's odd to think that we'd become so accustomed to the harsh continental climates of South America that it was a shock to see something so unremarkable.

We set up our base in a charming hostel in La Serena; a coastal town at the mouth of the Elqui Valley. It was... fine. Unremarkable. Clean, friendly but forgettable. So much so that we forgot to take ant pictures of it!

No matter - the next day we took a local bus an hour or so up the valley to the village of Vincula. Our main reason for this visit was to go the the excellent Mamalluca Observatory - a superb publicly funded facility - for some star gazing.

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As the only two English speakers on the tour that evening we were treated to our very own guide! We spent around an hour gazing through the facilities largest telescope and some incredible sights, such as Saturn with it's rings clearly visible in the eyepiece. Other than this there wasn't much to do or see in Vincula, other than the spectacular skies and awesome (if rather random) entomology museum! 

From there we made our final journey south to the capital, Santiago. Given that they make the odd bottle of wine around here, I thought it wise to plan ahead and had arranged a couple of rather choice vineyard trips.

Sarah: I needed a break from buses (as well as another vineyard tour) so I chilled out in our lovely hostel. It was one of the nicest (and cleanest!) we had stayed in so I was keen to make the most of it!

Matt: So then, I headed down to vineyard number one - the awesome Los Vascos in the remote Colchagua valley. One 3 hour bus ride and a taxi later, I was warmly welcomed at the estate and treated to a fantastic tour of the vineyards. With the snow capped Andes overlooking the valley it was a truly magnificent sight (except some bald chap got in the way of a great picture...)

It was a fantastic trip and the wines were so tasty that I felt obliged to by some to drink back at the hostel!

The next day we had our final - and perhaps most amazing - vineyard visit, this time to Matetic in the rolling hills of San Antonio. We were picked up from the hostel by the charismatic José and driven to the family owned estate, where head winemaker Julio gave us a hands on tour or the vineyards and winery.

We awoke on day two to some very familiar London-esque weather! However, in true British tradition we spent the day dodging the rain drops to explore Santiago and it's fantastic central market.

Matt: That evening Mark Booty, the manager of the amazing Landay Barcelo hostel - our final home for the last 5 days in South America and one of the best hostels we stayed in - asked the ominous question, "Have you tried a Terramoto cocktail yet? It's THE cocktail of Santiago?" Well, its translates as 'Earthquake' and Mark refused to tell us what was in one, suffice to say that there was one bar in particular that made the best in town. As I was to find out, that's a bit like receiving the best kick in the nuts! Sarah made the wisest decision of her life and decided to leave me and Felix - one of Landay's other residents - to find out how 'good/bad' a Terramoto could be.... It's appearance should've been a clue...



At 5am the next morning I got back home (sans Felix!) after a night in Chile's cheesiest nightclub, hit the sack for 1 hour before getting up to go....

SKIING!!!

We'd been so looking forward to hitting the slopes on the Andes, so Matt's 'state' was less than impressive for Sarah! Nonetheless, having been measured up for our skis and taken a 3 hours journey to El Colorado ski resort. At around 3,500 metres it was pretty hard work, but the conditions was absolutely incredible and, given that it was a weekday, the slopes were all but empty!

The next day we prepared for another early start, but we were in for a seriously protracted morning... The van broke down - it took 2 hours to find a replacement - that broke down too - there was an accident on the road up (no-one hurt!) - the snow chains snapped... It was one of those 'South American' days.

Finally, we made it up to Valle Nevado and set about carving up the slopes once again.

It was another amazing day up on the high Andean slopes, and we figured that the journey home could only be better that the journey up..? Well, we got in the van, and it broke down.... Back home at 12pm! More Terramotos, anyone?

With just one day left, we decided to spend a day relaxing and soaking up some of the culture in this historical city....

So then, 4 months in and around 20,000km traveled... South America: done! What an amazing continent it is, filled with the most stunning landscapes: tropical islands with white sand beaches; giant glaciers in the freezing south; dance and music in the big cities; peace and quiet in the jungles and deserts; wealth and poverty; happiness and sadness; wonderful people from ever corner of the globe...

What an experience it was, and one we couldn't recommend highly enough. Time to jump on LAN Airways and head west to New Zealand.

Iquique & San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Having recovered from the Inca Trail with a good night's sleep and some well earned KFC in Cuzco, we decided that it was time to head south to Chile - our last stop in South America. 

Crossing the remote deserts of southern Peru, it was to take 26 hours to reach our first Chilean destination: the coastal city of Iquique. It was astonishing just how quickly things changed once we crossed the border into Chile - houses, cars roads... it was clear from the outset that Chile was much more developed than many of the countries we visited previously.

It's a strange but enchanting city to walk through: on one hand you have Miami-esque luxury apartments and beach side houses, and on the other beautiful wooden board walks, abandoned villas and town houses left crumbling after the collapse of the regions booming mining industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

There was also a stark warning of the dangers facing the Pacific coast



There's no better way to see a city than from the air, and with Iquique considered the world's best place for paragliding there was only one thing for it...

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It was from up here that you could see the huge sand dune that runs between the narrow cityscape and the Atacama desert.

Having landed in one piece - only just in Sarah's case! - we felt the only sensible thing to do was drink lots of rum and beer, and BBQ some steak with our fellow paragliders, Brian and Kate Lemay from Colorado.

The next day we continued the sporting theme with a touch of body boarding (or was it just the chance to put on a tight wetsuit again...?).

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However, we quickly realised that the waves were insanely high and best left to the pros... Some of the surfers had to be towed out as the current was too strong to paddle against! To give it some scale, try and spot the speck of a surfer on the right hand picture below...

After a few days of sun, sea and sand, we headed west for some... er, sun, rocks and sand in the driest place on the earth, the Atacama desert.

San Pedro de Atacama

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Matt: When we were in the north of Argentina and Bolivia, we heard so many horror stories of people being hear for day after day as the passes over the Andes were blocked by snow. It was described as hideously expensive and not much to look at, so we hadn't built our hopes up too high. It just seemed a shame to miss it on our way south. I must say, it was a really pretty and relaxed little town surrounded by some breathtaking scenery. 

We took a day trip into the famed Moon Valley in the heart of the desert itself. I know this is an incredibly snobby thing to say, but after the incredible mountain ranges and valleys of Bolivia, it was difficult to be too blown away despite such breathtaking views.

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That said, there was certainly an 'other worldliness' about the place and, with a bit of imagination, you could just about be taking a stroll on Mars...

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However, once the sun began to set the desert and surrounding mountains erupted with a dazzling display of colours which left one speechless...

Our next day trip was to the Laguna Cejar - a salt lake with a higher level of salinity than even the Dead Sea!

The water was bloody freezing, although not as cold as the fresh water sink hole that we visited shortly afterwards... Needless to say we stayed in the water about 5 seconds!

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After drying off and warming the blood with a few Pisco Sours (nowhere near as good as the ones we made in Peru!) we watched another gorgeous sunset...

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Atacama desert - done! And with that, we prepared for our LAST long-distance bus journey. It seemed only right that we should splash out for some pimped out seats that reclined fully into a bed. SO nice! Why didn't we do this before?! Next stop, the Elqui Valley.