Ola from Chile

The Andes

We are now on a 15-day cruise around southern Chile and Argentina.  What a luxury it is to unpack and stay put for 2 weeks!

Vina del Mar 

I am so happy to finally have arrived in South America!  This has been a bucket list item for me since I was in college.

We arrived in Santiago from Auckland about two weeks ago.  Our first stop was Vina del Mar, a lovely beach town about 2 ½ hours Northwest of Santiago.  We stayed in a sweet bed and breakfast owned by Juan and Carolina.

Pelicans in Vina del Mar

One day we walked about 12 miles round-trip to see sea lions. Unfortunately, the sea lions were far away and sleeping.   However, we had the good fortune to find a pelican colony in Vina del Mar.  We walked around the beach marveling at the sand art and stopped at Wulff castle that has been turned into museum with sculptures and great ocean views.  We found a delicious French crepe restaurant where we ate twice.  We were quite surprised that the restaurant had so few guests considering how delicious the food was.  When we asked the waiter why it was so empty at 8:30PM, he explained that most guests don’t arrive until 10PM.  And here we were thinking we were eating late!

There is no doubt that Vina (and the rest of Chile ) time is not Shafer time!

After three nights in Vina at a lovely but very noisy B&B (dogs barking, families and friends talking until 2AM with their windows and doors open) we decided to take a trip to Mendoza, Argentina.  The trip over the Andes had been highly recommended.  From Vina to Mendoza, it took about 8 hours due to the 2 ½ hour boarder crossing.  The road has 28 switchbacks on the Chilean side.  The Andes are impressive but uninviting.  Very little lives in these mountains due to their ruggedness and lack of vegetation.

Mendoza, Argentina is becoming a popular tourist destination for wine connoisseurs.  Mendoza has a perfect climate for growing grapes.  The most famous is Malbec but Cabernet and Merlot are also grown along with many varieties of white wine.  We lucked into a 5 star hotel thanks to an advertisement in Booking.com.  It was a welcome treat to be able to sleep in silence! We met a geologist on our first evening.  Peter, who is from Canada, travels a lot and knows Mendoza well.  He suggested a restaurant called A la Fran just around the corner from our hotel.  The food was absolutely superb!  We finished dinner around 11:30PM; it’s a challenge to go to sleep on such a full stomach.

The highlight of our visit to Mendoza was the local tour we took.  Along with 4 other people and our two guides we biked to three vineyards, saw how the wine is processed and received a wine tasting at each vineyard.  The tour culminated with an Argentinian BBQ, (cooked by the owner of the tour company) more wine, mate (a tea type of beverage shared as one would a peace pipe) and a pool party.  We had a blast.

Mapuche art

After 4 days in beautiful tree-lined Mendoza, we headed back to Chile but this time to Valparaiso.  Just South of Vina del Mar is the port city of Valparaiso.  This lovely town situated on 11 hills is a fun and funky place that seems to be crying out for some tender loving care.  Although there is some construction, many homes and businesses look like they are 50 + years past their heyday.  The city is shabby-sheik with a bohemian air.  I loved it!  We found a yummy restaurant offering delicious Chilean food.  Our hotel was centrally located and pleasant but the street noise that did not stop until around 7AM made it difficult to sleep.  Next time we go to Valparaiso, we will stay further up on the hillside.

On Sunday, 12 February, we boarded the Celebrity Infinity for a 15-day cruise around Cape Horn to Buenos Aires.  We are on the cruise as I write this.  Please wish us calm seas; so far so good, but Cape Horn can have absolutely horrible weather.

Until next time---aloha from Chile.