Chile: Santiago and the Atacama Desert 2017

Today was much different from the past few days spent in Santiago. I went out to explore alone and see what the city had to offer outside of its usual commutes. So the first thought I had was, what better way to do this than visit the city’s second highest peak ‘Cerro San Cristóbal Hill’ (Tupahue as it is indigenously known) as I’d get to see the majority of the city and experience the native nature. Although I forgot to check the weather before setting out and found that I was rather overdressed. For a change it was relatively warm a bit too warm for trekking in a jumper!   Upon getting to the base of the hill I set about picking my trekking route, got my camera ready at hand and set off not having any idea of how long it would take me to reach the top. This was something I didn’t mind. The surrounding scenery just made you go in to awe and lose the sense of time itself. Every so often as I climbed higher the bird songs would change – get loude...

'Museo Histórico Nacional' An Exhibition Hall One of The Many Exhibits Seen Today A cloudless sky was a pleasant surprise on yet another brisk morning setting the perfect atmosphere for a visit to the nearby ‘Museo Histórico Nacional’ located on the ‘Plaza de Armas’. Here a variety of Columbian history is covered revealing the difficult political past that Chile had faced with light touches too much earlier history dating back to the Incas. All in all, a perfect museum to see after ‘ Museo Chileno De Arte Precolumbino’ as it picks history up from where it was left bringing you all the way to the present day. The one surprising thing is that the History museum is completely free and the experience you receive from it is one that will last a long time. The only downside, with my very limited Spanish I found myself translating many of the displays to figure out what I was looking at or who the figure was in a magnificent giant painting. The art works particularl...

The Andes seen from 'Zoológico Nacional' 'Zoológico Nacional' Another chilly winter Chilean morning awaited us as we woke. Quite a different feel from the summer that we left behind. Signs of the nights long rains still clung to the streets having almost but disappeared from roof tops, with the pleasant surprise of little fog, revealing yet another mountain off in the distance that I had not properly gaged before from my apartment window. Proving how even in a concrete jungle, the landscape truly changes, from day to day with the same view hardly being experienced in the same way. All in all, a perfect day to go and head off to ‘Zoológico Nacional’. A national, 4.8 hectare zoo located on Santiago’s ‘San Cristóbal Hill’ that was constructed in 1925. Hippo, Hippoptamus amphibius Chilean Flamingos, Phoenicopterus chilensis Llama ,  Llama glama Having made the hour or so long journey by foot (a much better and cheaper way of experiencing th...

The Andes as seen from 'Castillo Hidalgo' An Interesting Stone The Local Wildlife  Turns out most fun things in Santiago are closed on Mondays. I mean who would have thought that? The plans of going to various museums and experiencing both past and present cultures of Chile vanished. Instead Emma and I quickly got our selves on to Google to find what we could do instead. This proved for a very interesting day, one primarily filled with walking… for hours. So much so in fact that, my favourite pair of bumblebee socks got absolutely destroyed.  A Statue of Jose Victorino Lastarria (1817 -1888) First stop, ‘Castillo Hidalgo’. A beautiful small castle built in 1816 located on top of a very high hill; Santa Lucía, in the middle of a booming city. All sensations of city life are lost as you start the ascend through carefully thought out paths surrounded by various plant life. Even the wildlife feels alien, with many native species of birds ...