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A Solo Adventure – 31/08/17





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 louder, cheerier and then ultimately quieter once I had walked past and caused a disturbance. I could have spent hours just climbing a little, stopping to admire the surroundings as they engulfed me but that was not my ultimate goal. I had to get to the top. To see the Blessed - Virgin Mary statue which stands at an impressive 22 meters and offers a completely unique outlook on to the urban jungle below. Although I was side tracked a few times upon my climb, a couple times by the Austral Blackbirds (Curaeus curaeus) feeding from cactuses and a few times more by Eared Doves (Zenaida auriculata) foraging. I wouldn’t call these inconveniences but rather thankful breaks. Once at the top, the view is indescribable, it’s something that you have to go and experience for yourself.


You would think that I would call it a day after this… but no, I decided to go and explore all the graffiti art available in ‘Bella Vista’. I don’t regret this a single bit although physically my legs wanted to break. Each block you walk through offers a unique style, some rather odd, some very questionable and some simply stunning. It’s a real show of the diversity experienced in Santiago. I found myself taking a photo virtually every step or appearing to look slightly lost and just staring at a wall to fellow passer-by’s whereas in fact I was admiring all the work put in to each masterpiece. Even small acts of vandalism on top of detailed work seemed to add another edge to everything.


After all of this walking you’d think I’d stop right? Wrong. I decided to go back to the local fish market (‘Mercado Central’) and finally try the fish they had to offer. With my slightly better Spanish (compared to my no Spanish at the start of the week) I picked out a fish, got it filleted and even managed to get it for a much cheaper selling price than originally wanted by the fish monger. Now, this is where I finally decided to call it a day otherwise I wouldn’t be a functioning human being for tomorrow’s day.



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