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Winter, Animals and Lapis Lazuli – 29/08/17




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 the different sites Chile has to offer) we quickly orientated ourselves and headed for the ticket office, where I payed a lovely 1,500 pesos thanks to my student card, in turn saving me having to pay the full 3,000 pesos. Here’s where the day truly started. Our plan of action was relatively simple; first locate a map and then see everything. Not only can you see a majority of Santiago as you climb further up the hill but you get to experience a great variety in both native and exotic wildlife. It was an odd feeling seeing a standard British swan labeled as exotic when I see them every day near my university campus (usually hissing at people) even odder for me to see exotic wildlife labeled as native. It’s truly remarkable how different the world is here. With the majority of our day being spent here, taking in the great diversity of species and stunning views we decided to make the long walk back… This however did not go to plan, we took a detour that lead us to a wonderful market full of trinkets primarily those of llama wool, copper and Lapis lazuli a beautiful blue stone with golden specs only found natively in Chile and Afghanistan.


An Avairy 
A View of Downtown Santiago
Lemurs and The Andes



With a small portion of our time being spent at this local market taking in the different crafts on offer it wasn’t long before we headed off and found another. This time being a fish market (the name which I am yet to discover) around the corner from where we are staying. With a quick browse through here, it wasn’t long before we made a plan to return and try the local produce after all our trip to Chile wouldn’t be complete without tasting the local cuisine.

Political Graffiti 'We are not Chilean we are Mapuche"
Graffiti in 'Bella Vista'

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