Antarctica 2023
Our original travel plans were to break up the flights on the way to Ushuaia with Galapagos on the way down, and Machu Picchu on the way back. Unfortunately Peru had other ideas, unrest erupted after President Castillo was removed from power and his vice president, Dina Boluarte, took over. Protests across the country have called for her resignation, and in response there has been a violent push back. Many people have been killed and injured, airports have been closed, and Machu Picchu was shut down, stranding a lot of tourists.The country was in a state of emergency, and there didn't appear to be a short term solution.
We looked into flying back home directly from Buenos Aires (via Texas), but for some reason, perhaps related to Carnaval, flight prices kept going up... from $2,000 per person up to $5,000, it didn't make sense. So I started researching, and found if we wanted to vist Chile for a few days, we could fly through Santiago and home for less than $1,000. We had never been to Chile before.
Feb 24
Of course the Buenos Aires taxi we ordered for 7:00 pickup is late.
Sky airlines is a discount airline, the seats don’t recline, there’s no entertainment, and you have to pay for anything you want, pop, water, a biscuit. At least they didn’t charge for our 3rd checked bag since everything doesn’t fit in our bags anymore.
Santiago de Chile
We arrived safe and sound in Santiago after our slightly uncomfortable flight.
Our taxi driver was trying to upsell his tour services, but couldn’t speak English, and kept talking into his phone while driving to tell us stuff, while veering in and out of his lane. I don’t think we would survive a day of touring with him driving. When he drops us off he warns us about walking in the busy areas because ‘ladrones’ will steal from you.
We checked in to the Almacruz Hotel in the city center, and checked out the lobby with it's mix of art and decor.
The room was spacious, a bit of a dated look, but comfortable. The view was good if you like looking at city buildings.
It was quite warm in Santiago, so we spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool on the 6th floor. Had some great seafood appetizers and a ‘couple’ drinks. Eventually a 2 man band came out to play some songs poolside, a great mix of 80's hits and B sides.
Feb 25
Our morning view, aside from some smog , it looks like a nice day
We booked online tickets for the Hop on Hop off bus to get us around the key areas of the city, and after our included breakfast made our way out into the streets. The temperature in the morning was 22, and by the afternoon it was 35.1
We walked through the seemingly abandoned pedestrian mall streets to the congress buildings and Plaza de Armas.
Some of the tress are filled with pictures of citizens killed during the protests in Iran.
Nearby we boarded the bus, which circled the city, stopping at different points of interest including parks, squares and a giant mall.
We pass through historic areas, run down areas, and very modern areas. Makes me re-think which area we should have stayed in.
Seemingly in the center of the city is a large park running along the Machapo river, Bicentennial Park has lots of picnic areas, trails, and ponds with Koi, as well as the unique Black Necked Swans.
We finally got off at Parque Metropolitano and took a short walk to the cable car (teleferico) that takes us to the summit of Cerro San Cristobal. The park spans 6 hills and provides a wide range of activities with bike trails, hiking and tourist attractions.
These little stations are ingenious, A simple water cooler bottle sits on the bottom, a foot pump activates water for the hand wash station, a solar pump activates a water bottle re-filler and a dog water bowl sits below.
Rainbow effect is just the glass, the city wasn't that special
There is a nice church here, the Sanctuary of the immaculate conception virgin and numerous religious artifacts.
prayer beads and sacrifices left for St. Mary (not sure what she would do with an old iPhone case)
The main icon on the hill, the Statue of the Virgin Mary on San Cristóbal Hill, was inaugurated on April 26, 1908.
I am informed that this Luigi display is very disrespectful, but it's also damn funny.
From here it’s a short walk and a long wait to ride the funicular down the other side. Next to us in line is a couple from Toronto who did the Viking tour that leaves Brazil goes around the Cape and finishes at Santiago Chile. Apparently they could wave to the continent of Antarctica but couldn’t leave the ship with their 930 friends on board (average age estimated at 80).
Part way down is a zoo, we chose not to go there, all the cool animals were on display at the bottom anyways.
We re-boarded the bus at the bottom, from this colourful and very busy area.
Yeah, that's their river
Our last planned stop for the day, we got off at Fuente Neptuno, a beautiful set of stairs and fountains surrounding a neoclassic structure built between 1897 and 1903 as the main ornamentation of the entrance to the hill. When we got off, the Turistik girl said to me "watch your stuff". Something seemed off right away, and some guy was following us as we reversed directions several times, and finally I turned around and just faced him while we were standing by a security guard and he finally walked away.
A few minutes later I turned as Norine screamed, another guy with a bandana over his face had ripped her necklace from her throat and ran away. By the time she screamed he was 1/2 block away. Norine tells the security people in Spanish that the guy had just robbed her... they just shrugged. Who knows if they are even security, could be spotters.
It was scary and upsetting and altered my opinion of this city... Santiago is a very big dirty city with lots of graffiti and any cultural interest is overshadowed by the criminals that would stalk a tourist and rob them in the middle of the day in a populated area.
Angry and upset we walked back to our hotel and spent the rest of the day by the safety and comfort of our hotel pool. We are talking to one of the guests in the pool, and when we mentioned what happened, he said that he heard the same thing happened to 2 other women that are staying at our hotel. That is not a good crime %.
They say bad things happen in three's... so bailed housesitters, skimmed credit card, and a robbery, that's enough for this trip.
Feb 26
The next morning after breakfast, we walked to the parliament buildings again for the hop on hop off bus, with way less stuff that can be grabbed. Of course now we see lots of police, somebody has to protect the politicians.
We got on the bus and rode past the scene of the crime, gotta say I had a knot in my stomach as we went by.
We decided to stop at the big Parque Arauco mall to wander around for a bit, enjoy the AC and get a snack. Then we jumped on the next bus and continued the circuit we had done the day before.
Some of the nicer graffiti, the city is full of it, and most of it is just tags over tags... a mess.
We got off again at stop #5 Plaza de Armas, it looked like it might be an OK area to check out. It's now up to 36.2 degrees
It was Sunday, so the historical church was closed... go figure?
We were wandering the Plaza de Armas area and then quickly departed and started walking back to our hotel when a lot of cops came charging in full lights and sirens. They have come in to deal with a large protest that was going on in the center of the square. Given what had happened the previous day, we didn't want to be anywhere near a crowd being dispersed by the police. We already view every passer-by with suspicion and have had our heads on a swivel to make sure no-one is near when I stop to take any pictures. I only brought my iPhone today, wasn't going to draw any more attention to ourselves with a bigger camera and camera bag.
When you see the police vehicles in Santiago, you start to get an understanding of the type of city that it has become. These are tactical vehicles, armoured to the teeth, these aren't community watch and tourist police.
Even their giant statues aren't safe from the thieves here.
Safely back at our hotel for some more comfortable pool time and cerveza and seafood appetizers and pizza Del Mar... all poolside.
As we are sitting outside in 36° weather by the pool, I am getting messages and pics from my neighbors, it's snowing at home... a lot!
Time to get our bags ready for the last trek back to our snowy home, but first...