Wanders of the World

Patti: So we made it to Santiago, Chile safe and sound with only one minor glitch. Our connecting flight in Chicago from Winnipeg to Miami was delayed by about 4 hours so instead of arriving at 11:00 pm, we arrived at 3:00 am very tired. The hotel shuttle was still running, thank goodness, and our departing flight wasn't until 4:00 pm the next day so we were able to have a good sleep-in. An overnight flight to Santiago, via Bogata Columbia, had us arrive at about 5:00 am local time (3:00 am Winnipeg time) and again, transport was readily available to get us to our hostel. Luckily and thankfully, we were able to check-in upon arrival and basically had a full "night" sleep ( 2 sleeps for the price of one). Once we woke up (this was yesterday) we got our bearings of our great location near downtown and had a good walking tour of some of the area. The local fish market was recommended by local university students as having great seafood. We were very hopeful to have an excellent first dining experience in Chile, but no such luck. We ordered paella for two and neither one of us could eat it. The fish was way too fishy and had a flavor that literally made both of us nauseous (sp?) Usually I don't complain about food that I don't really like and can just view it as sustanance. However, because neither of us had more than a few bites, I couldn't justify paying for it so made a complaint and only paid for our drinks. We didn't leave hungry as they brought biscuits and salsa for us prior to our meal. Our evening meal was much more enjoyable. We spent much of last evening planning our next steps. I was feeling very anxious upon arrival here without really knowing what we were doing, but our hostel had information about a hop-om hop-off bus service that takes you from place to place in Chile. We did some research about this is it seems to be a great system. The bus has designated stopping points each day and you can chose to continue on with the bus to the next destination the next day or you can stay put until the next bus comes along a few days later or even a month later. It seems to hit the places we are interested in and the flexibility fits with our type of travel. Some of our African safari mates did the same type of thing in South Africa ans talked very highly of it, so we'll give it a go. We really only have 5 days of travel actually booked on the bus so we're not that tied into it. The first destination we are looking forward to is a major lake region of Chile. We have read that there are great bike routes (with mountain bikes for rent) and lots of hiking. Our plan at this point is to stay there for about a week and then jump back on the bus that passes through then. That's about all for now. The weather here is perfect; not too hot and not too cold. I'm guessing not too many of you are saying the same things. However, I do have my sister and her family and my parents travelling to Cuba and a Carribean cruise respectively, so I'm sure they're not complaining. Enjoy your trips Dodi, Paul, Jeremy, Andrea, Drew, Darren, Dad and Mom.