Well, I had a very short stay in Santiago, Chile, before I flew onto New Zealand.

I’ve always wanted to go to Chile, and was never put off by people that had been there telling me it was slightly boring and very expensive in comparison to the rest of the continent because I was desperate to explore the beautiful and varied terrain that Chile is blessed with. Unfortunately, with only six days, and with Chile being over 4000km long I didn’t really get very far. But I did explore Santiago fully, and did a lot of wine tasting!

It was a ridiculously long journey from Utila to Santiago- 16 and a half hours of flying alone, but I made it, more or less in one piece and set out to explore fairly early on the morning that I arrived. The first stop was Cerro San Cristobal, the highest point in Santiago, which is a really steep, high hill. I wandered along the meandering path, all the way to the top, and was surprised to see that I was well above all of the tall buildings and could see for miles over the city, and over to the snow capped Andes in the distance. Unfortunately, what I didn’t realise was that clear sunny days were going to be in short supply while I was there, and didn’t take any photos. The photos that I did take a few days later are ones that show the city shrouded in fog, and I could barely see my hand in front of my face at the top of the hill! You’ll all just have to go and see for yourselves.

I was staying at BellaVista Hostel- nothing swish, but nice enough and with free internet and friendly people staying there it had a nice atmosphere. It was very central and in the up-and-coming district of BellaVista, a very bohemian and studenty part of the city. I spent most of the time exploring the sights of the city centre, very, very wrapped up in lots of jumpers as my body wasn’t used to the zero degrees that sometimes fell on the city.

Santiago is a city steeped in history, having been founded in 1541 by Pedro de Valdivia, and becoming the country’s capital in 1818. Dotted all around the inner city are examples of Spanish colonial architecture, including the former Governors’ Palace, now housing a museum; the stunning cathedral (founded in 1558);the Palacio de la Moneda (built in 1788–1805), now the presidential palace; many churches; broad avenues with a mix of big shops, resaurants, tiny shops; and skyscrapers that almost look out of place. There are also a mix of nasty run down tower blocks on most streets that echo of the time when the country was ruled by a dictator. Pinochet is best remembered for his brutal security operations where over 3,000 suspected terrorists were killed, and over 30,000 people were tortured. What he did do was push the country towards economic reform, and is the one responsible for Chile’s robust modern economy, which is still doing well today. Chile is one of the most modern, westernised and wealthy countries in South America.

All too quickly my time in Chile was up, without having explored any further than the Santiago city limits, but on my taxi ride to the airport, looking out across the stunning pink tipped Andes in the late afternoon sun, I resolved that it wouldn’t be the last time I’d be visiting Chile, and I’d definitely be exploring a lot further next time.

But, looking to the future, I was very excited about setting foot on a new Continent, one I’d never been to before, and experiencing more things for the first time.