Category: general

arriving in patagonia

The best part about the plane ride from Santiago down to Patagonia was not flying past the erupting Chaitan volcano, but getting to see all of the enormous glaciers rampaging about the place.

We flew into Punta Arenas, and wandered down to the beach to look out across the Strait of Magellan towards Tierra del Fuego. Because we could. And stood at 53Â° 10′ latitude on the beach, and felt very southerly. Unfortunately we weren’t going any further South, and instead wandered up North to Puerto Natales.

Puerto Natales had brightly coloured doors

And flamingos! They looked very flamboyant against the dull grey of the cloudy day and icy water.

Tags chaitan, chile, flamencos, flamingos, patagonia, puerto natales, punta arenas, tierra del fuego, travel, volcano

general travel

the southest i’ve ever been

Post author By megan
Post date 1.6.2008
No Comments on the southest i’ve ever been

Flying into Punta Arenas, Chile, then walking to the beach and looking out across the Strait of Magellan to Tierra del Fuego. Around 53 degrees South.

Tags beach, chile, ocean, punta arenas, south, stham2008, strait of magellan, tierra del fuego, travel

general travel

mendoza, argentina

Wandering around Mendoza, it seemed like we could have been in a suburb in Melbourne (but for the fact all the graffiti was in Spanish).

We spent our time cycling round, lazing on the grass, eating delicious food and drinking Argentinian wine.

Travelling to Mendoza from Santiago, we went back and forth on a bus through the Andes. The queue at the border was long, with many trucks. But there are worse places to sit at a border crossing than the Andes, so we had snow fights and snow races, and wished we had our skis with us.

On the way home, once we crossed the border we had to descend from the pass into Chile via an interesting set of switchbacks – by the time this photo was taken we’d already descended a few turns down them (and passed the queue of trucks waiting to get into Argentina).

Tags andes, argentina, border, chile, mendoza, santiago, stham2008, switchbacks, travel, wine

general travel

kitten fishing in santiago de chile

Post author By megan
Post date 28.5.2008
No Comments on kitten fishing in santiago de chile

Kitten fishing, a traditional Chilean sport. Seen practised here by Alex using a standard length green 0.8mm rod, combined with the interesting tactic of a double bait and super visible line. Also of note is the brightly coloured painting on the wall behind him, which may or may not be part of his plan to distract the kittehs so they may be lured more successfully.