We spent 33 days in Chile.
The following words are the ones we associate with Chile:
cold (we wanted to put ‘chilly’ to play on words with ‘Chile’ but it was really colder than just ‘chilly’), buses, pisco sour, wine, warm clothes (NZ merinos and fluffy blankets), moai, W trek, Pinochet, harsh, boats, Spanish, long distances, Tours4Tips, ‘Loup Garou’ (board game).
Our highlights / what we (all) liked the most:
- Ahu Tongariki (15 moai) and Anakena (moai on the beach) sites, on Easter Island
- Perito Moreno Glacier (in Argentina)
- The cruise on the Lake Grey, in Torres Del Paine NP (mainly for the close views of the glacier)
- Caleta Portales in Valparaiso (to see the sea lions on the beach, from such a close distance)
- Sushi dinner at our Airbnb in Santiago to celebrate our 9th month of travel.
The following places nearly made it to the top list (short of one “vote”):
- One-day stopover in Papeete, Tahiti (missing my vote, although I enjoyed the day)
- Ahu Tahai site on Easter Island (missing Jules’ vote)
- The evening traditional dance show on Easter Island (missing my vote)
- The ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt (missing my vote)
- The Tour4Tip in Valparaiso (missing Florence’s vote, who was sick that day).
Also:
- I was impressed by the Rano Kau crater on Easter Island.
- Isabelle enjoyed the visit of the Glaciarum Museum in El Calafate.
- Regarding the W circuit in Torres Del Paine, Isabelle and the girls liked the climb to the Torres on the first day (mainly for the snow for the girls), while I prefer the second day (the walk in the Valle Frances, to the Mirador Frances).
- Isabelle and the girls liked the murals in Valparaiso.
- Ludivine enjoyed the morning in La Vega Central market, in Santiago.
- Isabelle and Ludivine liked Las Condes district, in Santiago.
- Isabelle loved her wineries tour, as well as her visit to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino in Santiago.
- All the viewers (i.e. the kids and I) loved ‘Ready Player One’ movie.
- Finally, Jules liked the visit of the Palacio Cousiño.
What we liked less:
- Jules didn’t like the Orango stone village on Easter Island
- The day trip from El Calafate to Torres Del Paine NP (because the weather was bad on that day)
- The girls didn’t like the hike to Glacier Grey on the last day of the W circuit (when we had to carry our backpack).
- Ludivine and Jules didn’t like the Cerro Santa Lucia “climb” in Santiago.
Our general feeling:
- We can’t really say that we got a comprehensive view of Chile since we focused mainly on Easter Island, Patagonia and 2 cities (Valparaiso and Santiago).
- We loved Easter Island. It’s really a magical island, with the strikingly enigmatic moai and the end-of-the-world feeling.
- The Patagonian landscapes were as impressive as we had imagined (but also very cold…). In particular, we were all amazed by the Perito Moreno Glacier, in Argentina, which is definitely one of the highlights of our world tour. We are happy (and proud) to have walked (climbed) the W circuit in the superb Torres del Paine NP.
- We liked the atmosphere of Valparaiso.
- Santiago is not a beautiful city but our Airbnb was in a very nice “local” district (in Santiago Centro).
- It was nice to be in a Spanish-speaking environment
To do / visit during next stay:
- The Atacama desert.