Chile - City & Desert 🇨🇱

Die Hauptstadt, die unendliche Wüste und das ganze Einreise Corona Programm

Santiago de Chile☀️

Off to the capital and largest city of Chile! ✈️

Ah, Corona, my dear friend.

Before departing from Peru, as per the usual routine, we had to undergo a PCR test, and guess what? Just after a mere 2 hours of flight time, another one was waiting for us (despite being fully vaccinated + having recovered status + previous negative PCR test results!) 😠. At the airport, they shoved the new test swabs deep into our throats and then even deeper into both nostrils. Yummy. 🤤

With tears in our eyes and coughing, we finally headed to passport control 🥲...

So far, so good. Now it was time for yet another round of quarantine until the new test results arrived. By now, we had become accustomed to it. Luckily, the results only took 1 day, so we had time to explore Santiago de Chile right after 🙏.

Cool city. Lots of skyscrapers. A scorching heat of 30 degrees Celsius. German prices. 😎👍

Coronavirus measure: Temperature check before entering any store!

After strolling around, we visited the Chilean National Zoo🦛

Then, we tried the traditional cocktail: ,,Terremoto“🍹

Very sweet, but oh so delicious with the pineapple ice! 😍

And what could be better than finding watermelon on every corner? 🍉

We definitely made the most out of this one day in Santiago de Chile! ❤️

San Pedro de Atacama🌵

Off to the driest desert in the world! 🏜

Ahead of us lay the dry earth, a heat of at least 30 degrees Celsius, and snow-capped mountains in the background. What a panorama! 🥰

In the city center, the small adobe houses with shops and restaurants stood close together. Small dust clouds formed as cars passed by. Tourists from all over the world crossed paths, admiring the colorful clothing and souvenirs. 

Various stray dogs roamed the streets 🐕. Occasionally, we stumbled upon a drunken man regenerating in the shade.

After filling our stomachs with the first Empanadas (one of Chile's typical dishes), we went shopping. The largest supermarket here is roughly comparable to a late-night shop. In Peru, we paid only a third of the original German prices in supermarkets. Hence, the first shock came when we reached the cashier 💸. We paid almost double for some products compared to Germany 😯. Mostly, it's because transportation costs in the desert are naturally much higher. After reluctantly completing our first shopping, we drove to our new accommodation. One of Max's best friends currently lives here and works as a tour guide. His name is Moritz. Max and Moritz – it's clear they get along well 🤣! Anyway, we can consider ourselves lucky to know Moritz; otherwise, accommodations in the area would have been almost unaffordable. So, we got a free accommodation with a refrigerator, a hot shower, a stove, and a large bed. What more could we ask for? 😊

Next to us lived Moritz's grandparents and other relatives.

They own hundreds of animals, including rabbits 🐰, guinea pigs, various bird species 🦜, pigs, horses, llamas, cats, dogs, chickens 🐓, ostriches, goats, deer – and yes, I definitely forgot some. Maybe "farm" isn't the right word; it's more like a "zoo." Anyway. 

The family welcomed us warmly, and we all had dinner together. 

Note: Before entering the room, ask for permission with the word "Permiso"! 👍👍

We enjoyed fresh goat cheese with pastries, a huge cake, and a horror for all vegetarians: boiled goat.

However, everything tasted delicious, and it couldn't get fresher than this! 

Just like in almost every country we've visited in South America, football was on during dinner. Everyone sat around a big table. Next to us, the little chickens were in a cage, and the cats and dogs roamed around the kitchen. 😂

Here, humans and animals live closely together! 👧🐓👧🐓

The Pool Party at the Hostel 💦💦

A perfect way to cool off in over 30-degree weather! 😍 I must say, South Americans have incredibly good taste in music 💃! Perfect dance music that instantly lifts your spirits! Quite the opposite of the current German chart music. Most German radio songs can almost make you depressed 🙄!

Mountain Biking through the Desert

SO MUCH FUN!

VALLE DE JEREZ☀️😎

This beautiful oasis lies amidst the desert landscape, surrounded by towering rocks.

There are small caves in the rock walls that we could even crawl into. 👻

Definitely worth a visit for only 2 euros entrance per person! 🙏

Hot Springs 💦

After our hike, we jumped into the hot springs 😍.

It was just a perfect day ❤️.

Horseback Riding🏇

After slathering ourselves with sunscreen, we hopped into the saddle! We were both a bit nervous 😆. It was even Max's first time on a horse 🙈.

Off we went through the desert landscape. Once again, breathtaking! 😍

Volcano Blanco🌋

Half-day hike 🥾

Such beautiful animals 😍

Guatín 

Valle de los Cactus

Cerro Toco

It goes up 5,604 meters high! 😲

The heart pumps like crazy, and the head starts to ache slightly. The top rule, when climbing to such an extremely high altitude, is to stay calm and have a good attitude 🙌! We actually made it up without any problems, with a few breaks 💪.

The Universe 🌌 🌌

Let's take a look at the sky... ❤️

Moritz's cousin brought out his telescope for us!

The stars were a bit blurry. They somehow looked like little bacteria 🤣✨.

But THEN the madness: we could see and photograph the moon through the telescope 😍.

Floriemiento Fest

A traditional Chilean festival that only happens once a year.

What a festival, I tell you! I don't think I've ever seen so much alcohol in my life. Crates of beer after crates of beer. Thousands of llamas, sheep, and goats in the midst of it all. Nearly the entire village gathered to celebrate this special occasion. When we received our first beer, it was first poured onto the ground as a tradition, for the animals and to Pachamama, "Mother Earth." Here, it's normal to share a bit with the earth (the goddess) with every drink!

Then the music started! Five men began to play the guitar, while people gathered behind them. Everyone danced three times in a circle around the animals. There was loud singing, occasional spins, and suddenly, the woman in the middle smeared red paint on my face. OH OH. It took me a moment to realize that it definitely wasn't paint but llama blood!

After the dance, the llama wool was processed to adorn the animals.

After the dance, the llama wool was processed to adorn the animals.

Now, for all animal lovers, brace yourselves: After the ritual, one animal of each kind was slaughtered. A sheep, a llama, and a goat 😢.

In the end, the helpers were given a living goat!

We could have gotten one too, but it wouldn't fit quite right in our backpack 😄.

The festival was interesting, shocking, fun, sad, touching, and exciting all at once.

Moon Valley

Or right before it!

Due to Corona, we couldn't get tickets on the same day... Not a big deal! We just hopped on our bikes and explored on our own, discovering a cool cave and breathtaking views!

Until next time, Chile.

We had an incredible time!Coronavirus problems upon entry 🙄:

Die Corona Probleme bei der Einreise🙄:

1. Die Validierung für unsere Impfungen dauerte länger als erwartet ( bis zu 40 Tagen!! ). Unser Flieger flog daher ohne uns! Gut.  Der erste unnötige Geldverlust ( PCR-Test 60 Euro, Flugverschiebung…)!😐
2. Als nach einiger Zeit, dann doch endlich die Validierung funktionierte starteten wir unseren zweiten Versuch ein paar Tage später🙏. Diesmal war der schöne, wie immer äußerst angenehme Test auch noch bei einem von uns positiv😭. Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Genau das haben wir jetzt auch noch gebraucht😖!  Hiermit also der zweite unnötige Geldverlust💸. Mit null, wirklich null Prozent Symptomen und einem trotzdem positiven und überteuerten PCR-Test standen wir nun da. 😐👍
3. Beautiful two weeks "locked up" in an Airbnb apartment (which thankfully was really nice 🙏). Yes, what can you do? Wait 🧍‍♀️. Reschedule flights and look forward to the next super PCR test for Chile. Who doesn't love getting their nose swabbed 10 times❓. I gladly pay 60 euros each time for that 👍. Well, enough of that rant 😁. 

The fact is, traveling in the time of Corona is very expensive and occasionally nerve-wracking 😌. 

But one should always see the good things ☀️. We made the most of our quarantine time, working very hard 💻, continuing to learn Spanish 📚, chatting with our friends/family over Skype 🙂, or baking oat cookies 🍪, rolls, etc...

All in all, time passed by fairly quickly ⌛️.

Next Post: Rio de Janeiro - Brazil.