This article is an overview of a vacation to Chile, where we went, what we did, and what we saw. It was a big trip for us this year to see the solar eclipse.
For the first leg of our trip we went to the capital of Chile, Santiago. In our apartment in Santiago we had a great view of the city.
During the first day in Santiago we had a nice tour of the city. We saw beautiful views of the city from St. Lucia Hill, experienced tasty seafood at the seafood market, had tasty coffee and tea at Coffee with Legs, visited and learned about the Mapuche culture, explored the flower and fruit markets, walked in the Plaza De Armas, and visited cute shops like the hat shop, SomBreroes.
The second day in Santiago we left the city and visited another beautiful city, Valparaiso. In Valparaiso walking is the way to experience the true beauty of the city. We rode an ascensor on top of a hill to view the city, saw Pablo Neruda’s house, saw beautiful murals, and visited cute shops.
Our third day in Santiago we left the city again but with a different destination in mind. We were going to visit an alpaca farm! Our first stop though was the La Campana National Park where we learned more about the Mapuche and the flora and fauna of the area. Then we went to the alpaca farm where we saw the alpacas that lived there and had a tour of how their wool was transformed into yarn for making different products.
The next day we flew out of Santiago and arrived at Calama. Our tour guide picked us up and we headed for an oasis called San Pedro de Atacama. We were in the desert for five days and in those five days we saw a lot. We visited the Moon Valley, Mars Valley, Rainbow Valley, Cactus Valley, lagoons, salt flats, geysers, went horseback riding, and saw many wildlife like vicuna, guanaco, llamas, flamingos, and foxes.
After our stay in the desert, we flew to La Serena where we viewed the eclipse and also took a tour to a national park, Damas Island (dama means lady) where we saw seals, otters, dolphins, and many types of birds (including penguins).
Overall, our trip in Chile was a great and enjoyable adventure. Later we will write more articles about each individual experience and tips on how to fully experience them. Come back to check them out!
Santiago
Valparaiso
La Campana National Park
San Pedro de Atacama
La Serena
Coquimbo
Damas Island
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