Starting Over is Scary

A little more about Chile...

I thought I would share some details about my trip to Chile for those who are interested...

We started our time in a small town up in the mountains south of Santiago. Diego's parents live just outside of Coya, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I would say that we got to see some of the countryside there. His parents live in a small American built subdivision, although I use both American and subdivision very loosely! That was my first taste of just how different our cultures are! We toured a vineyard with a lot of local history. Wine is a big product in that area. One of the most amazing things we did there was a tour of El Teniente, a branch of Codelco which is the largest copper mine company in the world. We were able to go right into the mine and through some of the most important places in the mine. It was not at all what I was expecting. First of all, we drove inside. It was a one lane road with an interesting traffic system. We went about 2 miles in one side of the mountain, about 3 miles below the surface. We saw how computers and mechanics are involved and how workers are still used. We also walked right up to the operation and watched the bulldozers and hammers collect the rock and transport it to the trains to go the smelter. Absolutely amazing!
This picture is hard to see but it is our group in front of the hammer that crushes the rock that is being dropped into the train to be transported out of the mine.


We spent Christmas Eve at Diego's sister and brother in law's apartment in Santiago. Dinner started after midnight, yes that is typical. Christmas morning, after just a few hours of sleep, found us at the Santiago airport. We got on a plane to the southern part of Chile (about 1200 miles south of Santiago) without ever showing any kind of ID. That's right, I never showed my passport to check-in, get through security, or get on the plane. Interesting....

A volcano from the plane window.



We spent the next four days bring tourists. I can only describe southern Chile like Alaska. Cold! It is summer and I was freezing! We saw penguins, glaciers, mountains, some Chilean animals, waterfalls, lakes, and much more.













It was soooo beautiful. Torres del Paine is a national park that I was expecting to be a little like Glacier National Park in Montana. Not quite. All dirt roads, no towns, and very few people. It was remote! On one of our ferry rides, we ran into a family from Kansas. Just a few hours from Antarctica and we meet someone from Kansas! Small world right?

Well I think that is enough for this posting. Hopefully, I will add more soon!

posted by Erin @ 4:47 PM