There seems to be a fair amount of confusion and a lack of clear information about the possibilities of driving independently around the Torres del Paine national park in southern Chile. Some people still seem to suggest that this is tough to do on your own, and that to get to and around the park […]
Category: Chile
Birthplace of the spud, patata, papa or potato: Isla Chiloé, Chile
The island of Chiloé in southern Chile is not a place that promotes itself very aggressively in the world, but it is quietly proud of having given the entire world the potato. History traditionally holds that potatoes were first domesticated around 10,000 years ago in southern Peru and Bolivia, where they were first encountered by […]
Tried to get the Navimag ferry, but…
For a long time I’ve heard great things about the Navimag ferry, which runs from Central Chile’s southernmost point at Puerto Montt for three days down through fiords and glaciers to Chilean Patagonia at Puerto Natales, just south of the Torres del Paine. A trip of a lifetime, I’ve heard from so many. Though I […]
Valparaíso Fish
Foodie reasons for visiting Chile, number 1: fish and seafood Firstly, because they’re so good, and the centre of much the most interesting Chilean food; and second, because, at least for anyone from the Northern/Atlantic hemispheres, they’re so fascinatingly new and unfamiliar. The most popular fish are reineta, congrío and corvina, and a star among the range of shellfish are machas. […]
The Art of Deserts: the Atacama
Deserts are giant sculptures. In the arid world stripped of normal fertility, moisture and softness, the comfortable shapes of more habitable landscapes give way to an extraordinary range of abstract forms and textures, stripped of any covering to make them more amenable to human touch. This is one of the things that give deserts […]
Santiago en Fiestas
It’s surprising to find that Santiago, capital of Chile (not de Cuba or de Compostela), can look a little forbidding at first sight, at least if you head straight for the centre. The presidential seat the Palacio de la Moneda, a neatly-proportioned neo-classical mansion typical of the last burst of building of the Spanish Empire […]
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