Archive for October, 2022


Holiday in Chile (10): back to Santiago and home

October 30th, 2022 by Roger Darlington

On Friday, we took the first of three flights to get us back to London. The flight from Punta Arenas to Santiago involved some excitement even before we boarded as, for three of the group (including Silvia and me), seats were only eventually allocated at the boarding desk. None of we three sat together. The […]

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Holiday in Chile (9): Punta Arenas 

October 28th, 2022 by Roger Darlington

The rest of Wednesday was free so we spent the afternoon relaxing in our hotel room and the evening having a meal in the hotel while the weather – in true Patagonian style – blew a gale and poured with rain. Indeed it rained ALL night. Essentially our Chile holiday was over. For the next […]

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Holiday in Chile (8): Torres de Paine National Park

October 26th, 2022 by Roger Darlington

It was a fabulous day (Tuesday) as we spent our time travelling to and around Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. We knew that it would be cold in Patagonia, so I wore a thick shirt, a jumper and a padded jacket plus scarf, gloves and hat. In fact, it was not that cold today and […]

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Holiday in Chile (7): on to Patagonia 

October 26th, 2022 by Roger Darlington

On our last morning in Puerto Varas (Monday), just after after 10 am local time (4 pm London time), we learned that back home in the UK there was only one nomination for the Conservative Party leadership election so now Rishi Sunsk is Prime Minister – the third occupant of No 10 in two months […]

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Holiday in Chile (6): the Lake District 

October 24th, 2022 by Roger Darlington

Using Puerto Varas as our base, Sunday was another wonderful day in which we visited three major locations In Chile’s endlessly picturesque Lake District. Although it was chilly in Chile at first and certainly up the volcano, the weather was otherwise excellent.  First, we drove over to the Osorno Volcano and up a very winding […]

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Holiday in Chile (5): San Pedro to Puerto Varas

October 23rd, 2022 by Roger Darlington

Friday was a day of leisure and it was an opportunity to explore the little town of San Pedro de Atacama. Overlooked by the Licancabur volcano, the town itself only has a population of about 2,000.  Essentially it is one Main Street, which is essentially pedestrianised, with a few smaller streets running off it, plus […]

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Holiday in Chile (4): more of the Atacama Desert 

October 21st, 2022 by Roger Darlington

Today (Thursday) was spent exploring more of the Atacama Desert with particular reference to the salt flats. Valentina told us the salt flats of the Atacama Desert are the largest in the world after some in Bolivia and Argentina respectively.  We set off south and eventually stopped to look at some salt flats by the […]

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Holiday in Chile (3): the Atacama Desert 

October 20th, 2022 by Roger Darlington

It was a very early start to Wednesday and I mean early.  In Santiago, Silvia’s alarm went at 4.30 am and mine at 5 am.  The group left the hotel at 5.50 am with a packed breakfast and headed to the airport. We flew from Santiago in the centre of the country to Calama in […]

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Holiday in Chile (2): Santiago

October 19th, 2022 by Roger Darlington

London to Chile is 7,240 miles (11,650 kms) as the crow flies but we are not crows. So the flight from London to Sao Paolo in Brazil – starting on Sunday evening – was almost 11 and a half hours and the flight from Sao Paolo to Santiago in Chile was just over 3 and […]

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Holiday in Chile (1): introduction

October 16th, 2022 by Roger Darlington

Over the past 16 years, my sister Silvia and I have enjoyed a series of holidays together and we are now about to embark on our 14th such adventure. Following an enjoyable visit to Colombia four years ago, we are now returning to South America to experience Chile with the travel company Cox & Kings.  […]

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