Santiago - Day 1 (Welcome to South America)

Wendy and I have been traveling together for years, but the one continent neither of us had visited yet was South America. After making up our minds to visit Easter Island in the south Pacific Ocean, we got our chance to finally visit my 5th and her 6th continent. Santiago, the capital of Chile since the 16th Century, is a perfect place to start your South American trip.

Santiago, Chile is the capital and largest city in the nation with more than seven million people. Located almost exactly in the center of the nation, which is the narrow nation that covers almost all of western South America. Santiago is bordered by the Andes Mountains to the east.  Getting to Santiago is about a nine hour flight from Atlanta, and is two hours ahead of Eastern Standard time. The airport is about a 20-25 minute ride from the city center, and a cab ride will cost you about $30.  While they do have an extensive subway system in Santiago, it does not stretch to the airport.

For our first day in Santiago we decided to head to the highest point in town, San Cristóbal Hill. Located in the middle of the city, San Cristóbal Hill can be seen from any point in the city.  We got to the park by walking down Pio Nono, an artsy street covered with restaurants and art shops. At the foot of the hill is the Chilean National Zoo.  A complete bargain at around $4 a person (the currency here is the peso, and the exchange rate is a ridiculous 700 pesos for one dollar), you will get to see some classics like elephants, giraffes, and lions, but also some local wildlife like guanacos, pudus, vicuñas.  The zoo is built into the side of the steep hill, so be ready to do some hiking while you are there.  I will warn you this is not up to United States zoo standards, and some of these animals are in some less than quality cages, but hopefully they are all well taken care of there.  One tip, make sure you walk through the aviary where you will be in the cage with some beautiful birds.

Leaving the zoo, you next step in the San Cristóbal Hill experience is to visit the Church of the Immaculate Conception located on the very top of the nearly 3,000 foot high peak.  You have several ways to get to the top including driving, walking through the park trails, or riding the funicular that shoots straight up the mountain. We decided to take the scenic walk, and I will be honest it was very difficult. The slope of the paths are extremely steep and require all of your energy to climb.  The paths are so steep that the park has rangers on motorcycles riding up and down the hills making sure people aren't falling out.  The walk took us a little more than an hour, but after we made it to the top we had a chance to visit the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a nearly 70 foot tall statue that was built on top of the hill more than a century ago. The walk itself was worth it just to get some amazing photos of the city.  Like many cities trapped by a mountain range, Santiago is covered by a rain shadow that blankets the mountains in smog that make them hard to see, but on a clear day the site of the mountains is beautiful.  We did decide to ride the funicular back down, which at about $2.50 each way is worth it for the time saved.  

On our way back we stopped in to a local cathedral called the Bascilica de la Merced.  Located near the Plaza de Armas, at the corner of MacIver and Merced, the red brick building was constructed in 1795, but the church itself dates back to 1566 with some of the earliest missionaries to come to the nation. Similar to many of the 18th Century cathedrals I have seen in the past, the interior is lined with chapels to saints and former members. One unique aspect that I have never seen in any church is all of these chapels were adorned with name plates that looked like one hundred year old pieces of flair.  The museum at the church houses many of their relics, and has some old pieces brought back by missionaries from Easter Island.

We are excited about our hotel choice of Hotel Altiplanico located across from the Chilean Museum of Fine Arts. Tomorrow we are up and back on a plane for our five hour flight to Easter Island.  We will have more from Santiago in a few days.