Reflections of Chile

We had 33 days in Chile across 3 different stints and it certainly now rivals Argentina as our favourite South American country. Our key reflections are as follows

• Not yet first world but it's not far off although there is a significant gap between rich and poor, worst apparently of any Latin America country
• Extremely varied and beautiful country, we've visited lakes, forests, glaciers, volcanos, mountains, fjords, islands, desert and geysers in our time here
• However a very geologically unstable area, with the bad flooding in the north at Atacama and the volcanic activity, with smoking top on Volcan Villerica and 3 explosions at Volcan Calbuco, all just in the time we were there
• People are extremely friendly and helpful and English spoken in most major places. They are also very laid back - it's not called Chile for nothing!
• Santiago worth a visit but not as big and cosmoploitian as Buenos Aires
• Good food but not a huge variety though. Has first class red wine (Carmenere is a great red wine grape) and local beers
• Well developed infrastructure makes is really easy to get around, with an efficient and cheap bus service
• We've stayed in some very good accommodation although it's not cheap even by western standards especially in the tourist areas
• Apart from the Salta to San Pedro road it was very easy to cross the border with Argentina
• Street dogs continue to be an issue (as is the case in most South American countries)
• Everything closes on Sunday and between 1230 and 1600 it's siesta time!
• Things become less developed as you head further south into the remoter areas (ie gravel roads in Terra Del Fuego)
• Apart from Valpariso we felt very safe to travel around and be out in the towns and cities at night.
• Easter Island is completely different to mainland Chile and is more akin to the other Pacific Islands. It's a long way to go from Santiago, its not cheap but if you are in Chile it's definately worth it