Santiago de Chile and Valparaiso

Santiago

We are planning to leave the capital of Chile to head to the north and precisely the city of La Serena. This is a smaller city but the second settled by the Spaniards in the territory of Chile and is situated on the Pacific coast. We hope that we will be able to swim and to enjoy a trek in the valley situated behind. It is said to be the clearest skies in the world and it is known for its observatories as well. So, the possibility to watch the stars of south hemisphere with a specialist can become a really nice experience as we already checked the stars and it is difficult to understand the constellations which are on the top of the sky.

City centre of Santiago

The visit of Santiago and of its museum of precolombian art were really interesting to know the history of the country before and after the colonisation by the Europeans. The climb over the two central hills of the city offered us nice points of view over the buildings and a good perspective to understand the development of this multi-centre city.

Valparaiso from the bay

In the pacific coast, the port called Valparaiso was exciting and very interesting. The bay is surrounded by an explosion of color. These are the houses painted in different bright color and leaning on the mountains around. The view of the town and on the bay from the high point is marvellous and a small trip by boat permitted us to meet four seals which did not look really wild. The mood of the city is also really different from the capital. Both are busy but one is by suitcases men and the other by the sellers working on the pavement of the walk-side and the local leaving there lives half outside. Due to a strike that seems more common here than in France, we had to go up by stairs instead of lift which are landmarks in the city plans and a must to do as well but at the end we succeed to find one which was not closed. 

Highs of Valparaiso