Well did not get to the Easter Islands. Went to Valparaiso a port on the coast for a day. It is so colourfull brightly coloured houses on 35 hills you get up and down on wooden lifts. There are loads of dogs wandering in packs, but they are friendly. Valparaiso has the oldest still working trolley buses in the world. Saw a penguin and sealions in the harbour when I was having my lunch. Chileans love sea food. Went on the underground in Santiago to concho y torros vineyard, tasted 3 wines were taken down into the cellars. The next day we went on a 7 hour bus journey to La Serena the 2nd oldest city in Chile. It has 29 churches and a japanese garden.

Had a great day in the Elqui Valley the clouds cleared as we drove up the valley. The skies were so blue, they say it is a magical place. Lots of fruit and vegetables grow in the valley avacodoes, paypaya, artichokes, oranges lemons, potatoes and grapes. This is where the pisco sour grapes come from. I tasted the pisco and hopefully will get some home to Scotland I really like it Visited the home of the noble prize winning poet Gabriel Mistral. At night we visited an observatory and saw Mercury and Venus and lots of stars. I saw the NASA space observatory on a far away hill it is silver. The valley mountains are covered in dry dusty sand and cacti. The mountains have wild sheep, goats and donkeys burritos. The valley certainly had a magical atmosphere and the sunset with its rays over the mountains was something else. We had lunch at a solar resteraunt all the food is cooked by silver lined boxes outside the resteraunt. Went to the seaside at La Serena it was dull but it did not rain. The waves were huge. Have a picture of one of the cafes with legs from the outside do not get excited Rory or for that matter Aunty Agnes. Going on an overnight bus to San Pedro de Attacama tonight will take 16 hours. It is one of the driest areas in the world. Spoke via email to Arachellie in Peru so hopefully meeting up next week. Cannot believe how fast time is going but I am loving every minute of my travels even when I have no idea what people are saying to me. Trying to get pictures on. Adios for just now