Thursday 13th December
We were up early and packed quickly - we have had plenty of practice now!! After being so efficient we were waiting outside the door when the restaurant opened for breakfast- unusual for us! Our motive was to avoid another horrible boxed breakfast and grab some fruit, toast and coffee before the journey. As usual, the transfer arrived early but we had time for a quick bite.
We drove out through the dusty streets and red adobe walls of San Pedro. The desert looked spectacular as we drove westward in the morning light - all the dunes and canyons accentuated by the pink morning light and deep shadows. We said goodbye to the dinosaur valley as we passed the stegosaurus like ridges and the double headed fox petroglyph.
Calama airport was quiet when we arrived but the queue soon built up so we were glad to be early.
The flight was uneventful apart from Bill spilling half of his expensive cup of powder coffee over his wife - oops!
The Andes are clearly visible all the way and there was no smog over Santiago today. When we landed all the Chileans issued a strange guttural noise - presumably as congratulations to the pilot on another successful flight?
We are met by Luis - the same driver that we had on the way to Valparaíso and his sidekick Ervands, a jolly little chap with very precise English. He welcomed us and chatted on the way to our boutique hotel - The Ismael, in the Lastarria district of Santiago. Luckily we were located immediately adjacent to the Parque Forestal in the centre of town. We were supposed to be having an introductory walking tour of the area, but our guide decided to do this in reception and make it map based, which was fine by us! The glass fronted hotel was very swanky in comparison to our rustic accommodations elsewhere, although the courtesy and service was just as warm and friendly.
The room was modern and overlooked the park. It had a hand-painted tree mural and the bathroom had frosted glass walls, etched with branches and leaves to match. Very beautiful.
After coffee and hand made biscuits we decided to set off on foot to explore. Thankfully (and unusually) today was a cooler day than we had expected. Clear blue skies, but only 24 degrees and a gentle breeze. Based on recommendations by various prepped we have met in our travels, we decided to visit the museum of Pre-Colombian Art and walked through the busy streets and walkways, passing lots of stalls toting garish Christmas decorations. Our impression of Santiago was of a typical large city. Plenty of attractive old colonial buildings, dominated by traffic, people, shops and restaurants / bars.
The Museo Chileno was cool, light and welcoming. In the courtyard area downstairs there was s cafes where we browsed the museum guide and app, whilst enjoying an excellent quinoa and avocado salad. Upstairs we spent a fascinating couple of hours viewing the sculptures, pottery and textiles in the museum. The display covered the period dating from the earliest ceramics and textiles to the arrival of the European conquistadors, and represented diverse works of art in ceramic, metal, cotton, wool, feathers, bone and wood. Many of the articles were objects used by the early people and many represented likenesses of people who lived in those times. Notable amongst the relics were the death masks in clay and metal and the sculptures of nobility with their body and facial ornaments, scars and deformities that were considered so desirable. Fertile women were considered particularly worthy of representation and there were many sculptures of pregnant and/or labouring women.
We ambled back via the Castillo Hildago in Barrio Lastarria. There was a beautiful fountain below the castle and lots of mature trees providing shade. We passed a string quartet on a street corner playing one of the Brandenberg concertos, before reaching the hotel to freshen up before supper.
We had booked at Peumayen on the recommendation of our white water rafting friend, Adrian. We walked through the park and over the Rio Mapocho - a raging stream of filthy brown water - passing many stalls selling local knitwear crafts and semi precious stone ornaments.
The streets were busy and the restaurants full of tourists and locals. We located the restaurant, which is constructed around an open inner courtyard built of timber and mellow brick with woven wall hangings, incorporating rushes and and twigs, with brightly coloured patches of llama wool.
We started with an infusion of lemon verbena in an earthenware beaker, accompanied by a crisp little scone topped with salsa. This was swiftly followed by a Pisco sour - Bill’s traditional, and mine with huacatay (mint) - while perusing the menu.
The chefs have taken traditional Chilean recipes and cooking techniques, and adapted them for a modern kitchen. They offer taster menus of twenty dishes. There are four menus - Ground (meat), Sea(fish), Mix and Vegetarian. We opted for a veggie and a mix of seafood and meat.

The waitress was charming with good English, and brought us a board of eight traditional breads from various regions of Chile, starting with flatbreads in the north, banana bread from Easter Island, pea and bean bread from central Chile, and potato bread from the south. Starters consist of morsels of dishes such as rabbit with fried Yuca, seaweed salad with smoked fish and mussels, pine nuts, honey and smoked cauliflower.
The main courses are varied such as potato dough stuffed with oxtail, roasted pumpkin with fried eggplant, potato with chocolate. There was a slight delay after this so they slipped in some horse carpaccio as an apology!
Puddings were delicious tasters of dishes such as chocolate and huacatay cake with rocoto marmalade and papayas, coconut pannacotta with pumpkin seed and caramelised pineapple base, cleri and chupilca ice cream.
The whole meal was a delightful experience and we chatted throughout, reflecting on the variety of our activities and accommodations during this adventure. We ambled home back through the revellers to a soft bed with crisp fine white cotton sheets and a good nights sleep!