Still in La Serena ... Getting a bit bored of La Serena now. I booked a tour to Isla Damas to see the wildlife (Humbolt penguins - willl take pictures for you Qster - boobies and dolphins etc) but it was cancelled due to weather conditions. Hopefully I will be able to go tomorrow. Instead I went to the next town, Coquimbo, which according to my guidebook is more lively and grittier than La Serena. Of course, it was just my luck that everything was shut when I go...

All bussed out and no room at the inn I´ve messed up my time in Chile a bit due to illness and a cancelled tour (and I had it all so perfectly planned!). Anyway, headed south from San Pedro via Antofagasta and Copiapó. I´d planned to stay a couple of nights in Antofagasta so that I could visit some natural arch recommended in the Rough Guide (by the way, aside from all the spelling mistakes in the guide there are also plenty of factual errors - what tin pot o...

Dear Mum, Tom, Emily, Richard, Carolina and Paul, I´m so sorry I haven´t replied to any of your messages. I´ve only just discovered the message board feature on my site: I haven´t been ignoring you. And it was so nice to hear from you - I feel so bad! I think I´m going to save blogging and replying until I get to a better computer as this rubbery keyboard makes typing impossible, especially with one hand (I fear I´d be here until Christmas at least!) Lov...