Hey guys, just a quick one while i am in Santiago.
Went mountain biking and sandboarding. Broke my camera but am currently fixing it, my camera appears an oddity to the camera repair people in Chile. Left San Pedro on a night bus, 16hours, to La Serena. Was luxury after the buses in Bolivia, it had a toilet and everything! In La Serena we chilled out, went to the market, the beach etc. Had a Completo, a local street snack, of a hotdog with mayo, ketchup, mustard, guacamole and tomato chunks, these have constituted a few lunches since! Got a bit of burn on my back from the sun. The beaches there and in Vina Del Mar here in Santiago are very windy, water maxes at 11 degrees and the sun is very strong and your not usually allowed in the sea. Barbara our guide fell ill and has now returned to Buenos Aires, we have a new guide whom we have not met yet. Had an interesting night out in La Serena where everyone seemed to split of but we made it back okay. The hotel there had a hole in one wall in one room, a lost key for another and a collapsed cieling in another, and there were only 9 rooms. We also went one night to an observatory in the hills until 1am to see all the stars (every inch of the sky was covered, we could see the milky way and two other galaxies too). We also got to look through the digital telescope and saw star clusters, jupiter etc etc. It was stunning!!
After La Serena we headed to santiago, 7hours, went on a tour to a winery, Val Paraiso and Vina del mar. Walked around santiago and up the San Cristobal Hill to the statue in the photo. Met the new group, only me stacey juani and eric and ann go on from the old group. Got 6 new people, one couple. All seem very nice and most going all the way to rio. Saying goodbyes to old tourees now and head on to Pucon and Puerto Varas for rafting, kayaking and volcano climbing.

Just a short one like i said. Next one may not be until Buenos Aires in 2 weeks so expect a big one. Hope alls well.

Matt xx