Hello again!

We have been working hard in our teaching jobs and are both really enjoying it now! The hours are quite long but when we've not been working we've been exploring more of Santiago and the surrounding areas.

Last weekend, we went down to a coastal town named Pichilemu with some friends (about 4 hours away... give or take 2 hours for slow Chilean bus drivers) which was brilliant. We stayed in a hostel right opposite the beach and we had great weather given that we are in Autumn now and that Pichilemu is even further south. Just 6km north of Pichilemu is Punta de Lobos, which is known to have the best year round surfing in South America. Although we didn't brave the cold Pacific water we spent hours watching the surfers clambering across rocks to get out into the big waves and it was fascinating! I have never seen anything like it. I also ate the best burrito I have ever had... so we all ended up eating three each each in the space of a day!

This weekend, eager to do some more exploring with our friends, we headed just outside of Santiago to the Cajon de Maipo region and hired a little log cabin in the forest near San Jose de Maipo. The landscape was absolutely amazing! Given that we are now in autumn, there is snow on some of the mountains in the Andes range. Despite this, it was really hot and just like a hot UK summers day! Santiago sprawls over such a large distance and it is amazing that just outside of the city there are mountains and volcanoes.

This weekend coming up we are doing a 10k race in Santiago, which we signed up to about 6 weeks ago and the following weekend we are going back to Argentina, this time to Mendoza (about 5 hours from Santiago by bus) for some more steak!

Keep an eye out for the photos, I will add them soon!