3 -5 February Torres Del Paine Camping again, but this was far removed from the inca trail, warm showers, clean toilets, bigger tents, camp fires, a chef who knew the basics of food hygiene, luxury. We ate, drank, walked, rode and had a wonderful time. Torres del Paine is the jewel in the crown of chile, it has wonderful sights, great walks and the legendary towers. And wind, strong winds! We were starting to get a bit blasé about the sights, a lake here,...

22 JanuaryInitial thoughts of the groupI thought it was a Toucan tour not a Saga tourThere are a lot of rulesEither me or the tour leader might not finish the tourThere were a lot of rulesThey were not going to like meThere were a lot of rulesIf I'm on holiday with older people I would prefer it if they were related to me.The average age of the tour group is 48, Lisa and I are the second and third youngest. I'll be honest it was a bit disheartening, we are curre...

Pucon is a lovely alpine-like town in the middle of Chile, a place for outdoor enthusiasts.  It was a town with a beach, set on a lake in the shadow of a snow covered volcano.  Because Santiago was so charmless, Pucon was all the more charming.  Picture postcard pretty, people from Chile go there on their holidays.  There was a volcano to climb, white water rafting, horse riding, pretty much anything conceivable.  So after tea and a few beers it was off to b...

Things that have not been so good on the trip Lost my brand new really cool gloves. Lost my really cool glasses Left cash card in bank machine We flew out from Lima, missing out on Pisco Sour day where they fill a fountain with pisco, to Santiago.  As we landed the contrast between Santiago and Lima was striking, the cacophony of horns had disappeared, people drove safely, and used indicators.   The city had a cleaner more modern feel, the people looked mor...