Hey it's my last day in Chile - told you I'd be racing through but with the prices here (not really backpacker buget friendly) it seems that's what most people do.

Well that said what I have seen of this country although brief was lovely. After Pucon it was Santiago for a few nights - boring city without the charm of Buenos Aires and the fun factor of Rio, but great wineries none-the-less - in which I spent a nice day sampling some of Chile's best vino tintos. Oh and also managed to catch up with Jon again for one more drunken affair before he headed off to Japan.

After Santiago it was time to head north to La Serena - a little seaside town and there I spent a day in Humboldt Penguin National Reserve and on a little island called Damas where we spotted seals, lots of birds and penguins of course... and then I also spent a great night at Mamalluca Observatory star gazing - amazing stuff and as well as seeing Saturn and it's rings I came away with knowledge of constulations, I can now spot Orion, some of the zodiac signs and of course the Southern Cross.

With stars in my eyes it was time to catch a night bus to San Pedro de Atacama. This delightful desert town is hot and very dusty and full of stray dogs, but with its tiny little whitwashed buildings (only just a couple of feet taller than me) and it's very laid back feel it's a surprisingly cool place to hang out for a couple of days. Hey even the internet here is laid-back to the point of being frustrating which means you lot have less chance of being bored with my long rambling blogs

Tomorrow we hit Bolivia and I think that at last I will really get to see the South America I imagined.