Category Archives: South America

Wandering in Valparaiso Chile

I will always remember our day in Valparaiso, Chile as a perfect example of how travel dreams don’t match reality – and that’s OK. I think I secretly thought Valparaiso would be even a tiny bit like the busy trade port described in Allende’s Daughter of Fortune – Panama Canal be damned. It wasn’t. There is a busy port. The ascensores up the steep hills in the old town are still there and working, but Valparaiso is mostly a modern city – with colorful modern graffiti. I was a little sad, but only a little. We had a fabulous day just wandering. I thought my kids weren’t listening when I explained Valparaiso’s important role in pre-canal trade but then months later (in one of the Chinese treaty ports I think) BigB turned to me and said “Oh, this is just like Valparaiso”, so I guess they were listening after all.

Read more about visiting Chile with Children.

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Souvenir Shopping in Chile

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For a day that started with a 4am wake-up call to get to the El Tatio Geyser field at dawn, BigB was surprisingly still cheerful at our mid-afternoon souvenir shopping stop. This grandmother had knit the hat he’s modeling (which we bought) and didn’t need much persuading to join him in this photo.

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Arriving in Arequipa Peru

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Arequipa Peru is a beautiful city. But. We arrived at 6am. Our overnight bus from Cuzco was comfortable but the driver channeled Ayrton Senna all the way down the Andes. Let me tell you, staying asleep around hairpin turns at 90mph is just not possible. This princess is not good on no sleep. I was fit to be tied – and my kids weren’t helping. Thankfully pigeons on the plaza can be just as attractive to a grumpy teen (with a backpack!) as a much younger child. It was hard not to smile at their exuberance, watching them made the day seem better already.

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Santiago Chile City View

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Sand-boarding Dudes in Chile

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More fun in the desert on the outskirts of San Pedro de Atacama: Sandboarding. And yes, it is just as much fun as it looks – even if you do have to hike your board up the sand dunes for each ride down.

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Death Valley Chile

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Death Valley, Chile is just outside San Pedro de Atacama, high in the altiplano. The town, though pretty, is a pricey tourist trap but with views like this visible in the desert just a short drive from the town center, who could really complain?

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Cusco City View

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We hung out in Cusco for four days to give ourselves time to acclimatize to the altitude before doing the Inca Trail. At the time, I thought this was a little overkill but we decided it had to be done – as opposed to risking having one of our children come down with altitude sickness while on the trail. To further prepare, we took plenty of walks in the city and up the steep trail to Sacsayhuman – from where we took this photo of the city.

I recently spent a weekend in Keystone, Colorado (courtesy, generously, of Keystone Resort) and had my first personal experience of altitude sickness. It was like having morning sickness and a bad hangover at the same time. I was miserable. To avoid this if you are planning to go into the mountains any time soon, check out this great article on how to avoid altitude sickness when traveling in the mountains.

Read more about our adventures in Peru here.

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With the Llama Lady in Cusco

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I’m not a fan of locals anywhere posing in “traditional” costume waiting to charge tourists for taking a photo, but when it results in a photo like this, well, maybe I don’t mind so much.

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Artisan Pottery Peru

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Although we went to Nazca, Peru to see the famous Nazca Lines, we also visited the workshop of a local artisan and BigB had a one-on-one lesson in making and painting pre-Incan style pottery.

Read more about our adventures in Peru here.

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Nazca Lines

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Some governments recommend against taking flights over the Nazca Lines because of concerns related to safety of the tiny twin-engine airplanes that do the trip. We found this out after doing our (very enjoyable) flight

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