Wine tasting is one of our favorite past times during this trip. Although difficult, we have come up with our favorite wines. Unfortunately, some are not exported to the US. An area to the northeast of Santiago is a region of many fruit and vegetable farms. Further to the east and closer to the Pacific Ocean is the town of Casablanca, mostly Chilean wine wines. … Continue reading Wine tasting in Casablanca, Chile

Fin Del Mundo – ‘End of the World’, that what the sign says, but it felt that way as we rented a car in Puerto Natales and drove the 2 hours, mostly on gravel roads, to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile. Our hotel was, Hotel Torres del Paine. Patagonia is far south in South America, one would think being this far south in the Southern … Continue reading Patagonia: a magical-sounding name for a faraway land

The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is growing. The reason remains debated by glaciologists. The Perito Moreno Glacier is 3 miles wide, 19 miles in length, and is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice and has an average height of 240 ft above the surface of the water. It has a total ice depth of … Continue reading Cat-walking Moreno Glacier

We are in Patagonia with glaciers and snow covered mountain peaks. The Argentinian Glacier National Park has lots and lots of glaciers! We needed to decide between the largest glacier, the tallest glacier, the closest glacier, whew, so many choices! Well we picked the one closest to Fitz Roy massif. Fitzroy massif is the heart of the trekking experience, and is located near Viedma Lake/ … Continue reading Glacier National Park (Argentina)

What a great experience it was to view the thousands of Magellanic penguins that call this island their summer home. Lots of penguins, like 150,000 were on the Magellana island, and many were keeping their baby chicks warm while they grow strong enough to feed on their own. The humans have to stay on a roped off path, but the penguins are free to roam … Continue reading Penguins, penguins, everywhere (plus a couple hybrids)

Traveling on bikes must be one of our favorite things to do. If you add a winery or three, in another country, we are talking about the perfect day. It was a perfect day . . . The tour started with breakfast empanadas and scrambled eggs, then a 7 mile bike ride on thru the Santa Rita vineyard (which included three separate labels and processing … Continue reading Chile wine country by Bicycle

[Show slideshow] It was nice to return to La Paz. Our regular driver picked us up from the airport and took us back to our home away from home, the Rendezvous. Zach the owner of this B&B Hotel, is from Boston and always makes feel like we are home. This time, our goal was to see the sights of La Paz and the surrounding areas … Continue reading Bolivia final farewell – La Paz

In the centuries before the Incan rose to stature, there was the Tiahuanaco society. Located in western Bolivia, at the shores of Lake Titicaca, this ancient civilization created monuments to the heavens, the earth and the underworld. As the oldest and most advanced people, it developed advances in metallurgy, farming, and art. Tiahuanaco had a class system…. Aymaran were farmers, others were tradesmen, still more … Continue reading Tiahuanaco

[Show slideshow] Isla del Sol (“Island of the Sun”) is the largest island on Lake Titicaca, and part of Bolivian territory and an ancient holy site of the Inca. Inca legend says that the bearded god who created the universe, emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca and created the sun at this location. Lake Titicaca is split between Bolivia and Peru, we stayed on … Continue reading Isla del Sol, Bolivia

Cafayate has a laid-back rhythm, colonial style, and wine cellars (bodegas) open to the public and is what attracted us to this town located in northern Argentina. Located at 1,660 m above sea level, Cafayate is well known because of its famous torrontes wine product of the exquisite combination of temperature and humidity that provides the ideal environment to the growth of the sweet and … Continue reading Northern Argentina Bodegas

We really like Argentina! Staying at an Estancia (horse ranch), reminded David of his youth where his family vacationed at the Malibu Dude Ranch. Riding Peruvian horses, led by a true Argentine gaucho, was really a treat. The horses were so well mannered and easy to ride. One of the 10 children is a vet (he lives there part time) says they still raise and … Continue reading The Estancia el Bordo de Las Lanzas

Salta is a fair-sized city, we really liked it a lot. Our hotel was centrally located, and the room was huge. The roads were paved, everything was clean, and people were friendly. Most days we walked around town, thru parks, in and out of museums and always to a steak dinner. We extended our stay. We saw churches, got our laundry done and discovered empanadas … Continue reading Salta – hello Argentina

Tupiza represents the gateway for the southern portion of the popular tourist trek in SW Bolivia. The road between Uyuni and Tupiza is not paved and very rough. The reason is, it passes over the mountain and rains and bad weather creates a rutted, washboard, dusty mess. So we took the train, a superior option. The train departed Uyuni at 9:30pm and arrived in Tupiza … Continue reading Tupiza, Bolivia – Farewell Bolivia

Almost all reviews of the 4 day Salt Flat tours have two things in common: the scenery is amazing and the nights are freezing cold in the desert. The tour companies built dorms in the desert to house their guests . . . . One room for each tour group, given 4-6 guests per car there are 6 beds in a room. And you continue … Continue reading Uyuni Bolivia Salt Flats

Potosí is a city and the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world by elevation at a nominal 4,090 metres (13,420 ft).  For centuries, it was the location of the Spanish colonial mint. Potosi, the mountain town, is why the Spanish invaded Bolivia. The Spanish were looking for riches, and one night while sleeping … Continue reading Potosi – A Rich Mountain and Day of the Dead

[Show slideshow] We only passed thru La Paz (plans are to return for a Thanksgiving) and moved onto the historical capital of Sucre. In colonial days, the very wealthy, very educated people lived in Sucre instead of La Paz because Sucre is at a lower elevation (9400′) and much sunnier and warmer. It has palm trees! It was wonderful to meander in the parks (no … Continue reading Sucre, Bolivia

For us the best way to offset the high cost of airfare is to put together several trips. Using Santiago as a hub, we are touring Bolivia, Northern Argentina, and northern Chile as a circuit. The Bolivia side of Lake Titicaca, the great salt flats and the wine country will take us a month to move through. Leaving from Santiago again, we will go south … Continue reading The South America Adventure, an overview