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Chile and Easter Island

Pukará de Quitor, declared a National Monument in 1982, is an ancient Inca fortress built in the 12th century, strategically placed on the side of a hill protected by a gorge over the river. Quitor was taken over by Spaniards in 1540. It was built with large and small stones kept together by mud used as mortar.

Early morning breakfast.... snacks really.

Protest demonstrations in the Plaza de Armas.

Surrounding the square are some historic buildings, including the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago, Central Post Office Building, Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago, and the building that serves as the seat of local government for Santiago, There is always a group protesting something in this Plaza.

Palacio de La Moneda (Palace of the Coin), or simply La Moneda, is the seat of the President of the Republic of Chile. It also houses the offices of three cabinet ministers: Interior, General Secretariat of the Presidency and General Secretariat of the Government. It occupies an entire block in downtown Santiago,

We boarded an icebreaker boat, the Capitan Constantino, to sail through the choppy ice and get in to the middle of this floating ice field.

Hotel Jose Nogueira was our home in Punta Arenas. This is a photo of the dining room. The hotel was originally called Palacio Sara Braun. Much history of the area was made within the walls of this hotel through the golden years of Punta Arenas prior to the Panama Canal. This was our hotel where we stayed.

We stopped by the road to see a rock art. Each of us added a rock and told what they enjoyed most about the Atacama Desert area of Chile. I put the large rock at the top on to the pile. Others added smaller rocks on top of the large rock. .

Rear side of the Palacio de la Moneda.

Streets of the city of Santiago.

Navigating the Calvo Fjord, a glacier filled alley of bobbing ice.

I loved this promotion for Puerto Natales on a sign walking around town.

A clever sign for a Hostel made out of metal

More graffiti on buildings.. painted sideways

If you’re looking to get some exercise while you enjoy the vistas of Santiago, you can hike to the top of Cerro San Cristóbal. The hike takes an average of 45 minutes up the mountain and about 30 minutes back down. When you enter the park, from Bellavista, walk up the sidewalk on the left of the road for about 5-10 minutes until you see the trail head across the road on your right. The first part of the trail is pretty steep but it starts to level out after the first turn. Follow the signs to La Virgen, and after the second and third turn it’s quite an easy walk up to the top of the trail.

There are many different spots to view the city, so take some time to wander around and enjoy them all. Make sure to check out the statue of La Virgen, and the memorial for Pope John Paul II.

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