Ritoque Raices - Central Chile

Ritoque was my heaven - a beautiful beach, sprawling sand dunes, big Chilean surf and incredible, lovely people. If you go to Chile, go stay on Ritoque at Ritoque Raices (Angie's very eco-hostel). We'd emailed Angie on a whim, wanting to put down some roots and get involved with a place for a month or so. When Angie said we could come stay, help her out at the hostel and have our own (well, virtually) beach house it was a happy day but we didn't know how much we'd love it until we got there!

After a couple of days at Ritoque, we'd felt like we'd been there forever. The nearest town Quintero is a 10 min ride away and has the most amazing ferias (markets). The fruit, veg and fish was so tasty and so cheap. We made some of the best food i've ever had, especially the big communal meals where everyone made a dish or 2. Quintero should also be famous for it's flee markets that sell everything and anything. Pick up a north face jacket or America Apparel hoodie for 50 cents... we did! September means spring time in Chile, sunny days but log fire nippy nights.

Ritoque attracts a different crowd of travellers (probably due to Angie's quirkyness) that was fab. We hung out with so many funny, great and inspriational people. From the Hill's who are world record holding outback skiiers with the most adorable kids; daredevil, chalet chef & NGO runner extrodinaire Claire; Greg who bought us Alaskan Salmon for the Bicentenario BBQ all the way from Alaska; Yoga master Noah who taught us how to smoke an apple; Ben & Beck from Auz who had just hit the road and were full of fun; Morris who was Chileans former no.1 surfer and a big fan of pisco; Chilean neighbours Elvira and Gabrielle who made us the most delicious fresh bread and cakes ever made; to local boy Christian who loved to talk Brit music and surfed for hours... but we never saw him catch a wave!

As well as enjoying ourselves with all these lovely people who loved Ritoque too, we got to work restoring the rambling garden which had got seriously over run following the Tsunami and made it ready for the summer season, collected the littler of the beach and got recycling, got involved with Chichimen a local wildlife NGO on their otter project and when we weren't hanging out (sunbathing!) or helping out, we went out exploring the coast in Angie's VW camper!

We were at Ritoque for the bicentenario celebrations and got spoilt by Angie's Chilean friends at parties, went surfing with sealions in Concon, took day trips along the coast to beautiful spots and took a memorable 4-day surf trip camping in Angie's VW van down to famous surf spots Puchelemo and Puertocillo. We were lucky to meet the amazing Angie, and can't wait to go hiking with her in Torres del Paine in December.

Think the pictures will say it all, I'll be going back to Ritoque... one day!

Santiago - Chile

Arriving late into town, we checked into hostel Dominical in buzzy Bella Vista. Run by great guys, it's got a communal vibe we like. Sitting beneath Cerro San Cristobal, Bella Vista is the bohemian ‘Latin Quarter’ full of cafes, bars and trinket sellers. If you climb the cerro (hill) which I did out jogging one morning, the views of the city and Andee's are amazing.

We spent a few days exploring the capital (before heading off to live on the beach for the month) and came back to the city before heading home for October in England! Here’s our top three picks from our time in Santiago...

The Mercado Central is an incredible fish market in a beautiful sprawling colonial building. It’s super popular for lunch and packed full of great restaurants. Ones up front are touristy but if you head to the little hidden gems out back (like we did) you can have a seafood feast with some chilled vino blanco for a bargain. Granted, its not glam but it was delicious. Chile has to be our favourite destination for food in South America. Every type of seafood, fruit and veg can be bought at the ferrias (markets) and it’s fresh, delicious and usually organic - lots of farmers can‘t afford to do it any other way!

I wouldn’t have missed visiting Pablo Neruda’s casa, La Cascona. We made a little day trip with a fun Canadian chick Aisha from our hostel and took a guided tour of the house. Pablo’s poetry and works are national treasures, as is the man himself! Latin America’s most famous writer, Pablo had three houses but La Cascona was built as a city hide away for himself and his lover, Matilde (who later become his third wife). The house has been beautifully restored following it’s destruction during the Pinochet regime and is built like you are aboard a ship. It’s packed full of fun and fabulous furniture and things from around the world. You get a taste of Pablo, politics, history and all things in between! (We weren't allowed to take pics inside though)

Finally, we got lucky with a sunny spring day to visit Santiago’s oldest vineyard, Cousino Macul and it was a magical day out. Just outside the city central, Macul is owned by an millionaire mining family and produces pretty special grapes. Happily for us it’s more of a hobby than a business, so they sell very-good-vino at not-so-good vino prices. We jumped on the super modern metro and had a great tasting and tour joining in with the Caterpillar corporate day out (must still be money in mining!). We made the group jealous with our travelling stories and enjoyed 'sampling' cab sav in the cellars. The Cab Sav Reserva is pretty special, so watch out for it! http://www.cousinomacul.com/home.html

Chile - Over the Andes & The Capybara!

As far as border crossings go, the route from Mendoza to Chile's capital Santiago is pretty spectacular. The pictures of the mountains say it all!

As usual, actually getting through customs was eventful. Chilean customs are super thorough, routed through everything including my pants, questioned my tubs of Dulce de Leche and told me off for not declaring my teabags! But what caused the real stir however was... the capybara skull!

The skull of this over sized rodent was loving carried by Pete all the way from the Venezuelan savannah. It's been through every other border in S.America but the Chileans told us the skull was protected under the CITES act to protect the animals. Three hours later hanging about in their office googling capybara statistics, fifteen forms signed (by me for some reason, I am now some kind of an animal smuggler according to Chilean law!) and a lot of huffing and puffing, we were told that in fact the skull did not need to be returned to Venezuela as customs initially claimed but that we could collect him in a weeks time from some obscure office near Valpairiso!

No fines, smiles all round but the whole saga was totally loco! There are millions of them, we are quite sure they are not endangered and this one was killed by a Cayman anyway. Quite an amusing story for us, but maybe not so much so for our fellow bus riders who arrived in Santiago 4 hours delayed... the joys of border crossings!

Argentina - Vino y Bicicletas!

After a few days in Mendoza, our Aussie friend Steve arrived just in time to join us for a days outing to The Maipu Valley, the home of Malbec vineyards. Hiring bikes from Mr Hugo, we were equipped with a map for a full days wine tasting & kindly given a tumbler of vino that vaguely resembled de-icer to get us peddling!

The first vineyard was shut for lunch, the second for an event, the third we were greeted by the 'host with the most', Christian. Totally at home at his family bodega Tempus Alba, we were treated to a tour of the grounds, all the delicious wines we could taste and then found the Cab Sav. Then it turned into a pretty wild afternoon. Christian liked to party! His peppery vino is amazing, so we cosied up in his bar (it was a cold day) and tucked in to his supplies.

Before we knew it the day was gone, but we decided to get back on the bikes and peddle hard to make it to a special chocolate and olive oil tasting before the shop shut. It was a wobbly ride but we made it and tucked into some yummy treats. On route home we stopped to stock up on more vino and delicious steaks to carry on the party back at the hostel. It was a really brilliant day, one to remember!

Argentina - Mendoza & Malbec

After the Salt Flats and a stop in Salta on the way down south, we made it to Mendoza. Home to delicious Malbec, it's also a stunning city in it's own right, surrounded by the snow capped Andes. After so much eventful travelling, we decided to make a home in Mendoza for the week or so. We found a great hostel house just 20 mins outside of town and settled into a week of relaxing in the city, working our way through a lot of Malbec and cooking everything we could think of with super cheap, super tasty fillet steaks from the local market.

We also strolled in San Martin park, watched the Andes Snowboarding event going on in the city center, experienced the atmosphere of local footie, and found a favourite in Bar 23, a very cool tapas and vino place just of the main plaza.

Bolivia - Uyuni Salt Flats

No we didn't forget to do this one, because of the picketers and protests on the roads down from La Paz, we decided to pop back into Bolivia from Salta to see the world renowned Salt Flats of Uyuni for ourselves.

Going back into Bolivia from the world of Argentina was a shock to the system, but we eventually go to Tupiza and found a 4 day jeep trip, with overnight stops in little villages and even the 'Salt Hotel' for a very good price. So we were set!

Our companions for the 4 days were a guide, a cook and three Russians! Although they didn't speak English, their Spanish was perfect. So Maudie practiced all the time and I read books...and slept... 4 days is a long time in a LandCrusier!

There was so much of nothing out there, its hard to try and describe it. But the beauty is in the baron landscape, and the 100sqkm salt flats are perfect for some 'perspective' pictures... check them out!

What was cool - the stars without any light pollution, getting stuck in the sand and digging ourselves out, the salt beds at the salt hotel, the flamingos, the amazing coloured lakes, the wild sand, the 1200 year old cactus in the middle of the salt flats, the railway cemetery, the llamas eating algae from the thermal pool lake, the sunsets and the sunrises!

So we ended our trip in high spirits, if in need of a little exercise after all the sitting, and after a hot shower (the first and only in 4 days) life was good again.

We went back to Argentina and after an arduous border crossing (5 hours in a queue) and miss directed bus and 150kmph taxi driver at 2am, we made it back to Salta, Argentina. Slightly older, definitely wiser and without question of doubt more in love with Argentina than ever before.

Cafayate - Argentina

The town of Cafayate is just three hours south of Salta, but it world apart. The bus journey there takes you though a wonderful multicoloured mix of canyons and plateaus with ruby red earth spliced by layers of green, turquoise and white rocks.

The town itself is based in the center of a wide flat valley and the porous ground rocks are perfect for the number one reason to visit: wine. Some of the finest Argentinian exports come from this small region with local producers hosting wonderful tastings at over a dozen bodegas, all easily accessible on a bicycle.

We had one day of wine tastings in town, which involved easy walking in the wonderful sunshine to taste some fine Torrentes, Cab Savs and of cause Melbec's. Its hard not to walk away with a couple of bottles but for just $4 a bottle, why not!

We took bikes to the foot of a canyon for a day long walk upto waterfalls, but the most impressive sights were the thousands of century's old cactus plants! Real wild west cartoon style.

Our last day involved a 40km round trip into the desert to view the castles and turret rock formations which after thousands of years of erosion, have created amazing shapes and holes in the bright red rocks.

Lovely small town, warm weather, fabulous wine.... what more could you want from a place!