Bicentenario Celebrations at Ritoque - Chile

What can we say, it was amazing to be in Chile for the 200 years of independence celebrations (September 18th). At Ritoque Raices, Bicentenario weekend (or 4-days!) was one big party, as we were told by the locals it should be. Pisco, beers, vino tinto and meat, fish and salads were bought in bulk from Quintero before the national holiday started and the shops shut down. It was a constant communal feast! Houses, shops fronts and cars all flew the Chilean flag with pride in the run up and for weeks after.

We partied with a lovely crowd of travellers but also with the incredibly generous and fun Chilean friends of Angie's. It was pretty special, not only did they put on asados (bbqs) for us, they taught us to dance the Cueca and generally made us feel like honoury Chileans. I can't say Pete or I mastered the Cueca (traditional handerchief dance) at all, but it was fun trying. Auzzie Ben had the feet of a ballerina and we loved watching the pro's dance the day away. The men were all in their element with the amount of meat on the bbq!

We also celebrated the addition of little Paltita to Ritoque Raices, the gorgeous little puppy who adopted Angie on the beach and found herself a good home!

Chungungo spotting with NGO Chinchimen, Matencillo- Chile

After Angie found a poor little penguin covered in oil on the beach, she became friends with the local environmental NGO Chinchimen, who helped her nurse her penguin back to health. When they called up asking her if she'd be free to help with some Chungungo (Chilean sea otter) spotting off the coast, she asked us if we'd like to get involved. We had walkie talkies, grid sheets, binoculars and enthusiasm for spotting the rare Chungungo. Split into teams, Pete and I went with Angie to the top of the cliffs and spotted one straight away. Unfortunately after admiring him splashing around on his back, we lost him as he went round the headland. Oppps! We didn't see anymore that day, but we were very lucky to see one of these rare and very shy little creatures as we were told there are only 7 along the whole stretch of coastline. Chinchimen are a passionate group of people, out to protect the environment (which can take quite a bashing from loosely regulated industry) and they're doing an amazing job. Check them out on facebook and if you're going to this area of Chile you could always offer to help them spot an Chungungo or two. We all loved it and it was an honour to be invited to join in!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/chinchimen?v=wall

Horcon - Chile

Horcon is a magical little fishing village, the fisherman pull in their boats using big dray horses to heave the catch up the sandy beach to safety. The pelicans also wait on the fish in mass and make for perfect pictures. We took a trip to Horcon with the Hill family from Canada and Gabrielle and Elvira and their gorgeous grandchild Columbia. We drove down in convoy and enjoyed buying trinkets and jewlerry (well, the girls anyway) in the market, finding shells on the beach with the kids and buying scallops and huge fresh crabs for dinner for $1 each!!!

Concon - Chile

When the sun came out, we piled into the van and headed down the coast to Concon. Only a half an hour drive to beginner (ish) friendly waves and surfing with sealions (no joke!), we got some boards from the surf school Morris works at and headed into the ocean. With the big wave Chilean swell coming from the Antartic, the wet suits were not enough to keep the cold at bay but it was worth it to get back on a board again!

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