omegaet, enjoyed your observations and suggestions on Santiago. The Liz Caskey web site looks very, very interesting. How did you find out about her? Also, why did you allow the Pinochet matter to enter into your thought process regarding travel to Chile? Lastly, are you certain you didn't have a cup of coffee with legs?

Loved your article. We have never been to Chile but have always considered it. Did you take notice of any small/boutique properties? How were the prices for meals? How was safety? How was the weather this time of the year? How far was the flight from Santiago to Patagonia? How was Patagonia????? Thanks!

t-2-f, even I can figure out the answer to omegaet's travel reluctance during the Pinochet days (executions have never been a tourism highlight for me)!

Thanks for the Santiago write-up Omegaet, I noticed from another post you made that you really enjoyed your trip to South America. I am most interested to hear about your time in Patagonia...please keep posting!

t-2-f...we found Liz Caskey by doing some Internet searches "private guides Santiago" and "wine guides Chile," after visiting her web site and reading several of the article she has written, we thought it might be fun to spend the day with her. Regarding the Pinochet matter, we simply moved Chile down our list of places to visit...made no sense to us to travel to a country with that type of leadership. Enough time has past, the new president is a very progressive female and Chile is a great tourist destination. No, didn't visit one of the "coffee with legs" establishments, although, it probably would have been interesting!

bonniejoy03....Santiago and the other cities we visited in Chile are loaded with large, medium and small hotels. There are also a variety of remote properties(desert, coastal and working ranches-estancias) that welcome tourists. The dollar still goes a long way in Chile and the prices are quite reasonable compared to Europe. Of course, we are vegetarians, but our meat eating friends endjoyed the steak, lamb and seafood they were served. Safety was never an issue, even walking the city streets of Santiago during the evening (like any place in the world, common sense should prevail). Being south of the equator, the seasons are reversed...in Santiago we enjoyed warm days in the 80s and cooler evening in the 60s. The flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas takes 3.5 hours aboard a Lan A320....excellent service. We'll write about Patagonia in another posting.

omegaet, I visited Liz Caskey's web site and could not locate a rate schedule for her services. Do you mind telling us what shed charge you? South America is a probably destination for me and a friend this year and Chile could the place. I'm not really looking for anothe big city with museums, etc., etc. What about your experiences outside of Santiago what else did you find of interest?

Hi O,
I enjoyed reading about your trip to Santiago, Chili, especially your account of Liz Caskey's walking tour with her preparing lunch for you at her apartment at the end of the tour. That sound right down my alley... something I would enjoy... Are you planning another VIP blog on Patagonia? I would much like to hear about your experience there.

omegaet, did you buy the H20 package here on luxury link? What was it like staying in a tent, how was the white water rafting? Was it difficult to get to the location from Santiago?

lhb....we will be writing a couple of blogs on Patagonia.

j-s-2....we didn't buy or use the H2o package offered here on LL. We considered the H2o package and this is probably the best time of the year (weather wise) to stay in tents. We could not fit the H2o package into our travel plans. We saw lots of white water opportunities and lots of outfitters offering the service, but once again, our plans did not call for those activities.....we spent most of our time trekking in the national parks. We used air transportation whenever possible, just to save time....driving from location to location and eat up valuable hours (six - eight - ten....even twenty four hour drives are the norm to get around to many of the locations...it's a large area and many roads are not paved).

Hi O

Your extensive post on Santiago is very enjoyable and interesting as it's filled with details of your personal experiences in the Chilean capital. as I read your post, I was struck by the parallels in your description with Peru's capital city Lima. It too is very bustling, suffers from heavy air pollution from the millions of cars, trucks and buses that ply its avenidas. thankfully, in Lima you also get the occasional refreshing breeze off the nearby, lofty Andes. This helps make the city livable. as in Santiago, the Marriott Hotel in Lima's Miraflores section is one of the premier establishments in Peru (I believe you've also stayed there before, if I'm not mistaken). Coincidentally, my sister who's lived in Lima for near 30 years just returned with her husband from an extensive trip through Argentina and Chile (they too spent some time in Santiago and loved it).

Curt

curtiejoe...we stayed at the O-E Miraflores in Lima, but we did stop by the casino one evening at the Marriott (I think you said your nephew works at the Marriott
property).

Our impressions of Santiago vs Lima are the former has a more "European" feel and character than the latter. Possibly
because the wealthy decendant families
of the
original Spanish founders
were encouraged to travel to Europe
were influenced by the various cultures and archecture.

We enjoyed both cities and
have encouraged friends and associates to schedule holidays in both.

Santiago
is very "affordable" these days for Europeans and still a good bargain for those of us coming there from North America as well.

Message Edited by omegaet on 03-30-2008 01:45 PM