Introduction

We leave on Thursday (March 5) for our overnight flight from Atlanta to Santiago, Chile.  It is a long flight (nearly 10 hours of flying time) because Santiago is way south, almost to Antarctica.  But, the time difference is not so much - two hours ahead of Atlanta time and that changes to only one hour ahead of Atlanta time starting on Sunday when the U.S. "springs ahead."  Being in the Southern Hemisphere, the March in Chile will be equivalent in season to our September.  Quite a nice time, weather-wise.

Now, a brief geography lesson.  Chile is a very long, skinny country on the west side of South America.  It shares a long border with Argentina.  The Andes run down the country so the place is very diverse from a topological perspective - sea (and beaches), high mountains, forests, valleys. 




Valparaiso is in the central part of Chile, on the coast.  It is about 90 minutes by car west of Santiago, the capital and largest city. Valparaiso is a smaller city (around 400,000 people) that is very historic.  It has long been an important sea port and was even more so before the construction of the Panama Canal.  Then, all ships went around Cape Horn and Valparaiso was the first (or last) port they visited prior to that arduous sailing.  Now, it is still home to a large container port which is located right in the city center.  

Our home base will be in Vina del Mar, the resort city next to Valparaiso.  We rented an apartment with a sea view (looking west to the Pacific Ocean, next stop Australia!).  See the link below for details on our place in Vina.

Our apartment in Vina del Mar

My brother, Warren, will travel with us and stay for about 10 days, his first trip to South America.  Later, student Arin and friend and colleague Ash will come over the Auburn University spring break for some work (at the PUCV university) and some fun.