Back in Santiago

The team is very tired. Our days have been very full and we have seen so much. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Rotary Foundation for providing us this excellent opportunity to get to know a part of the country of Chile, it´s people and culture from a truly unique perspective. One that no tourist could hope to find.

Tonight we say goodbye or chau chau to our hosts here in Santiago, and I suspect there will be no dry eyes.

Copper mine in Rancagua

Well, just a few miles outside of Rancagua, today we went inside the world`s largest copper mine.

We had on al the gear, helmets, headlamps, respirators, boots, etc. it was not as cold as predicted, though. we got to see a huge pestle crushing stone for removal. Very interesting place.

In Santa Cruz now

We arrived in Santa Cruz yesterday with a warm welcome and a great asado put on by the Rotarians in Santa Cruz, then off to visit a wonderful museum located here, We are now in
the very heart of the best wine region in Chile. We also visited a casino last night and that was fun. We have had our mid trip break, with no telephone or internet access and that was good, might be tough to get back on track now. We´ll do fine, though.

Gone south

On Sunday we took a train 2 hours south to Curico. We settled in with our new hosts. Mine are
Angel and Marisol, some very nice people and a very nice home south of the town out in the country. This is more my style and very comfortable. I was able to visit the local hospital today, later today we will be interviewed on television, meet the mayor, and give a presentation later tonight at the Rotary club.

Almost forgot to add the picture of me eating a barnacle. It may not sound good, but they are deliciosa. We enjoyed them and shrimp and razor clams which are to die for.

Saturday asado near Maipo

Horseback riding Santiago style