Depart Melbourne Saturday 6th December 2008

Day 1 Arrive Santiago

Arrived on time after an uneventful, but long, trip across ... transferred to our hotel in the Providencia district.

Spent a while wander the local streets before a very early dinner and all crashed around 7 pm for a long recovery sleep.

Day 2 Santiago City

Woke early for a big breakfast before a half day city tour with our local guide. Being a Sunday, everything was pretty quiet, which suited us.

Visited the main sites in the center of Santiago, including San Cristobal Hill for a panoramic view, the main city square Plaza De Armas and the Government Palace.

The changing of the guard happens at 10 am every 48 hours, lots of men (and women) in white coats, and plenty of foot stomping and saluting ... all very ceremonial.

Time for another big sleep tonight and tomorrow we are off to Ecuador and the city of Quito for a couple of days before we head out to Galapogas.

Day 3 Santiago to Quito

Flying to Quito today - not sure of next Internet access opportunity, but we will be back online as soon as we can.

C,J,E,T (posted 16:15 7/12 Santiago time)