Before jetting off to the Southern Hemisphere on my next adventure I actually had a few days in DC. My days consisted of opening much mail, unpacking, doing much laundry, re-packing, trick or treating with my nieces and nephew, catching up with friends (via two dinners, one lunch, a happy hour, and one play (Mean Girls- I highly recommend), and one dentist appointment (no cavities!). 
Whew! Yes, my time home may seem like a whirlwind. Yes, my time home was definitely a whirlwind. No, I am not complaining. I swear!!! (My friends have banned me from complaints of ANY sort while living my current Teha’s Travels lifestyle. I get it, I get it.)
Next stop- South America! Specifically Chile, which I didn’t realize is quite as far south in South America as it is. I discovered this during my nearly 24 hour journey to get there. I will say that my travel time was not helped by my willingness to sacrifice travel time for price. I feel guilty doing anything else, since I do have a lot of time these days due to the whole not working thing…
Yes, I was going on another Flash Pack tour. Yes, this would be my fifth tour with my favorite (and only) tour company. If they were a publicly traded company I would definitely request some shares in return for my loyalty. And even though I’ve been psyched for every trip, I was extra-excited for this one. So, one day while planning my travels I asked a question via the online chat on the Flash Pack website. It must have been 9 or 10pm in the U.K. (where Flash Pack is based) and as luck would have it the co-founder of Flash Pack, Radha, was online and answered my chat. Of course she had heard of her MVC (Most Valuable Customer- this is a self-proclaimed title, as I actually have no idea) and she even follows my blog! We connected by phone and Radha marveled at the fact that the first online sales chat she had answered personally in a while was from ME (she has a whole team that usually does that stuff as she’s busy, ya know, running the business and all). What are the odds?! It was like it was meant to be! Anyways, we had a great chat and during the course of the convo I asked about the Chile trip. Well, it turns out Radha had actually personally planned the trip and thought I would really love it, as it’s jam-packed with activities. I guess she knows my travel style by now 🙂 Thank you Radha! You did not lead me astray.
Fast forward to my zombie-like arrival in Santiago. Twenty four hours of travel and not a lot of sleep will do that to you, I guess. The first evening was a bit of a blur as I met the 12 members of my travel group and our guide, Felipe. The group was (once again) great and it was fascinating to learn more about my travel-mates as the days went on. Our crew included a neurophysician, nurse, pharmacist, and dentist, so we were well covered for any sort of medical emergency. We also had an architect, two lawyers, an environmental NGO fundraiser, an accountant, the GM of a laundry company, an HR specialist, and (my personal favorite) “Tina the Aussie Entrepreneur,” who owns a super-successful pho restaurant in Sidney (Bar Pho- check it out next time you’re Down Under). Of course also included in the group is the traveling unemployed person, which makes introductions for me much more fun than having to explain a job. From that night I also vaguely remember a delicious dinner and being very exited to go to bed.
The next morning we were up and at ’em, boarding a bus to take us to the oceanfront town of Valparaiso, which actually has similarities to San Francisco with it’s hilly topography and expansive water views. 
Lucky for us Felipe is actually from Valpo and he deftly led us through the charming streets that include a variety of architectural styles within the French, German, and British influenced neighborhoods. Here’s Felipe in action! 
We enjoyed a lovely rooftop lunch before traveling on to the beautiful Bodega winery. (Btw, I’m slowly finding myself using more British words like “lovely” and “brilliant,” which I blame the influence of my travelmates from Mother England. If only the accent would rub off too!).
Next stop was was the Bodega winery where we got a tour of the vineyard and winery and then enjoyed a tasting of four varietals at an expansive banquet table in the wine cellar. 
The rosè was especially delicious and was a blend called Pinotel that is a blend of Pinot Noir and something else I can’t remember. After the tasting we sat outside and enjoyed a final glass of wine before heading back to Santiago for dinner and pisco sours (Chile seems to be poaching Peru’s drink. No complaining here, though…not that I’m allowed to complain anyways).
In the AM we boarded the first of five domestic flights that we would take throughout the course of the trip. Who knew Chile was big enough to fly that much?! And while it was a lot of flying, it was SO worth it to see so much of the country and such different landscapes…keep reading.
Our first destination was the desert. Yes, Chile has a dessert! It was news to me too. [Sidenote: you may have noticed that I often am surprised about the places I’m going and the things I’m doing on my Flash Pack tours. This is true and my tourmates are consistently both amused and amazed by how little I know about the itinerary. I quite like it, as most days hold an amazing surprise!!]
So, we made it to the Atacama Desert and settled into our hotel before meandering to the town for a fab dinner at a restaurant chosen by Filipe. We liked it so much that we ate there again on the third night! It had an open fire pit in the middle and live music that made the ambiance almost as enticing as the food.
The next day we rose early and the group split up for a morning activity of either a hike with amazing scenery or a horseback ride with amazing scenery. Tough life choices. I embarked on the ride (so lazy of me) and had a great time. We plodded/trotted through a mountain pass and enjoyed spectacular views.
The ride even had entertainment as my tour-mate, Dan, was behind me in the line of horses…waaay behind me. 
His horse had a bad-ass name (Conquistator or something like that) but didn’t seem to respond to any sort of kicking or cajoling by Dan to move along (or at least the way he was doing it). Dan was the “class clown” of the group as he was always laughing, often at his own jokes (even when nobody else was) and he took the horse situation in-stride, albeit with nonstop laughter. Even the guide seemed amused by the situation. Meanwhile my horse, named Wheat (because of it’s wheat color- so not creative or bad-ass) was totally on it, even trotting at times! Here’s the dynamic duo of Dan and Conquistador (aka the Caboose).
That afternoon was truly spectacular as we embarked on two hikes- one to Moon Valley (that really looked and felt like you were on the moon) and Death Valley (that was not as scary as it’s name but was stunning and we got to run down the way dunes into the valley!). 
The bright Chilean sun enhanced our adventures- it’s so blue and brilliant in it’s hue and so different from the sunlight I’ve seen anywhere else. Chile should really be an Instagram filter…you heard it here first. Perfect background for silly photos opps (our specialty!) 
Our senses were on overload when the day ended with a fantastic sunset viewing, completed with a vino toast (thanks to Filipe!). You don’t see sunsets like this everyday. Or, really, any day. 
And the day was not over yet! We grabbed street-stand empanadas for dinner and were jettied off to a “stargazing experience.” This was in the middle of nowhere, where you see more stars than you thought existed (for the record 2,000 are up there each night, we were told). We stood under the night sky in a circle as our guide (a real jokester) walked us through the various constellations we could see from the southern part of the Southern Hemisphere. Who knew there was so much fodder for comedy in the world of constellations?! Between him and Tina’s equally funny quips my stomach hurt from laughing the next day (it was already sore from horseback riding). Comedian stargazer also used a laser pointer to show us on the ground where the “missing” stars (such as the North Star) were located. I saw four shooting stars throughout the night and had to think fast to come up with wishes! At the end we got to look through six massive telescopes, each pointed to various stars/constellations we’d learned about. I took a picture of the beautiful star-filled sky but it didn’t quite do it justice. 
No rest for the weary as the next morning we were on the road early- like the 5am kinda early- and we drove to see a ton of geysers, in the morning light where you can actually see them! While it was an early bell, it was another “Am I really here? Is this really happening??” experience and we took our time enjoying the views. 
We continued on to some thermal baths (as one does) and took in the views while decompressing in the naturally warm water. The rest of the day consisted of the group engaging in a collective combination of sand boarding, relaxing at the pool, shopping in the town, dinner, drinks, karaoke, and Jenga. 
Really something for everyone and we enjoyed sharing our experiences (and photos and videos) with each other on the bus the next day, as we embarked on a travel day to the Lake District. We arrived early enough to take a boat ride across the spectacular lake directly in front of our hotel and walk back along the shoreline that consists of volcanic ash from an eruption in 2015. 
I’d never walked on volcanic ash before and became even more familiar with it on our stunning hike two days later (during which I realized I should have brought hiking boots as the packing list indicated- my sneakers/trainers were moon boots by the end- as I dumped out loads of what looked like moon dust).
In between the breathtaking hikes we had a full-day whitewater rafting adventure on the Petrohue river, which was even more exciting because of the recent rainfall that had created super-high water levels. These were REAL rapids and the kind that don’t have breaks of flat water in between. Our two boats navigated the rapids masterfully (maybe the guide’s helped a smidge) and we managed to not tip over. If you saw these rapids you’d understand why this was such a feat. 
The highlight (for me) was when I got to fork over my paddle and sit in the very front of the boat as we cruised through an intense set of rapids. It was like I was a hood ornament on the raft! 
At one point on the trip we (meaning the guides) pulled the boats over and led us to a cliff we could jump off of. This was not like regular cliff jumping, as you were landing in rapids. We were told to do a “pencil jump” directly in front of the cliff so you land in the slightly more calm water and can swim quickly to the shore. One of the guides stood on the cliff giving instructions and the other was on a rock in the water with a rope to throw if a rescue was needed. Which it was. For one person. One guess as to who? 
Okay, so in looking at the photographic evidence it’s clear that I was over-zealous in my jump and did pretty much the furthest thing from a pencil jump. As a result I landed pretty far out in the river and (according to the bystanders) directly in a fast-moving rapid. I sensed this when underwater as it took me longer than expected to rise to the surface. At that point I turned to swim to shore and realized it was quite far away and I was moving quickly away from it. Then there was some yelling and a rope being thrown towards me. Thankfully the rope was just long enough for me to grab it and be pulled to safety. 
Phew! Those rapids are not something I would have wanted to experience sans boat.
In the evening after rafting we enjoyed the outdoor hot tubs at the hotel, which required three hours notice to reserve so they could heat them up…using only fire! No electricity whatsoever. 
In addition to being environmentally friendly, it was also a fabulous hot tub experience- Goldilocks style. The water was not too hot, not too cold…but was juuust right! Love it when fairytales translate to adult hot tub experiences.
The next day included more air travel…waaay down south, like near Antarctica. I did look into actually hitting up Antarctica on my travels but the only way seems to be a cruise that is outside of the Teha’s Travels budget. Oh well…at least I’m pretty close? Probably not the mindset of Magellan and Columbus, but keep in mind that they had outside funding. We arrived in Patagonia (like the clothing brand) to some amazeballs mountain views…the bar for mountain views went higher at every stop, even when it seemed impossible! Our hotel for the evening featured an incredible panoramic from the lobby and all the rooms. 
We boarded a boat the next morning that would kick-off a full-day “glacier hunting” expedition via various watercrafts and deposit us at our new accommodations (further south) at the end of the day. And then bar was raised YET AGAIN. I kid you not. 
We also got to see penguin-like birds up close in one area and a bunch of sea lions hanging out on a rock in another. Apparently the sea lions are only visible on that rock a few times a year, so we were lucky! 
Our group was actually told many times throughout the trip that we were lucky- our various hikes all seemed to happen on “the first nice day” in a while and had crystal clear views that we probably took for granted. In each place we stopped the local guides would thank us for bringing the good weather and beg us not to take it with us.
Anyways, back to the glaciers, we swung by an island for a delicious salmon lunch overlooking the glacier and afterwards suited up in fabulous orange outfits to board a small speed boat that took us on an exhilarating ride, eventually dropping us at our remote waterfront home for the next two nights. 
We had waaay too much fun in the orange outfits.
Okay, now this place was really, really, really incredible in the views department. The best. I honestly can’t really describe what we saw from outside the lobby- see for yourself.
We were all excited the next day for a trekking excursion in Torres Del Paine National Park, during which we would hike 11km (~8 miles) up to the Base Las Torres viewpoint, and back. I’m not going to lie, it was not an easy-peasy hike but it was a blast! We trekked through lush, tree-filled forests and navigated steep rocky inclines, while crossing several windy rivers. 
And the views…especially from the viewpoint peak where there’s a turquoise blue glacial lake surrounded by massive rock peaks and cliffs (this was a pleasant surprise for me, of course, but others seemed to know it would be there). This is Tina, Dan, me, and The Amazing Karen- for whom this hike was the 52nd in a 52 hike challenge she’d been doing!
We gave Flash Pack a lil shout-out from the summit. 
It’s fair to say we were all pretty beat after 10 hours of trekking but our high from the experience lasted for days. Here we are in the bus, post-hike. 
We awoke early the next day for a travel day back to Santiago, but were rewarded with a Patagonian farewell in the form of a sunrise for the record books. Honestly….
That night in Santiago was our last together as a full group, as the tour officially ended the next morning. Sad! We enjoyed a final meal at a restaurant that specializes in pisco. Seriously, the menu of different piscos is 5x longer than the food menu! As I looked around the table that night I thought about how much I had gotten to know each of the amazing individuals on the trip and how fast the time had flown by. 
Good-byes were sad, as always, but easier this time as several of us were staying for another night (for me this was bc flights were cheaper if I waited a day). My Chilean partner in crime (Aussie Tina) was also staying, so we shared a room. Aussie Tina and I are very much alike (minus the fact she owns her own business and I don’t even have a job) and we always have a ton of fun together. Someone in the group said we should have our own YouTube channel as she thinks it would be a big hit. I think I’ll hold for now on the “Tina-Teha Show” pilot. The world isn’t ready yet. 
The nine of us remaining spent our post-tour day touring and eating our way through Santiago (I admit we were a bit lost at first without Filipe shepherding us around). We hit up the art museum and sculpture garden before enjoying lunch at Santiago’s only Vietnamese restaurant (thanks Tina!). 
Three more in our group then departed (boo!) and the “then there were six” crew enjoyed a last-last supper from a rooftop bar while taking in the sites and sounds of the city (including 80’s music). Note: Ever since Chile transitioned to a democracy in 1990 and people could freely listen to music again, the Chileans have been obsessed with making up for lost time and the music they missed in the 80’s. It’s pretty much all they play- no complaints here!
I’m now on another epic journey, this time back to los Estados Unidos, and I find myself feeling nostalgic as I write this blog. I feel so incredibly lucky to have been able to explore spectacular Chile, and with such amazing weather and such amazing people. Our group’s What’s App chain is now exploding with messages from forlorn group members as they arrive home, sending pictures of snow and grey skies, and saying how odd it feels to be alone. Except for Martin, who stopped in Rio on his way back to the U.K., and does not seem to be having a horrible time. 