Misti - The Volcano (Peru)

About 6 months ago, we went on a trip to southern Peru. We had an amazing time but there was one item on our list that we did not manage to tick off: climbing the volcano Misti near the city of Arequipa.

Misti's peak stands 5822m above sea level. This means that trekking to the top is not for the faint hearted and also that even seasoned trekkers will need to plan some acclimatisation to minimise the effect of altitude sickness as anything above 5500m is considered extreme altitude.

Yerba Loca in the spring

Spring is in the air and what better to do than going for a little hike in the Andes! We had arranged with a few friends and colleagues to spend Sunday in Yerba Loca, a nature reserve east of Santiago which we've previously visited on a couple of occasions.

A little update and the spring is coming!

Wow, almost 3 months since our last post. Must be a sign that our life in Chile is becoming normality as opposed to something exciting to blog about. Anyway, we're still here and maybe it's time for a quick update...

Chile Stew - Cochayuyo and Araucaria pinenuts

We have previously posted recipes here but none of them has been of "typical" Chilean food. This one probably is not going to be a "typical" dish either but it is one that we have created and which uses very typical local ingredients. We call it "The Chile Stew".

The Amazon Jungle (Southern Peru Part 4)

When we planned our trip we thought we should try and cover a chunk of Bolivia while we are "in the area". But of course distances - and travel times - usually turn out way longer than expected. So before we even got to Cusco we changed our mind and decided that we would travel to Bolivia another time and rather make use of the opportunity to explore another fascinating place in southern Peru: Manú National Park.

Cusco and Machu Picchu (Southern Peru Part 3)

From Puno we headed to Cusco: yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cusco is the gateway to Machu Picchu and many other Inca sights.

Puno and Lake Titicaca (Southern Peru Part 2)

One of the highlights for many Peru visitors is a trip to Machu Picchu, the iconic Lost Inca City and UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was also on our itinerary, but we were in no great rush to get there. So from the Colca Canyon we headed to Puno first, a town on Lake Titicaca.

Arequipa & the Colca Canyon (Southern Peru Part 1)

Here is a reason why there hasn't been any activity on our blog lately: We finally managed to take some time off to explore our South American "backyard" that starts just beyond the borders of Chile. With so many interesting places to choose from, but only limited time resources, we decided to start with Peru. Southern Peru, to be more precise.

El morado glacier

A few weeks ago we decided to make another visit to the mountains with a few friends. This time we chose El morado glacier. This is a glacier in the area known as Cajon de Maipo, which is a canyon a few minutes drive from Santiago.

A map of the route can be found here.

For every dog born, another dies on the street

Today is world spay day. Some people may wonder, what does spaying (i.e. sterilising) your companion animal have to do with being an animal lover? There is plenty out there for you to read but this post aims to be a brief summary!

How to make falafel in pictures

A simple and delicious recipe: falafel. What it is and where it comes from - see wikipedia.
Una receta simple y deliciosa: falafel. Que son y de donde vienen - vea wikipedia.

Cerro Pintor

Last Saturday we went on a nice little walk that we thought we should document in our blog. Our mission for the day: climb Cerro Pintor, one of the relatively easily accessible 4000+m peaks near Santiago.

Christmas & New Year 2012/13

This was our second Christmas in Chile and just like last year we took about two weeks off work to get out of Santiago. Once again, we headed down south - the obvious thing to do during the height of the summer. This time, however, not quite as far south as last year.