Santiago

View of Cerro Calan (the green one) from our rooftop patio in Santiago's Las Condes neighborhood! We hiked it and also found our favorite hike of the whole trip nearby. I wrote separate posts on those.

Our last morning in Valparaíso, we took a train to the bus station and boarded a double-decker to Santiago.  It was at this train station where we came across our first toilet "vending station". You put coins into a machine, which spit out a ticket to scan at a gate, which opens to allow access to the toilet. During the scenic drive we viewed farms and vineyards.

Daddy picked another great location to stay. This was our view from the rooftop patio- layers of green cerros (hills), snow capped mountains and snow-covered Andes in the distance! Plus we could walk to a mall with restaurants and a gym!

And just down the street is this great park with a textiles market.

Here's the entrance to the market, which looked a bit like a church to me, and once it opens, you find a whole village of shops behind these doors. 

One section is a art museum, currently showcasing insects made with a variety of recycled materials.

There are quite a few really, cute kitties that hang out here and watch over the shops, literally.

Pastel de choclo is a South American dish made from choclo, large corn kernels. It's like a hot corn pudding with ground beef, chicken, raisins, black olives, onions, or slices of hard boiled egg. Seen in the bowl below.

Twice we visited Parque Bicentenario de Vitacura. The first time was a really chill visit. The second time a big event was going on so it was full of people and music and food.

Of course we spotted the Black-necked Swans right away. These are not native, so can't be officially counted even though they are nesting here. One of the cignets (baby swan) is in the third photo below.

Spot-flanked Gallinule (above)  Yellow-billed Pintail (below)

I really enjoyed seeing a pair of Rufous-tailed Plantcutters foraging in the grass. The red-bellied one is the male.

Austral Thrush

We spent the last day of our summer trip above the city exploring Parque Metropolitano de Santiago, also known as San Cristobal Hill. This park is HUGE, with 1780 acres it's the largest urban park in Latin America!  And it's very steep, so steep it has a teleferico (cable car) on one end and a 100yr old funicular (ascensor) on the other end to transport people up to the top. You can also take a taxi, bike or walk, if you're up for it. We took the teleferico up. There is a ropes course with zipline at the base of the teleférico station, for an extra fee. We weren't sure we had enough time, so we skipped it. 

Here you will find a statue of the Virgin Mary, the church of Immaculate Conception, a 10 acre botanical garden, swimming pools, and a zoo! Oh, and great 360 views!

We were excited to spot this yellow and teal lizard in the botanical garden.

The funicular took us back down in a hurry!

Ironically Journey found this sign in the airport on our way home. Technically our South American journey ended here. Though our journey home had just begun.