We are now about 20 minutes away from Santiago and just flying over the Andes. I am in a centre row seat, so can only see part of the magnificent view from the windows, but fortunately, the in flight camera shows me what is underneath.
Because the coastal strip is so narrow, we are shortly on the ground. A 25 min transfer in to town and we are met for our first appointment , which happily coincides with lunch! Then Simon and I are free to look around this vibrant city. We walked first to t he funicular and made ou r way t o the highest point above t he city with magnificent views. The temperature is a welcome but sticky 30 degrees, so we make our way back down on the footpath, about 40 mins, and we are really ready for a beer by the time we reach the bottom. We had planned to go back to the hotel and change before we had dinner, but decided to stay in this very vibrant part of the city and hav e a cocktail and a light meal follow ed by an early night – we have to be up at 0345 in the morning! So, we like Santiago for a stopover – very excited about making the Falklands tomorrow…