Stage one - Heathrow to Madrid, Madrid to Santiago, Santiago to Temuco, Temuco to Valdivia.
After a long but uneventful flight from Madrid we flew across Argentina and caught our first glimpse of the snow capped peaks of the Andes through the clouds. As we neared Santiago the cloud cleared and we got a fantastic view of the desolate moonscape, only broken by small patches of green where plants were just managing to eke out an existence in this harsh land. As the mountains gave way to plains, the familiar site of fields and towns appeared as green oases.
After a long but uneventful flight from Madrid we flew across Argentina and caught our first glimpse of the snow capped peaks of the Andes through the clouds. As we neared Santiago the cloud cleared and we got a fantastic view of the desolate moonscape, only broken by small patches of green where plants were just managing to eke out an existence in this harsh land. As the mountains gave way to plains, the familiar site of fields and towns appeared as green oases.
A brief stop in Santiago, then a short flight to Temuco where we got to step out of the airport for the first time - we had actually arrived in Chile! It was over 30 degrees and being British we were all inappropriately dressed in jeans, jumpers and trainers. Gratefully picking up a nicely air-conditioned 4x4, we wearily made our way out onto the highway towards Valdivia.
It was not what we expected. Instead of the temperate Chilean flora, we were greeted by a more antipodean feel of Eucalyptus and Acacia and the world's mostly commonly-planted species - Pinus radiata. Forester's heaven! All the hillsides were covered with these plants. Not very inspiring, until we saw the snow-capped Llaima Volcano (3125m) peaking out. Now we were really in Chile!
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