Day 2 : The Darwin Plate

We wanted to get into more local areas today and decided to walk around the Barrio (district) of Lastarria and Bella Vista.

We took an early start today and found ourselves arriving even earlier than the opening of the localized Starbucks. Both districts are actually more well-known for their evening and night life, so to be there on early morning felt like we missed the big party of the night before. The area’s leafy streets are lined with boutique hotels, hip bars serving regional wines and craft cocktails, and trendy restaurants. With the locals barely waking-up and all the boutiques shutters still closed, we could really grasp the super-artsy unique look of the street facades.

On our way we had to try the super nocho, it is like a black-thunder in Japan or a kind of schocks on steroid.

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Between those two districts sits Cero Santa Lucia, a small hill of 629m, remnant of a volcano 15 million years old.

Certainly, of all the things that make Santiago special, its breathtaking backdrop of snow-capped mountains definitely tops the list.  From most places in the city, you can see at least a bit of the magnificent Andes–and there are certain places that offer better views than others.  One such spot is Cerro Santa Lucia. The conquistadors used it as a lookout point when they were conquering Chile.  It was atop this hill that Pedro de Valdivia declared the founding of Santiago in 1541. Well, unfortunately, today the heavy smog totally obscured the view of the mountains.

From 1832 to 1835, Darwin traveled through Chile, conducting explorations that would contribute to his famous theory on the evolution of species. The plants and animals encountered on the five-year voyage of the 'Beagle' provided the foundation for his theory of evolution. There is a commemorative plate affixed at the top of Cero Santa Lucia. Well, it's not the main thing to see in Santagio but certainly a great historical fact.

Tomorrow, it's early breakfast at 5am as we take the last flight of our journey to reach Ushuaia and will embark on Commandant Charcot. We will spend 14 nights on the ship and the first two will be to cross the Drake Passage, the body of water between the Cape Horn and the Antarctica northern peninsula. Not really known to be a smooth ride, but we will see...Ok time to pack.