Mike and Sandy Living New Experiences

Author: Mike

  • As Far West As We Can Go in Chile

    Mike

    Reading Time: 14 minutesLast Thursday was a travel day and we were excited because we were headed to a very unique place on the planet – Easter Island. I’ve always been intrigued by its remote location and the mystery of the Moai on the island. It was really nice to be staying right at the… Read more

  • Drawn to Vicuna Because of the Night Sky

    Mike

    Reading Time: 10 minutesFrom Vina del Mar, it was time to make our way further north on our journey through Chile. We were up early on Tuesday morning for the 15-minute walk to the bus station and our bus pulled in and then left with us on it right on time at 7:35am. The ride… Read more

  • Let’s Go to the Rodeo!

    Mike

    Reading Time: 6 minutesTraveling around Chile, you can feel the influence of the estancias – the ranches. Tied in with that is the rodeo and the rodeo is a part of life in many of the towns across the country, in particular the regions where we have been traveling. Sandy was doing some research recently… Read more

  • Enjoying Chile’s Capital – Santiago

    Mike

    Reading Time: 7 minutesFrom Puerto Varas, we moved on to Chile’s capital – Santiago. Santiago is a city of around seven million citizens, and it offers just about anything you could want. We were here seven years ago for the Depeche tour and we both remembered liking Santiago, but we didn’t have specific reasons that… Read more

  • Puerto Varas, Chile – Quite Livable

    Mike

    Reading Time: 6 minutesIn terms of places we think we could live, we usually conclude that we could live just about anywhere if we had to do so. Meaning we’d find ways to make different locales work for us. That’s not to say that everywhere we go, we find ideal. Puerto Varas comes close. We’ve… Read more

  • The Carretera Austral – What a Drive!!

    Mike

    Reading Time: 10 minutesHere is how Lonely Planet introduces the Carretera Austral (Southern Highway): one serious drive, it winds along some of Patagonia’s most dramatic scenery, with exuberant rainforest, scrubby steppe, smoking volcanoes, snow-dusted mountains, and expansive farmsteads framed in windows. But it’s water that truly defines this landscape, from the clear cascading rivers to… Read more

  • Chiloe Island, Chile

    Mike

    Reading Time: 7 minutesWe ended up spending a total of 10 days on Chiloe Island in the very northern part of Patagonia. I guess technically, Chiloe would not be a part of Patagonia and more considered part of the lakes region. We originally planned eight days, but the ferry to get us to our next… Read more

  • A Big Reason Why We Have Patagonia in Our Top 20

    Mike

    Reading Time: 7 minutesThis update includes that reason but let’s start where we left off – leaving Punta Arenas. Moving day on Sunday was pretty uneventful, which is always nice. We wanted to go back to Be Happy for breakfast but they weren’t open yet and so we found a little café not too far… Read more

  • The Southern Reaches of Patagonia

    Mike

    ,

    Reading Time: 13 minutesWe’ve spent the last ten days exploring the southern reaches of Patagonia – a week in Ushuaia on the Argentine side and then a few days in Punta Arenas on the Chilean side. It’s a beautiful part of South America and covers a huge area, so we plan to also spend time… Read more

  • Some of the Most Beautiful Waterfalls on the Planet

    Mike

    Reading Time: 8 minutesOther than the cruise, we didn’t have Argentina on our top 20 countries to visit during this journey but our friend, Jonette, mentioned Iguazu Falls while we were visiting her in Minneapolis, and we decided to hop up to see them since we were relatively close. And what a great decision that… Read more