Day 18 January 18, 2025

Tour of Santiago Day 2

With the sun not setting until close to 10 pm, our internal clocks were still out of sync with the time differences. As a result, we found ourselves staying up late once again, finally getting to bed around 1 am on Saturday morning. Despite our best intentions, we were both awake by 5 am. Determined to get a better night’s sleep, we resolved to go to bed at a more reasonable hour tonight.

After a hearty breakfast, we headed back to Stop 10 for the Hop On Hop Off bus. Our plan for the day included a visit to the Parque Bicentenario Gardens, where we hoped to spot black-necked swans and perhaps some flamingos. We also planned to return to the Plaza de Armas to explore the National Museum.

Unfortunately, there were no flamingos, but we managed to photograph a variety of birds, which we’ll try to identify later, including the black-necked swan. The gardens were beautiful and full of life, with many locals enjoying the space. Santiago is a dog-loving city, and every morning, we’ve seen countless people out walking their dogs, mostly medium- and small-sized breeds. We assumed this might be due to the fact that many people live in apartments.

After spending a couple of hours exploring the gardens, we hopped back on the bus to our next destination. By now, the phrase “No Tocar” (Don’t touch) had become a familiar part of our vocabulary. We learned this lesson the hard way at the Sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception when Marc picked up a llama to show me, only to be promptly slapped on the hand by the elderly shopkeeper, who repeatedly scolded him with “No Tocar.” With our hands safely tucked into our pockets, we wandered through the National Museum, using our growing ability to understand written Spanish to get the gist of the exhibits.

After our museum visit, we returned to the hotel, as my back was beginning to protest from the day’s adventures. Around 5 pm, we took a short walk to the Costanera Center, the tallest building in South America, which is 61 floors tall and also houses the largest shopping mall in Chile. It was a vast shopping complex, six stories high, and it seemed to stretch on forever.

Next, we made our way to Sky Costanera, where we enjoyed 360-degree views of Santiago, with a sprawling population of almost seven million people. The city stretches seamlessly into every corner of the surrounding mountain range. The gift shop there encouraged us to touch the souvenirs, so we picked up a few trinkets to remember the day.

We returned to the hotel in time for another delicious meal. By 10 pm, we found ourselves ready for bed, eager to get a full night of sleep before our next adventure.