South America, disappeared!!

We`re now in Santiago, the Capital City of Chile, after almost 24 hours by public transport to get here (from San Pedro). We spent 3 nights in La Serena which is a beach resort in Chile, but because the weather was cold and overcast we didn`t go to the beach we just mooched around the town centre, it only reached 11c during the day so it was a bit "chilly" for our suntan lotion and flip flops!
While we were in La Serena we booked a trip to go and see one of the many observatories there in a place called Mamalluca, it was a really interesting visit, we were picked up from our hotel by a mini bus at 7.30pm and it was about an hour`s drive. Once we arrived you are assigned a tour guide who then gives you lots of info about the stars, the planets, all the different constellations etc, he also sets up the telescope at different angles, we were able to see the moon (full), Jupiter and a few more that I can`t remember the names of!
It really was amazing to see the stars through the telescope, there are literally millions, all of which are not visible to the naked eye. The moon was also amazing, apparently the craters that we saw are up to 80km in diameter! There were far too many facts given to us for me to remember them all.
For anybody that is interested though there is a piece of software available for your PC, it`s similar to Google Earth in that you can view the night sky from where you are and it will tell you all the different stars etc. It really is an interesting programme and one we will be investing in when we get back. Check out this link for more info Starry Nights

Santiago is a massive city, and is actually quite similar to NY, although not as many high rise buildings. We did find a Dunkin Doughnuts this morning, and there`s the ever present Macdonalds (spit) The only place we haven`t yet seen a Mc`Ds is in Bolivia, that is because the Bolivian president (Juan Evo Morales Ayma) will not allow them into the country!!
He is very anti America (all political) as they are trying to insist that Bolivia stop the cultivation of the Coca leaf (used in the manufacture of Cocaine) in Americas "War on drugs" Again if you are interested in learning more about it then have a look on this link Coca erradication it`s really interesting.
Go Evo anyway, standing up to the mighty GB!!

Chile has a real European feel to it, and is nothing like any other place we have visited while being in Sth America. There is NO poverty at all, the country has an excellent infrastructure (by Sth American standards) and even has it`s own underground railway system, which we have been tearing around on.
The roads are all paved and extremely safe, with road lights and signs everywhere, it`s almost as if we have already left South America and are on a different continent. It still lacks the hospitality and warmth of it`s poor relation Bolivia though.

Today we booked our tickets to Mendoza in Argentina, Matt has visited Chile before, and I`m not that enamoured with the place so we`re not going to piss about wasting time (and money) here. There is lots of things we want to do in Argentina, visit the wine region, the Iguazu Waterfalls that border with Brazil, and spend lots of time in Buenos Aires, which is claimed to be one of the most exciting Capital Cities in the world. Oh and there`s the tango which were hopefully going to learn (NOT!!)
We get the bus on Wednesday, and it will take us about 7 hours, I don`t think Mendoza is that far from Chile in terms of distance, its just that we have to drive over/through the Andes to get there.
So that`s about all for now guys and gals, next post will probably be from Argentina!!