[Above: Welcome to Chile!]

Journal by Neil Dana

We have been traveling through all of Central America and quite a bit of South America, and it has been phenomenal. I have been looking forward to seeing and experiencing many Latin countries for most of my life. I have always been fascinated with cultural differences and the various ways people live in foreign countries. Not only are the people very different in these countries, so are the landscapes and architectural structures. Many people live out of wooden shacks in the middle of the desert, as others live in walls made of mud bricks in the Andes. Not only the countryside, but the cities are extremely different as well.

So it is a big surprise to come to Chile. I was not expecting the state of economic wellbeing. Chile is completely different than all the countries we have driven through so far. In fact, it is almost as if we just went through a distance warp back to California. Chile is a very close replica of California. The buildings are modern, the roads are perfect, the landscape is the same, and people are much more image-conscious and stylish. We are actually traveling the same latitudes as California, which explains why the climate and landscape is just like home. In the Santiago area, it is much like San Diego and L.A. climate, which is desert planted with vegetation. As we travel south, it is like going into Northern California with the rolling hills and trees everywhere. There are also tons of vineyards as well. And, the people are no longer dark, they are all very Caucasian, coming from European descent.

So to tell you the truth, Chile is the least interesting country I have been to so far, as far as culture goes. We are still heading south and I know that the landscapes of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia and all the other majestic places will be filled with incredible beauty. It is like driving from Southern Cal up towards Canada and Alaska, intensely beautiful. It is just funny how similar the people are to home. It doesn't feel like a typical Latin American country.

Today, we didn't drive anywhere. We are in Santiago and our Land Rovers are being serviced. I was busy finishing up editing photos for our sponsors, and the rest of the team was busy doing other things as well. Whenever we have a change to have time in a city, we tend to get a lot of busy-work done. We were also waiting for Rolf to arrive from Cusco. He was sick and had to write some articles, so he stayed back a few days. We went to this Internet cafe that literally had about 50-75 big screen computers. The place would fill up with kids playing these computer games against each other. It was pretty wild to see. I guess it is our modern day arcade.

We ended up taking the subway, which is a very nice metro station, each one individually decorated with paintings or tiled walls, etc. We took it to a part of town called La Suecia, which is a few streets that are filled with wonderful restaurants and bars and discotheques. They are filled with people, and employees on the street trying to pull you in to each various establishment. We ate some tasty food and had some delicious milkshakes. This street is kind of like a mini-Disneyland, with themed restaurants and fun places to hang out. Everyone there was in their most stylish outfits. It was an evening out on the town, Santiago style.

Santiago is a very big city, and is spread out, like Los Angeles is, the main difference is that instead of having 6 lanes for cars, Santiago has 2 lanes for cars, and 3 lanes exclusively for buses!!! I have never seen so many buses; it is amazing. They have a great public transport system in Santiago. You can get from one end of the city to other for 45 cents.

Well, we are leaving Santiago soon to go south and I am looking forward to hitting Pichilemu and going surfing, as well as heading all the way south into the deep countryside. I think it will be some of the most beautiful nature we have seen yet.

Until next time,

Neil Dana
neil@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for January 26th, Day 87
Start: Santiago, Chile
S: 33* 26.913'
W: 70* 40.034'
Finish: Santiago, Chile
S: 33* 26.913'
W: 70* 40.034'
Mileage: 000
Notes: I'm not sure about the rest of the team, but I sure had fun today. Nick and Chanda spent ALL DAY on their laptops in the internet cafe. Todd, I know, had a blast with his Chile family, with whom he spent a lot of time several years ago when visiting and working in Chile. He had a nice reunion yesterday and today. I rode my Santa Cruz bike to Land Rover. On the way, I stopped in a bike shop and had an excellent conversation with Jose, the owner, for about 40 minutes. He admired my bike, and we had a great discussion about bikes in general. Oh, how I love bikes. He was saying I should look into the international bicycle industry. Travel, decent money, and BIKES. I'll consider it. I continued my ride through the perilous city streets of Santiago after bidding Jose a fond farewell, and my round trip ended up being about three and a half hours. Well, that's what I call a good day. The team had a mellow evening. Nick and Chanda had Indian food at Best Western, Justin and I had sushi at a local joint, and Todd saw his Chile family. I haven't seen much of the film guys, so I'm not sure what they were up to. IMPORTANT NOTE: Rolf is back with the team after spending much time in Cusco, Peru, writing some articles. Poor guy, though, the only person he saw all day today was me. He saw me leaving and returning. Tomorrow, we all head to the beach! (N.O.)

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.