Unfolding As I Go - Carole's travel blog

On Monday September 30th, I took the bus in the afternoon from Valparaiso to the big port town San Antonio to meet Edo, in who's farm I was about to spend the next 10 days. With his girlfriend Wyke from Holland they have bought the land 7 years ago, have been going a few months each year, sleeping in a tent and slowly building it more and more to turn it into an off-grid regenerative organic farm and project of propagation of native species. Because the farm is very remote and not that easy to access without a car, he had booked a taxi to get to his place. At some point, the road turned into a gravel road and then further down it was a dirt/sand road through the trees. We arrived just as it was getting dark, he had to step out to open the gate and kick the cows out that had trespassed through some secret passage they found somewhere in the fence. It was all of a sudden so peaceful, the dark blue sky, the sounds of nature all around and fresh air. I was instantly so happy to hav

Waow, this place is incredibly colorful and creative. Every minute I have to stop and take another picture of another mural. Sometimes 10 pictures in just a few steps. I mean look at these colors and this art. It's everywhere, making the city look beautiful even on a gloomy weather day. Here is just a selection. Which one do you like most? 'Plants are the hands of the earth who want to touch the sun' 'Make the world bigger, make it beautiful and when you have gone, lave it in a way that the earth misses you'   Cats are also colorful :-) Entrance to my hostal This house I thought looked kind of dark and brownish, I wanted to show there are also some grayer areas, but the picture still comes out beautiful!

I arrived at Carolina's place in Pio Pio on Thursday evening, and the next day we went together to Valparaiso, one-hour bus ride away, to walk around the city and also to see the Friday's for Future march for Climate action. Here in Chile, climate change is really affecting the country, along with several other deeper issues of access to water and agriculture being reserved for export, mainly avocados here in the area. In many places, the ground water level has gone down so much due to the cultivation of immense spaces for avocados that water for the local inhabitants needs to be supplied by truck. in many places, the rivers are privately owned so the local population also does not have access to sufficient water. I loved seeing the creative signs and smart slogans in the march. It was also really emotional for me to see so much drive and passion to protect the environment by so many people, especially groups of teenagers and families with children. One of the groups were a

After a few days in Santiago walking around, visiting the city (thanks to Tours4Tips ) and admiring the colorful murals, I headed out to the farm Pio Pio , about 2 hours away from Santiago, north of Vina del Mar close to the sea. Pio Pio is a place I had initially planned to volunteer at: an environmental education center and urban farm. But Carolina, the owner, decided to make a pause in the volunteer program for several reasons until further development of the project. Instead, she recommended me to contact her friend Edo who also has a great project a few hours south of here, so I did. Carolina and I had still gotten along really well, exchanging messages and talking before my arrival, so when I got to Chile, she invited me to come spend a few days at Pio Pio. And it was perfect timing. I arrived just in time for a great occasion: tree planting! On Saturday, Carolina's roommate Andres and his colleagues of the NGO Huella Viva (living trace/footstep) were organizing their fir

Arrived in Santiago, staying a couple nights in the super cute and environmentally friendly Hostel Tambo Verde. Walking around Santiago and especially the Barrio Bellavista, the murals are everywhere and so colorful! I especially like this one with all it represents  Full of symbolism  Plaza de las Armas and the cathedral, rebuilt 4 times after serious earthquakes Top of Cerro San Cristobal  Hostal Tambo Verde A much needed travel tip found on Tourdumondiste: which banks do not charge a local fee for withdrawing money, a complete table of 33 countries , so useful! Scroll quite alot until finding the table 'FRAIS ET PLAFONDS DE RETRAIT DES BANQUES LOCALES PAR PAYS'.