Chile - First Impressions

Safe, secure, everything seems to work - so far; expensive, friendly(ish), warm weather at the coast but not too hot, good fish and seafood (haven't tasted the meat yet but looking forward to some excellent beef), expensive (did I say that already - £2 for a bottle of beer in the bars and restaurants, same for a glass of wine and a bit more for cocktails). Good road system and excellent transport links, everywhere offers good wi-fi.

ConCon bay where we are spending our first week to settle in to the local customs, language, etc is about 33deg South - on the northern edge of the Central Valley. It is a wide bay with a very gently sloping sandy beach - very like Lahinch and ideal for surfers (mostly beginners). For about 30km south of us the coast is almost continuous beach resorts very popular with locals and also a lot of Argentines - beaches get busy around midday and stay that way until dusk (9pm) - best European example we can remember is Sitges - not much personal space here.

We are here until Saturday when we head for some city life to Valparaiso for the weekend and then on to Santiago for a few days next week. Then we fly north to La Serena - the Elqui valley, wine, Pisco, observatories, more beaches and ...