I am back from Chile. After six years without visiting my birth country I went — mostly for business — for one week. It has taken a while to get back in to my natural rhythm and to absorb everything that happened during this trip.
We had a very interesting set of meetings with companies, a good visit to the Centro de Biotecnología of the Universidad de Concepción and very good reception from the New Zealand Embassy in Santiago. There is scope for very interesting collaboration with Chilean organisations and there is the intention — from both sides — of making things happen.
Itinerary
Sunday: Christchurch - Auckland (Qantas, 1.5 hours), Auckland - Santiago (Lan Chile, 14 hours) and Santiago - Concepción (Lan Chile, 50 minutes). Arrived Sunday 6 pm to the hotel in Concepción.
Wednesday: Concepción - Valdivia (Lan Chile, 50 minutes).
Thursday: Valdivia - Temuco - Santiago (Lan Chile, 2 hours).
Sunday: Santiago - Auckland (Lan Chile, 14 hours), Auckland - Christchurch (Qantas, 1.5 hours).
Departures from Carriel Sur airport, Concepción.
Comments on airline quality? Qantas is better than Air New Zealand, which in turn is better than Lan Chile. Lan had a two hours delay when leaving New Zealand and four hours delay when leaving Chile. That meant missing connecting flights going there and coming back. Good point for Lan: they got me emergency exit seats — with a bit more leg room — at last minute request.
Bureaucratic stupidity: having to pay USD 56 as an entrance fee because I was travelling with an Australian passport. Essentially it is revenge: Australia charges the same amount to Chilean visitors.
Santiago is chaotic
We were extremely lucky weather wise. It did not rain while we were in Valdivia. I had told John and Dave than most likely we would not see the Andes from Santiago, because of the dense wall of smog. However, it was raining in Santiago the night that we arrived from Valdivia. Next morning (Friday) it was completely clear and it was possible to see the Andes with snow going almost all the way down to Santiago. Very impressive, postcard like view. After the first few hours it was possible to see how smog started creeping up the mountains, in such a way that by Sunday morning one could only see the top. I expect that by Monday the Andes would have been completely invisible.
Santiago was chaotic. The implementation of TranSantiago (see Wikipedia entry as well) — the new(ish) public transportation system — has been clearly a failure. People queuing everywhere, road works galore trying to put new bays for large buses, fare evasion, highly stressed Chileans, etc. People in the provinces seem to be having fun at the cost of ‘Santiaguinos’. As in many (most?) countries, people from the capital city are not always held in high esteem by the rest of the population.
What about the post title?
There is a song called ‘Vuelvo’ (I return) by Patricio Manns and Horacio Salinas, which I have always liked. The lyrics start:
con nuestra altiva impaciencia,
con una honesta conciencia,
con enfado, con sospecha,
con activa certidumbre
pongo el pie en mi país,
y en lugar de sollozar,
de moler mi pena al viento,
abro el ojo y su mirar
y contengo el descontento.
I have lived half of my life outside Chile, and that song reflects my mood quite well (or not). I am perfectly inconsistent with regards to this topic. I like ‘activa certidumbre’ (active certainty), certainty that I understand as either overpowering or that requires work to be really certain.
If you a. live in Chile, b. you know me and c. you think I should have contacted you while I was there… sorry. I made the decision to limit my non-business time (i.e. two days) to family only. Next trip should be a bit longer, but do not hold your breath: it took six years for this one to happen.
I am still processing information and drafting some messages for people that I met during this trip. I will write to you, but it still may take another couple of weeks. I will keep documenting my impressions of this very short (in time) and long (in distance) trip in coming posts.