SANTIAGO, IGUAZU, & BUENOS AIRES (In one week). When the Family Came to Town. 58 453 Km

Santiago. The capital of Chile is an interesting place. For many Australians who want to visit South America it will be your first stop, whether you like it or not. Of course there is always the option to jump right on to another country but the 6-10hour connection times make it worthwhile to get out and see the place.

So we found ourselves in Santiago to meet with Claire's family (minus Kate) for a one week quick whip around the big sites of southern South America. The are several reasons why I find Santiago an interesting place but none so much as that it feels like you've actually left South America when you arrive here from other parts of the continent. You've suddenly arrived to a place where public transport is awesome, there are pedestrian lights, accessing money and using bank cards is not an issue, there are street cafe's and microbreweries. It's great. And you can actually be reminded of it's place in South America when you look east to the Andes. Well if you can see it past the smog!

Yeah the smog in Santiago is impressive. A combination of heavy pollution, the barrier of the Andes mountains, and little wind means the smog just sits there above the city, all the time, and particularly worse at the end of the week and in winter (the exact time we were there).

We decided to climb up the local hill to see if we could get above it. At around 200m from the city floor, we finally could get a bit of fresh air and a glimpse of the snow capped mountains.

Descending back to the street level we spent the next couple of days wandering the city. We stopped for lunch in different neighbourhoods, went to Pablo Neruda's house, introduced the family to the markets and the market food, and did a walking tour through the city. Some of the trip was hampered by the protests around the anniversary of the 1973 Pinochet coup, which interestingly occurred on September 11th, but thankfully we didn't have any real trouble.

With much to see and do we headed off from Santiago bound for Iquazu falls in Northern Argentina but first we needed to cross over the Andes and what a view we were treated to.

Thankfully we had a good start to our flights because when we hit Buenos Aires to change planes, it all started to go a little sideways. Initially our flight was delayed and the ground staff weren't so forth coming to tell us why, or even tell us. So as our take off time came and went and the queue of Argentinians (they like to queue) was getting agitated why the departure board hadn't even been updated, it started to rain a little as well.

A couple of hours later we started to board but we would have to take the bus across the tarmac. Except when we got on the bus, the bus didn't go anywhere for 30min, again no one really sure why, and by this time the Argentinians were getting rowdy and ready to storm the plane on foot. But then we got going again, we got in the air, and arrived in Iguazu. Only to find everyone's bags were wet, as it seems they left them out in the rain at the same time we were left on the bus. Not the best flight!

All thoughts of the flight were quickly washed away when we arrived at the hotel. With a spectacular view of the falls from the lobby and our rooms, we were immediately in awe with this amazing place. The falls straddle Argentina and Brasil however they are much more accessible from the Argentinian side, and Australians don't need a Visa.

The following morning we were up to go and explore the park but before we even got out of the room the amazingness started with these little guys as monkeys and racoons came to climb the hotel balconies in search of food.

After breakfast we walked down through the park to the miniature train station so we could be whisked to the other end of the park to see it's big draw card: The Devils Throat.

Like the other big waterfalls of the world, it's hard to convey the magnificence and power of the place in photos alone. Needless to say I've never met anyone whose mouth didn't fall open on seeing this place. It really a spectacular waterfall, or actually it's a collection of 294 spectacular waterfalls and we were off to see more of them.

Along our walking paths we came across more birds and animals, interesting signs, and a very well organized and built collection of metal pathways and bridges.

There are a number of different trails on the Argentinian side of the falls so you can appreciate them from different angles. We picked the lower route on our first day so we could take a boat closer to the falls, where we heard you may get wet.

Yeah it turned out the rumours of getting wet were true. The boat drove strait into parts of the waterfalls and then span around a few times to make the waves crash over the side of the boat so everyone got a good soaking. We opted to return to the hotel to dry off and enjoy the views before heading into town for some steak and fish. And it was such goooood fish!

The following morning we rose a bit earlier to set out to see the falls from the higher trail in the morning light. This is by far the best trail in the park and it was awesome to see it in the morning light.

Apart from the falls we were treated to a Toucan siting in the wild (which just made the day) and a monkey breaking into someones rooms to steal a packet of chips followed by a racoon chasing said monkey across the hotel balconies for his share.

Amazing waterfalls and cool animals would have to come to an end though as we prepared to head back to Buenos Aires for the final leg of the family visit.

We stayed in the neighbourhood of Palermo, which has a very Surry Hills vibe with modern architecture, lots of cafes, microbreweries, and Ice-cream shops. We spent the first part of the day wandering the streets between Palermo and Recoleta cemetery, where we took in one the top 10 cemeteries in the world (who knew there was a list?).

Following our cemetery visit we did some more wandering through Buenos Aires. We went to La Boca to see the colorfull buildings and markets, visited the MALBA museum, saw the giant metal flower sculpture whose leaves open and close with the sunlight, and of course we ate some awesome meat at Don Julio.

But time was running to fast. It was suddenly time for Tom to return home to Australia, and for Claire's parents to head to the Galapagos Islands for a week before they too returned home. Claire and I would spend a few more days exploring BA before heading to Cuba to meet my family.

58 453 Km (27900Km Flights, 9126Km Sailing, 20220Km Bus, 250km Hiking, 36Km Horse riding, 150Km Train, 12Km Bike)