Travelers Beware!

 

We knew coming in that there was rampant crime in Santiago, Chile so we were on guard from the moment we landed.  But it did not take long before we were the victims of a classic crime.  We tried to do all the things right in securing our taxi.  We went to the official airport kiosk an received a formal voucher for the standard Black and Yellow cab company.  We were greeted by representatives (or so we thought) right outside the terminal.  We were led to a minivan and our driver, Ferdinand, seemed very pleasant and spoke decent English.  But shortly after leaving the airport he stopped on the side of the road and one of his colleagues opened the front passenger door to process the payment.  He insisted that credit card payment was mandatory, even though Henry pleaded to pay in cash (with a substantial tip).  Our Spidey senses went on high alert immediately.  Henry insisted to see the amount processed on the device which should have been about $26 USD.  The guy said it did not go through and reluctantly agreed to let us proceed and pay the driver in cash.  Within moments, Henry received an alert from his credit card company notifying him that they blocked a potential fraudulent charge of over $5,000!  Obviously, we were incensed and had a number of choice words for the driver.  He claimed ignorance and dropped us off at the hotel free of charge.  But it was a rather unpleasant first impression into Santiago.

However, our hotel, Cumbres Lastarria is quite nice and Santiago is actually a beautiful city.  We explored the neighborhood walking to Castillo Higaldo ( Microsoft Bing Travel - Castillo Hidalgo) at the top of Cerro Santa Lucia Park ( Cerro Santa Lucía (Santiago) - Lo que se debe saber antes de viajar - Tripadvisor) and took in the 360 degree views including the snow-capped Andes mountains in the distance.

I was taken aback by the lush flora including the famous Chilean Palm, various cacti, tall Sycamores and even yucca plants.  I was transfixed by the lush scents of blooming honeysuckle and lilac wafting through the air. It is hard to believe that this lush oasis is only about 750 miles from the frozen continent of Antarctica.  The architecture is also interesting.  It reminded both Henry and me of cities in Southeast Asia that consist of a somewhat ramshackle mixture of ancient and modern designs coexisting in an eclectic harmony.

We have one more day to explore this southern city before we head to the Falkland (nee Malvinas) Islands.  Of course we are making a pilgrimage to the home of one of the most famous literary figures in Chilean history, Pablo Neruda. ( Pablo Neruda - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre