Feeling small in the Harbour, Valparaiso

We wandered down to the tourist harbour and found many boatmen anxious to take us on a tour of the harbour. Jimmy one of only 2 English speaking guides was keen accompany us on our trip. He made sure that we saw everything including a pelican some cormorants and some male and female sea lions who have found that barrels attached to the floating dry dock are a great place to

come ashore and have a bit of a

rest! Valparaiso is the legislative capital of Chile so we saw their equivalent of our parliament building - there must be a continuing theme about parliament buildings as this one is not inspiring either. My favourite part of the tour was pulling alongside the

giant container ships to view them from sea level, very different from our views when looking down on the harbour from the hillside above. We arranged to go on a walking tour with Jimmy the following day. We pottered some more in this fascinating city

finding the market with beautiful, fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers before finding an assensor to take us back up the hill.

The next day was another glorious day and we started with a walk up the hill behind the hotel to visit Pablo Nedura's home in Valparaiso. He is a very important Chilean poet, who won the

Nobel Prize for Literatre. The house and the occupant are totally fascinating. All the rooms have

amazing views from large windows and Steve commented that this was a house that I would love as it was very light and airy. The collection of objects in his house are truly magnificent and range from a superb desk at which he worked at to a beautiful rocking horse which looks as if it is still

standing on a carousel because of the way he shaped the floor around it. You are not allowed to take photos inside which is understandable, but frustrating as there were too many

beautiful items to remember each one individually. There were also some of his poems helpfully translated into English scattered throughout the house. One was about the joy of his home which he read to people at his open house when the house was completed.

There was a great feeling of joy in this home. We were also lucky enough to hear part of a concert with some exceptionally talented musicians. We rushed down the hill caught the asscensor and then the metro train to the port. We met up with Jimmy who took us to view another part of town and we had a coffee stop at a lovely restaurant with views to the harbour. He knew all the best places to enjoy different views of the city and we enjoyed chatting to him and learning a little about life in Chile today. He also took us to visit a stunning church which is

still in use and is the 2nd oldest in Valparaiso. It had been a monastery, but there are no monks there anymore. It was closed to the public, but he chatted to the warden who agreed we could look around. For a Catholic church it was very simple and appealing. It seemed in its simplicity more like a presbyterian one. It was very sad to see that it was in a very poor state of repair with the clock tower needing urgent repair and cracks down the external walls. We walked back to a small public harbour and watched some young people catching crabs. They threw back all the small ones. We laughed a little as a notice close to them said – no fishing! Our final trip was on the metro to the end of the line. We were underground for a few stops

at Vina del Mar then the train headed out into the countryside which was very varied with lots of fruit and vegetables growing beside the line along with flowers and some barley.

We returned in the early evening to the City and took asscenser up the hill to discover that the restaurant we fancied for dinner did not open until 8 p.m. And it was only 7 p.m. We went back down on the asscenser – I really like travelling up and down on them and found a nice bar to have a drink until we could go for dinner. The restaurant had also stunning sea views and we sat there watching the sun set and yet another container ship arrive in port. It was a fantastic day of variety.

Valparaiso and beyond

Our accommodation at the Robinson Crusoe Inn, Valparaiso is truly wonderful. I found this hotel through Trip Advisor and it had some great reviews. The lounge and breakfast room is at the top of the hotel with stunning views to the harbour. When like Steve and I you live in the countryside with not a ship in sight to watch the huge container ships arriving in port and being taken into the harbour by tugs is quite fascinating. The breakast starting with fresh fruit is also delicious. The hotel has been rebuilt on a site that has been occupied for over 100 years and incoporates all the technology needed to with stand and earthquake. I like using google maps, but I failed to print off a detailed on of the area where the hotel is located which led to Steve driving round in circles. Finally stopped as asked at another hotel and then a policeman! It was worth the effort. It was recommended that we should walk down through town and visit Lord Cochrane's House and the Maritime museum. This town is built entirely on the side of very steep hills with lots of steps which makes getting from one level to another challenging! Later in the day we discover ascensor which take you from one level to the next - I really liked them. Discoverd that Downtown Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are many beautiful buildings, but also many in need of repair. The Naval HQ is beautifully maintained in the harbour area. Riding the ascensor up hill, we arrived at the centre of a political campaign to elect a new President of Chile with lots of young people waving flags. You never know what you will find when on holiday. The maritime museum was free and fascinating. Lord Cochrane of Dundonald in Scotland was involved as an admiral in the Chilean Naval and involved with maintaining Chile's Independence. We have always been fascinated that a Scot was heavily involved in fighting for Chilean Independence. Bernard O'Higgins of Irish descent was also a main player at this time. After a lengthy tour of the museum we stopped for lunch in a restaurant with views over the Commerical Harbour that we saw from our hotel. We became engrossed in watching container ships being unloaded and the movement of containers around the port!

Adventures in Chile

Left the Scotland of early dark for the southern hemisphere where long hours of daylight are being enjoyed! Our flights with Air France via Paris to Santiago were excellent with plenty of leg room and very tasty food. The staff were very pleasant and helpful as well. It is a long way with a 1 1/2 hr flight to Paris and then a 14 hr flight to Santiago. We arrived after an overnight flight to bright sunshine and temperatures around 20 degrees C! Our hire car is a Toyota Yaris - very compact, but comfortable. We drove straight out of Santiago onto route 68 for the coast. We found lots of wineries on the side of the route and were tempted to visit one and bought a bottle of very nice Sauvingaun Blanc. This is a toll road so I am glad that I had taken some Chilean Pesos with me! We had some excitement at one of the toll booths as the car stalled and then refused to start. We then found some of the problems of being in a country where we don't speak the language! However one the guys from the toll booth pushed us to the side of the toll plaza and went and found someone who spoke English. He tried to start the car too - no success. I asked if he would phone the hire company for us which he did. The answer was that you have to always put the clutch in when you start the car even if it is not in gear!!! We were delighted that it was such an easy solution to the problem. We have never come across this type of situation with a car before! After that excitement we drove to Vina del Mar a huge seaside resort. We discovered first hand the excitements of driving in a Chilean town. There is lots of traffic and nowhere to park, but in the end found somewhere that was being guarded by a young man. We found a lovely restaurant for lunch with sea views and people bungee jumping from a crane to the sea. We also found lots of pelicans who were bathing in the river water behind a sand barrier that led to the sea. We had a walk around this area and found pelicans on the rocks and apparently living on this building which is a hotel and restaurant! We found the castle Wulff which had been built by an industrialist around 100 years ago. We were able to visit it for free and the architecture is most unusual, all with wonderful sea views. A house that I could enjoy living in!

Madiwke Game Reserve South Africa

Steve and I are having an amazing holiday in South Africa. We stayed with family in Johannesberg for a few days and this was a lovely relaxing time before we ventured out on our own. We drove to Madiwke Reserve which is on the border with Botswana. The drive was trhough a wide variety of countryside from the big city to small towns and villages with animals and crops in the fields. We were very lucky with the weather which was warm and sunny except for an afternoon thunderstorm most days! Our first game drive was amazing with us seeing 5 lions which was a mother and her 2 cubs (fairly well grown) and another 2 older cubs belonging to her sister who had died who she has also brought up. It was an incredible sight. On the same drive we saw several hawks as well as zebra and one of my favourites the giraffe. The verdant monkeys live in the trees around the lodge and were always on the look out for anything to steal, from food to nice shiny items. We had to be very careful. As you can see from the photo, there was a thunderstorm approaching and it was very dramatic and exciting out in the open surrounded by lightening with thunder overhead. The Game drive had to finish early that day as we were all very wet!

Arran Island - West Coast of Scotland

The sun shone as my friend Mary and I crossed from Ardrossan to Brodick on Arran. We were pleased to visit this small island which is often described as Scotland in minature owing to its mountains, lochs, rivers and sea shore. Brodick Castle owned by the National Trust is a beautiful building with lovely gardens and great walks through the grounds and along the seashore and up Goatfell the highest mountain on the island. We loved the approach to the island and enjoyed our short voyage with Caledonian McBrayne. Our first evening we attended a slide show about birds of prey that can be seen on the island as part of an annual wildlife festival. The slide show was fascinating and we were delighted to learn about kites, peregrine falcons, herons and long eared owls. That evening we saw a heron by the seashore and the next day had a fantastic view of a short eared owl. This was our first ever sighting of one in the wild.

Pollock House and Estate, Glasgow

Pollock House and Estate on the outskirts of Glasgow is managed today by the National Trust for Scotland. The house was owned by the Maxwell MacDonald family for almost 700 years. The National Trust does not allow photography indoors. The rooms on view had some wonderful furniture and magnificent paintings. The cafe downstairs in the original kitchen area, offered excellent food at a reasonable price. I visited with my friend, Mary and we enjoyed soup and a scone for lunch. The weather was superb so we spent a lot of time in the colourful garden and grounds. 4 Clydesdale horses live in the stables and were out pulling a cart while we were visiting. They are beautifully groomed and have won many prizes at the Royal Highland Show at Edinburgh. The ornate bridge across the river was very pretty and the reflections of it in the water immediately caught my eye. Walking through the woods on this beautiful afternoon was wonderful as round every bend in the path there were more beautiful flowers to see including bluebells (which are very early) to a wide variety of rhododendrons. We ended up leaving Glasgow in the rush hours which proved not to be as bad as expected.

Falconry Centre, Huntly, Scotland

On a visit to the Falconry Centre near Huntly, everyone gets a chance to handle the bird. In this case Moray B is an Eagle Owl. They can now be seen in the wild in the North of England. Moray B was hand raised. It is fantastic to be able to touch his feathers and realise how soft they are. This is a fantastic place to take children of all ages!