My parents were our first visitors to Chile. Their trip taught us some important lessons for future guests. I wish that we had some one else to practice on before their trip, but I think they were good sports about being our guinea pigs. Hopefully, they will be back again. I will get good at this hosting thing. It was so deeply satisfying to be with family and to share with them all aspects of our life from our school to favorite parks and hikes. There were some hairy moments in these last eight days, for example, when I was following Rich in our car rental out of a parking garage below El Cerro Santa Lucia in our own car and had to stop right at the point of the steepest incline right before a busy intersection. As I have been been driving stick for just a few short months, I turned to my father and said the following words that no visitor wants to hear: “I cannot do this.” Somehow I ultimately managed to peel out of the situation using the parking brake without rolling back down the entire hill or lurching forward into our own vehicle- crisis averted.
Overall, there were some moments when I had wished I ordered differently at a restaurant or timed a different activity. It was quite hot in Chile this past week, and climbing to the top of the second cascada (waterfall) in the Andes at noon in order to time horseback riding for the kids and a return to Santiago that avoided rush hour traffic is a little much for any traveler. It is always tricky to plan an inter-generational vacation, but I think the combination of outdoor activities, wineries, and cultural sites are fun for all. We would have liked to do more in Santiago, such as art museums or the Paulo Neruda house, but there were so many options and everyone’s interests to satisfy.
For the future, here are my top four recommendations rather than my top ten because as Ellen says in her best four moments of the decade, I am going to skip the first six that people are like “Oh, yeah” and just get to the four. First, it is fine to use a Chilean car rental company (they are much cheaper than Avis and budget) but I will always pay for the premium car insurance when I rent a car in Santiago. Although the number of exclusions are lengthy, we still guessed correctly that it might be worth it. This was before we backed up over a rock in a driveway of our accommodations in the Andes and damaged the undercarriage. The insurance we purchased had zero deductible. Though the fine print in the contract said that we would be responsible for damage to the plastic, the company was willing to cover the entire damage. I will hold my breath until all the charges come through, but the car attendant was very surprised that we had purchased the highest form of car insurance. In Chile, car insurance is tied to the automobile, not the driver, so our personal auto insurance would not have covered anything.
Second, keep the daily itinerary simple. We ran into a fellow teacher from the school at Mallsport. Her parents spend a month with her family every year, and they were there, too, with their grand-daughter. They told us that they commit to one activity a day. By the time we had arrived at Mallsport, we had already had a Thai massage and visited Bicentenario Park in Vitacura. It was our third activity of the day; they were a little shocked by our ambitious itinerary. By the end of wall climbing, air-traling, zip-lining and ice cream, we were all beat. We tried to pack our days, but in the end, our guests also liked chillin’ at home and going out for one excursion.
Third, I would always recommend a Thai massage to every guest. We have a fabulous massage parlor (Ananta) in our neighborhood. After my first massage, which was a Christmas present, I promptly bought a pack of ten more. After my mother’s first Thai blend, she scheduled a hot oil massage for the day of her return home. She loved it, too, and told me that she would get one every week if she lived here.
Our biggest aggravations was that there is a 18% tax for Chileans (us apparently) at all hotels. When I reserved the hotels on booking.com, I gave my name/information even though I said that I was booking for someone else (foreigners). We had to pay the tax because I made the booking. To avoid this costly tax, I will book directly with the hotel, so we can make adjustments or have a foreigner make the booking at the start. Or I would use our foreign guests’ information and credit cards.
Finally, leave a lot of time at the Santiago airport. It took my parents nearly 2.5 hours to drop off their bags, go through security, and walk to their gate. Though they had uneventful flights with no delays or cancellations, I was glad that we did not count on their arriving or leaving on time.
It was so wonderful to share with my parents our new lives. I realized how much we have learned and have had to negotiate. I appreciate where we live in an entirely new way. And, although my Spanish is basic, I was able to translate the gist of conversations between our hosts and my parents, schedule activities, and convey information whenever we needed. I now feel motivated to work even more on my Spanish. Though I know that my parents are thrilled to be home, having left Santiago Santa Cruz and Cascada de Animas, for the first time it felt wonderful for us to be returning to our home, too.
Living in Chile 