Yukids

A different take on the mall jumping toys playground. My kids had a ball. The toys are all padded and made for climbing. A nice change from the usual and a good option on an indoor day. I don't think it would be nice on a crowded day, however.
Ages: up to about 5, I think. Smaller kids can enjoy it more.

Ski resorts - thoughts

So I've been trying to teach my 2.5 yr. old daughter to ski by taking her to the resorts near Santiago (in Farallones). The idea is to make her have fun and get familiar with the equipment so she wants to go. I don't have a detailed review yet, but I have some experiences:

First, Farallones and the resorts in the area (La Parva, Colorado, Valle Nevado) are very close to Santiago. We are still in the beginning of the season so there isn't much snow on the roads, which are seems to be well maintained. The only problem is the occasional ice that forms from snow melt that runs in shady areas. Watch for this. Going up is a nice trip, about 1 hour drive due to slow speeds, and a bit more to get to Valle Nevado, which is definitely covered with ice/snow and needs 4x4 and/or tire chains.

We've gone to a small place called Farallones Ski Center (don't think it is a "resort") first, where my daughter put on boots/ski for the first time. She loved it, but there we learned that the resorts in Chile really aren't paying too much attention to the family outside of the tourists who fly in to stay at the hotels.

The only resort to have a pretty decent kids area, with the "magic carpet" (a conveyor belt lift where kids stand up and get taken up the hill) is Valle Nevado, who has just installed it. But this is only available to kids who take part in their daycare/group class (age 4-7). Outside of the daycare (which gets boring very fast for the kids), there is no way for them to take a lift. I don't feel comfortable taking my daughter on the t-bar type lift.

When we went to both Farallones Ski Center and Valle Nevado we realized this limitation, and that there isn't an area just for play, forcing us to put my daughter on the slopes between runs, just off of the lodge/entrance. Not cool. But there were tons of kids in Valle Nevado anyways...

Then I went skiing myself in the Colorado resort. There are some very flat slopes there where I would be ok with taking her in between my legs and such, but still no lift. So a lot of hiking is needed, which at that altitude is tough. I did learn that they take private lessons for kids as early as 2.5 yrs old, so I'm going to take that route to see how it works.

The fact that the three resorts are relatively small helps explain why they don't have any significant investment in the kids areas, though I commend Valle Nevado for putting in the effort. I hope that I learn that things are better than they seem.

also, being up in the mountain and looking back at Santiago in the valley below, you get a real sense of how horrible the smog here is. Going up the mountain with the kids is worth it just to let them breath some clean air...

Winter Edition - Ski Resorts

So winter has arrived in Santiago and the thing to do is to head out to one of the four nearby ski resorts. This last weekend we headed up to Farallones, which is the first (lower) of the three ski resorts just outside of Santiago. The drive is not bad, though it would be easy to get car sick if you are not careful. About 45 switchbacks to get to the top, but from the Mall Sport to the resort it is less than an hour. Of course, we had no snow on the roads and very little traffic. Also, make sure you have chains with you which every car is required to possess even if there is no snow (we passed 4 police posts, but noone checked).

We went just for a nice drive, and to get the kids to play in the snow. For that, Farallones was a big dissapointment. First, rentals are confusing since there seems to be an "official" place, one "nice" place, and a bunch of "free agents" just outside the resort. Of course, nobody can really tell you where things are and where to go. Terrible signs, if any. But we found a place that had the equipment for the kids, including sunglasses. It might be better to rent things near Mall Sport before you head up the mountain. At least it is worth checking out.

As for the skiing facilities, there really isn't an area for kids. We ended up putting them down on a path between the entrance and the first pull lift. The kids were too young for the pull lifts and they don't have a single conveyor belt lift. This made the bunny slopes off limits, and there wasn't any place for even basic snow playing/sleds/etc.

The kids had a great time because kids can do that anywhere, but I had to run along side them and then walk them up the slope each time.

Next time we are going to Valle Nevado, which apperently has better facilities for kids.

1/5 (skip it)

Maipo valley and thermal baths

Our car is still not here, so we rented a small four door car and headed to the Maipo valley for a night. We made reservations at Refugio Lo Valdes on the recommendation of friends, and planned to go up to the thermal pools near there.

In summary, a worthwhile trip, family friendly "hotel", and a great place if you want to go on hikes/treks. Nice.

Rating (0=hated, 5=ok, 10=absolutely must see):
8 out of 10.
Family friendly

The drive is only 80-90kms, but it takes about 2 hours due to the gravel/dirt roads that slow you down to 30kph. Bumpy, dusty, noisy, but the views are good.

The Refugio is somewhere between a hotel and a hostel. We got a 5 bed room (2 bunkbeds) and added a crib for L. Lo Valdes has a full restaurant so you can fill up before heading out. The bathrooms are shared, if you care.

One nice surprise is that it has many activities for kids on the grounds. There is a playhouse, a swing, slide, waterfall, mini hikes, a pond, and a room with games and the latest movies (if you want to go there to show them "The Incredibles"). You can definitely take your kids there and they will be welcomed. I did feel bad that L. woke up at night and cried a bit, and that they both were up relatively early. I hope we didn't get blacklisted :).

In the afternoon, we headed off to the thermal pools Termas de Colina. They are on private land, and costs 5,000 pesos for an adult. Quite a bit. The pools look to be carved by man, but fed by water trickling down the mountain. There are 7 or so pools, with varying temperatures, and a bathroom/changin room building next to them. There are some pictures of them on the net, but I'll upload a few in a bit. My take: the bathrooms make it feel like a public pool, and they were a bit crowded when we went. The kids liked them enough (L. loved it, I. was hesitant and hated the taste of the water).

The parking lot is basically a campground, with cars and tents in the same space. Not an attractive way to camp as people are moving cars just a few feet from your breakfast table. You can set up farther away and close to a river if you want. When you get out of the warm water, you will get cold very fast. Bring a strategy to change or get covered quickly, especially for the kids. Or make use of the bathroom next to the pools for changing. Also, there isn't really a spot to put down your backpack and valuables, so people just keep them by the pools, on the clay ground. I recommend either the bathrooms or a robe you can use to carry the kids to the car to change them. Keep in mind that the walk is on a loose gravel and dirt path with a slight hill. They are apparently open 24hrs, and I'm told that it is quite a lot of fun to go there are night.

While driving along the river, we noticed a campground in an isolated spot, down the ravine, that would be perfect if you are looking for solitude but want to be near the beaten path. There are also lots of hiking/trekking routes, as well as climbing, and even a "secret lake" that has no marked route, but locals can explain how to get there. We'll try for it next time.

Refugio location:

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A day trip to Pirque

This weekend a coworker lent us his car as the paperwork for mine has been delayed. On Saturday we stayed in town, barbecuing with friends, but on Sunday we all decided to go for a day trip. The question is where to go with a borrowed car, on short notice? So we took out the Chile travel guides, and opened to the "day trips from Santiago" page. We settled on the area near Pirque because it is near Santiago (Río Clarillo) with a river to swim in. This last one was our primary target.

So we packed up the borrowed car (a 1999 Jetta almost identical to the one we sold before coming to Chile, down to the radio problems) and headed off with two other families. The usual hilarity ensued, with fueling up, stopping at Starbucks, mid-trip potty breaks for an "in-training" toddler, etc. Eventually we all got there, parked the cars, took our stuff to a point near the river, and enjoyed what the park has to offer. My impressions:

Rating (0=hated, 5=ok, 10=absolutely must see):
4 out of 10.

Getting there is pretty easy, but you'll need a map to plan the route as the signs are not very good. You drive through Pirque and right past Cancha y Toro (stop in if you feel like taking the tour), make a couple of turns (where you need the map) and you end up in the entrance to the park. We had a 20min wait as they are very slow to process the payments for each car. Also, people let 3 cars cut in front, which had me pretty upset and I made sure to let them know.

In this time of year, the park is packed. It is the height of summer, and even people who are not on vacation take the weekends to get out of town. I'm told that all the parks are usually full on the weekends. We were told there were no more bbq spots available, which we didn't want, and we told them that we just wanted to go to the river and have a picnic. They said ok, have fun.

We drove another 4km on a dirt/rocky road that was very dusty. This turnout to be the biggest problem with the park: it is a dust bowl. There is a lot of vegetation, but the ground is dust+rocks. Lots of uneven steps, round rocks, tripping hazards, etc. The park's infrastructure doesn't include clearing/fixing paths, though they have some rudimentary steps where necessary. We parked the car, grabbed kids+bags and proceeded to walk another 5 mins or so down to the river.

Here our excitement quickly turned to dismay. The park was jam packed. There was nowhere to put down. We knew the bbq areas (with their tables) were taken, but what we didn't know is that to sit on the ground (and in the shade) we would have to put a blanket at the root of one of the low trees, in the middle of some pathway, and near someone else's "camp". The ground wasn't flat, it was full of rocks, dust everywhere, you couldn't stand up under the trees, and people were walking next to us. Worse, there was nowhere for the kids to play.

Luckily, one of our friends went out with his twins to scope out other locations. Another 5 min walk downstream led us to a less populated part of the park, and we even found an open table with an area for the kids to play. It was a bit further from the river, but it was fine.

We settled in, fed the kids a bit and went to explore the waters. Unfortunately, all of us had an expectation of sitting by the shore, watching the kids play. The river was all boulders and rocks. The water itself was great. Cool, clear, a gentle current, with some nice pools and small (1 ft.) waterfalls. I didn't bring my swimsuit! What a boneheaded move! Definitely bring one everywhere you go.

Luckily, my wife brought a bathing suit for our daughter, who loved sitting on the rocks and splashing her feet on the water, and taking a swim with the one adult in our group that had a bathing suit. She had fun, and the river salvaged an otherwise bad experience. But outside of the river, we all could think only of leaving. Too many people, too much dust, not enough peace and quiet, or areas to explore, too many flies...

There might have been better areas of the park to see, or another time when there were less people. And the river was genuinely fun to be in. But I have to say that I hope our next park experience is better. I also have to keep in mind that this was a hasty trip and it was poorly planned. We got there late and were already a bit tired, so we didn't explore the park. Had we decided to stay in town overnight we would have been able to see the town, the vinyard, and still go for a swim in the park.

My final veredict: the river was great, the rest was disappointing. But I'm willing to give it another chance.

Pictures forthcoming.

And so it starts....

We've been in Santiago for a little over 2 months, still getting settled but already itching to get out and see the country. The weather is gorgeous, and looking at the travel guides and speaking with friends and co-workers, I can hardly wait. We can't do much without a car, though.

On Friday (tomorrow), I expect the proper customs authorization to come in, which means our car (that is bought and paid for) should be in our hands shortly after that. With it, we can start to get out on excursions, though we've have rented and borrowed cars and seen some sites nearby.

My vision goes a little like this: to plan, according to our energy and the kids' cooperation, both short and longer term trips to see the best of Chile. There are some places, like Patagonia and the far North, that are only doable by air. But to the extent that we can, we plan on driving the same way we drove in a tour of Spain. I hope to see national parks, beaches, wineries, lakes, ski resorts, villages, and anything in between, while we stay in a combination of posadas, cabins, and even the occasional campground.

I've purchased all typical reference books, but I will rely on word-of-mouth recommendations, and I will post here our impressions of exploring Chile with two small kids (2+ years old, and 6+ months old).

If you come across this blog, and would like to ask a question or drop us some tips, please leave a comment or send email. Also, if there are any requests, we'll try to go out there and reconnoiter for you.