Santiago

Santiago 27th Feb;

The first of my 3 overland legs is complete.....Bunny’s birthday is over - managed to text from Gus on way here.

 Gus is really playing up now ..... we have to push start her at every stop; the crew are always on the lookout for a slope. (One was a hairy clutch start in reverse about15 m from the cliff to the waterfall gorge...)

 Our last camp was by a waterfall 5 hrs out of Santiago, a dusty, basic place, but hot showers.

The drive could have been through Italy, but poplars instead of pines as wind breaks through the valley, full of vineyards and fruit trees....had a tour of a local vineyard Boduzzi, a tasting, and lunch on their lawns overlooking the vineyards and a chapel devastated by the recent earthquake, before heading off to beat the peak hour traffic of Santiago...

It’s a tired city in many ways, evidence of past Spanish glory in older bulildings...the Cathedral is huge and Gothic... and some new modern edifices......but everywhere is littered and dirty... the bustling local markets with all their colour and lack of hygiene are fringed by homeless souls sleeping on filthy rags amongst mangy dogs trying to find something to eat in the scraps... a block away is a mall lined with modern shopping centres......

The crew are ever hopeful of getting a compressor for Gus’ fridge and a new starter motor.....we have 8 new group members, 10 friends have departed Team Gus.