January 27, Friday – Santiago, Chile and Isla Negra

We were out of the hotel at 8:00 AM for a half day excursion to Isla Negra where we went through the home and gardens of Pablo Neruda, a Chilean Poet and Nobel Laureate.   On the long drive out we were beginning to regret not canceling this tour and just having a leisurely day at the hotel before going to the airport.  However, once we got there we very much enjoyed the home.

Neruda was very creative in designing the home with many of the rooms having a lot of stone or being shaped like old railway cars with a curved ceiling paneled in wood.  Plus he had many collections that were housed in the home, including many wooden ship figurehead sculptures, globes, maps, ships, ships in bottles, and antique porcelain foot warmers.  The home tour ended in a room specially constructed for his shell collection…and he had a collection of over 700 amazing, strange, unusual and beautiful shells plus one narwhale tusk.  Unfortunately we couldn't take photos inside the building.

The house overlooked the ocean with a lovely seaside garden.

We then drove into a prime Chilean vineyard area and stopped at Vino Imdomita winery for lunch.  The winery sat high on a hill overlooking the vineyards and the valley below. The food was good and the views lovely although smoky.  

Chile is currently in the midst of several major fires and we saw a couple on our way to the airport.  Lots of smoke.

We arrived fairly late into Guayaquil Ecuador and opted for no dinner as we were given a light dinner on the plane.