Destination Expert: Chile

By Hal Amen On January 25, 2010 · 4 Comments

Headed to Chile? Matador’s got an expert for that.

Eileen Smith, known quirkily around the Matador community as bearshapedsphere, is a native Brooklynite who now calls Santiago de Chile home. Or would that be “hogar”?

Either way, Eileen’s our resident expert on this long, skinny, kinda funny-looking nation. Chances are you already know her, since she’s been working in community outreach at MatadorTravel for several months now. She’s even been giving me a hand here at Trips while Carlo’s away. That’s one busy lady!

Here’s some more about Eileen, from her Matador profile:

I’m fired up on: Biking distances short and long, finding the perfect ingredients and cooking for myself and friends, language acquisition, travel writing, dispensing (mostly useful) advice, walking too far for mere mortals, lying on the ground taking pictures, watching skateboarders and other extreme athletes and hoping to not see anyone get injured.

[Editor's note: Super jealousy alert -- she's off to cycle New Zealand's South Island next month!]

Why I travel: To engage my five senses, to become honest with myself, to reduce myself to the three true needs (food/drink, sleep, bathroom), to lose contact with mirrors, appearance, egotistical trappings of home.

Languages spoken, other than English: Spanish, Chilean (it’s a joke, but kind of true)

I want to make a difference by: showing generosity in the face of adversity, and encouraging others to pay it forward.

We’ve already featured some of Eileen’s sage advice in the post What NOT to Do in Chile. If you need more, all you have to do is ask:

If you’re dying to know how to get here, what to do, how it works being an expat, etc, I can answer questions. There’s still more to see, but I’ve been to the way north and the far south, and lots of places in between, and a whole bunch of it on two wheels. Ask away!

Also, make sure to check out her blog, Bearshapedsphere: Quirk. Perspective. Travel.

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Are you an expert on the area where you live? Drop me an email at hal@matadornetwork.com to find out how to become a Matador destination expert.

About The Author

Hal Amen

Hal Amen is a managing editor for Matador. His personal travel blog is at WayWorded.

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dan soucie

Hi, My girlfriend and I are looking to do some trekking in Chile later this year in december. I was wondering if you had some advice on where to go and how easy it is to get to some of the mountains. 5000-6000m peaks are not out of the question. I have had little luck finding trail maps or anything along those lines. Are there any good maps for the patagonia region of Chile? Thank you for any input. Dan Soucie
souciedaniel@gmail.com

http://www.bearshapedsphere.blogspot.com Eileen

Hi Dan, it really depends which I more important to you, Patagonia itself or bagging high peaks. You’ll find most of the higher peaks near Santiago towards the north. Two places you might like to peruse would be CONAF’s website (national parks in Chile) and at least one hiking group that I’ve hiked with, called tricupide. Lonely planet has a book on trekking in Patagonia that I used near Ushuaia, Argentina and found helpful, though I haven’t used it for Chile.

Depending on how long you’d like to trek for and how interested you are in doing something really obscure, there is a seldom-hiked trek in the dientes navarinos near puerto Williams that’s the wildest trek I know of. The tallest mountain in Chile is Ojos del Salado in the Norte Chico.

Let me know what else I can tell you when you narrow down where your interests lie and I’ll try to give you a hand. Important point: do you speak Spanish?

Let me know, suerte!

Eileen

Lily A

I was also hoping to trek in Latin America in the spring/summer. I would go alone though. Do you know of any safe routes that I could do alone?
Lily
Nancy

I have two very young children and we plan to visit Chile (for the first time) this August. Would you be able to suggest some places that would be kid-friendly? I have a friend in Santiago–while we will visit with her, I do not wish to impose upon her. Small children are not pleasant houseguests.

Regarding Spanish…I’m terrible, my youngest is just learning to speak period, but my oldest is not bad at it.

Thanks,
Nancy

Destination Expert: Chile

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