Final Celebrations in São Paulo with a side of Chile
A jam packed time in Chile and Brazil, with lots of celebration, friends, weddings and Carnaval!
For our final three weeks in South America, we filled our time with friends and family, enjoying some final adventures in Chile with Fernando’s mum Sonia, and partied away in São Paulo, celebrating a wedding and Carnaval.
It was an absolutely jam-packed few weeks and time really flew by, we don’t want to forget about all the amazing memories we made, so this blog post will be more about sharing snapshots of our final moments in São Paulo, as well as detailing our itinerary in Chile.
Five nights in Chile
Enjoying a drink and the view in our Airbnb in Valparaíso
Yep, with only 5 nights in Chile to enjoy with Sonia we knew we had to make it count. Fernando and I travelled to Chile at the beginning of 2017, so we were already acquainted with Santiago and the Atacama Desert (a MUST do by the way). For our 5 days we wanted to keep it simple with minimal travelling time so we could enjoy every moment together. In the end we settled on 2 nights at Valparaíso, the graffiti covered port town west of Santiago, and then 3 nights in Chile’s capital, Santiago.
Before we get stuck into it, I have to point out something that we forgot when planning this little trip to Chile. Santiago is the one city (that I know of) where Australians are singled out at the airport to pay a reciprocity fee of USD 117 to enter the country. It is only the case when flying into Santiago and man were we annoyed that we forgot this. USD 117 is a high price to pay for a 5 day trip. Nevertheless, once we landed there was no other choice, unless you count me waiting inside the airport for 5 days... So Australians, be warned! It’s a sneaky one.
Valparaíso
The street art of Valparaíso
Arriving into Santiago airport has to be up there as one of the most stressful airport experiences. Apart from the jolly reciprocity fee, which is a big blow, you then have to join a seriously long, slow queue to get through immigration. Santiago is a big hub to enter South America so it’s no surprise that there is a huge flow of people coming in, but it took us about an hour to get out of there - not fun!
With that out of the way (finally), we met up with Sonia at the airport and hired a rental car, which we had for the duration of our stay. Hiring a car was the best option for us so we could get to and travel around Valparaíso but once we got to Santiago we relied on Uber and public transport to get around as it’s much easier.
Less than 2 hours from Santiago, Valparaíso is a great option when you are short on time in Chile but want to get out of the main city. It is a port town that is a bit rough around the edges but has such an effortless cool charm about it and so interesting to walk around. It reminded me a bit of Porto in Portugal, but even less polished. This was my second time in Valparaíso (first for Fernando and Sonia) and I was really glad to be back, it’s a favourite city of mine, especially because I am big street art fan and this place is bursting with it.
We stayed in an Airbnb a few km’s out of the city and up one of the steep streets, giving us an amazing view of the port:
Our view of Valparaíso
Having only two nights in the city, we really only had the one day to explore. Valparaíso isn’t too big, so we managed to cover some good ground:
In the afternoon the group split up to go on different walking tours: Fernando and Sonia did a city walking tour to understand the history of the city and because I had done his before (and they were doing the Spanish tour) I went on a street art tour. Funny the way travelling in South America can be, once I met the group for the tour I recognised two guys from Canada who we had met in an Indian restaurant in Huaraz, Peru!
I am a huge fan of street art tours, having done them in a few different cities around the world. If you find yourself in Valparaíso, however, I highly recommend it. Street art is certainly an art form that can be taken from granted and not given the appreciation it deserves. On a tour, you are shown pieces like they are pieces in a gallery, you learn about the different art styles, symbolism, stories behind the artists of the works etc. After the tour, I certainly saw the city in a whole new light. Here are some of my favourite pieces:
More of the amazing street art in Valparaíso
The following day we stopped by Viña Del Mar on the way back to Santiago. This small beach town is a popular summer resort spot especially for people from Santiago. We didn’t particularly enjoy it here, finding the vibe a little strange: there were a lot of people who looked like they spent the night sleeping on the beach (some looked homeless, others looked like they had a big night out) and the boardwalk along the beach was pretty dead -all of the considering it was 11am on a Sunday, maybe a little too early for Chileans.
The beach and boardwalk at Viña Del Mar
Santiago
Looking down at Santiago from Cerro San Cristobal
We opted to stay in Provedencia, a more upscale suburb in Santiago, as it was close to our friend Dani but also really central and near nice bars and restaurants. With limited time, and this being our second time in Santiago (first for Sonia) we wanted to make our time count and do only the best things.
We really love Santiago, it’s a really developed, thriving metropolitan city. Super rich compared to Peru and Ecuador. Having said that, there is still so much culture and history packed into the city and you could easily spend a week here exploring the various pockets and enjoying all the great food and trendy bars. Having an Airbnb is always great when you’re a small group, and we really enjoyed ours in Santiago as we could enjoy an afternoon wine together (loving that Chilean Carmenere!). The central location also made life a lot easier and we opted for Uber’s everywhere and the occasional bus.
Sonia hanging out in our Santiago Airbnb
With our first afternoon free we took the funicular up to Cerro San Cristobal, a hill with a large Virgin Mary statue at the top. Taking the funicular up is a fun experience and you get amazing views of the city from the high vantage point. Up top, Sonia also got to have her first experience of Mote con Huesillo, a super popular drink in Chile consisting of Sweet nectar, half a peach and cooked husked wheat. It’s super sweet and not really any of our cups of tea, but the locals seriously love it and you see people drinking it everywhere on a hot day.
Sonia going up the furnicular, trying Mote con Huesillo and views from the top
We also enjoyed some great meals with Fernando’s uni friend, Dani, who took us to a delicious burger restaurant one night and met us for Bao another night. It was amazing to catch up with Dani once again, as we had the luck of meeting up while we were both in Lisbon!
Dinner in Santiago and Sonia, the crazy cat lady
Cajón del Maipo
Embalse el Yeso
Our second and last day in Santiago, we got back in the car for a road trip out to Cajón del Maipo, a gorge in central Chile - southeast of Santiago. Our friend Renan had highly recommended the trip to see Embalse el Yeso - a water reservoir with the most blue water you have to see to believe. The drive to get there is also incredibly beautiful, as you drive along the river and in between high mountains. It was a really nice day out with a stop at the end for lunch at San Jose de Maipo, a little town in the canyon.
Road trip and another view of Embalse el Yeso
Was it enough time?
There is SO much to see in Chile, we stand by Atacama Desert being on of our top favourite places in the world. But if Santiago is merely a starting point for you before setting off to other destinations in South America, I think our little 5 day itinerary is a good taster. Having a car is a great option to give you the freedom to explore a bit further out. But Santiago is a very easy city to navigate around and Uber’s are not too expensive. We love Chile and Santiago and highly recommend you visit. The only downside, however, is that the country is relatively more expensive than other South American countries, so be ready to spend a little extra $$$ when you’re here.
Our Final Two Weeks in São Paulo
Dinner with Fernando's family
When we finally arrived back in São Paulo (after over a month of travelling in Central/South America!) it felt like coming home, especially for me (Alex), this was a really special feeling. Driving back through the city, arriving at Luis’ house again, there was a feeling of familiarity and saudade that made me realise that São Paulo had taken up a special place in my heart.
Like we have talked about many times, this year away has given us the luxury of time. We spent just over 60 days in São Paulo all up, an amount that we would normally never be able to justify as a lot of this time was spent just hanging out with Fernando’s family and friends, or exploring around São Paulo. I can’t stress enough how special this was, of course for Fernando it was priceless, but for me it was so important. I got to really learn about Fernando’s city, where he comes from, the culture and city that has shaped the man he is today. And of course, that precious time getting to know his friends and family, I felt so much love from them all, especially his family who made me feel so loved and welcomed. I can’t thank them enough for this affection, I truly feel like they are my family too.
The wedding
Fernando giving his speech
Another moment that goes down as a special highlight was that we managed to be in Brazil when Raquel and Danilo (two of my best friends) got married. And since I played the Cupid there and introduced them, I was honoured to be invited to say a few words at their wedding.
They opted for a very small, reserved ceremony just for immediate family at the backyard of their parent's place - and it couldn't have been more special.
The beautiful couple, Raquel and Danilo
The bride and her dad, Wilson
Even though I haven't seen much of them in the past 6 years since I moved to Australia, I was lucky enough to get to know each one of them and develop a special friendship with them - even before they met each other. We share so many memories throughout our teenage and early adult years that it was actually easy to talk about some of them at the wedding. Like I said at the day, you guys represent a lot of the things I believe in and showed us all what mutual respect and love can do to people. I love you guys!
All these wedding photos were taken by the amazing photographer Arthur from Agua Benta Fotografia and you can see the full album here.
Carnaval
Out at a Bloco for Carnaval
And the party was far from being over! We were lucky enough to be joined by Alex's high school friends, Kate and Sally, who were visiting Brazil for the first time and coming to São Paulo to enjoy Carnaval with us. Although they were only around for 5 nights, we seriously maxed it out together and I have to say my body is still recovering from it.
We had some great nights out, enjoying a concert by the amazing Chilean band Chico Trujillo, and partying with newly made friends in the Pinheiros area. We also did some fun touristy things like visiting the Mercado Municipal (market), we bought carnaval accessories at 25 de Março (street shopping area) and walking around the Ibirapuera park (my favourite spot in São Paulo). A new experience for us was visiting the Afro Museum, which is located in the Ibirapuera Park. This museum is incredible and contains so many artifacts and history its truly a must-visit in São Paulo. It covers everything from the Slavery to the afro influence of Brazilian culture to modern art.
Concert and night out
Our Carnaval experience was admittedly not as wild as anticipated, nursing pretty bad hangovers from an unexpected big night out, we set off for a bloco in Pompeia with our outfits on, struggling to finish the drinks we brought for the Uber ride. Nevertheless, it was really fun to experience a bloco and dance with the newly married couple, Danilo and Raquel who joined us for the afternoon of fun!
More carnaval scenes
Summary
Our final two weeks in São Paulo flew by. It was filled with final moments with friends and family and made extra special by our time with Kate and Sally, getting to show them around Fernando's city and enjoy Carnaval with them.
Saying goodbye is never easy, and it's made harder by us not knowing when we will be back next. But coming back to Brazil after this year away was an incredibly eye-opening experience for both of us: for Alex, we had the chance and time to truly experience São Paulo and really see what the city is all about.
And for Fernando, being back home after traveling the world made him re-discover his own roots, appreciate the ordinary things that he grew up with and learn what he's made of. A truly humbling and moving experience, and all we can do is once again be grateful for experiencing all this!
Final time with Fernando's family, enjoying all our favourite foods
We love you, Brazil!
This was originally the final stop of our year-long trip - but, as it happens, we managed to squeeze in a 2 week trip to Egypt and Jordan with Alex's family on our way back home.
Alright, Mr. pharaohs, get ready, because we're coming for you!