Hola. I’m in Santiago in my hotel chilling before flying home tonight. Dropped the camper off yesterday afternoon, no worse for wear except for the 12,000 miles I racked up on her.

The last five or so days have been a bit of a whirlwind, as the distances traveled were huge. Getting from the Atacama to Santiago took three days of driving, with cool stops on the way, but northern Chile isn’t really my cup of tea – too bone dry, barren, hot and parched. I prefer evergreen forests, glaciers and sparkling lakes and fjords. Cool to see it, though. Here are photos of those places:

Holiday cheer in a local brewery in La Serena:

Astronomy night at Alfa Aldea Observatory in Vicuña. Their telescope was terrific. Super cool experience.

Concón, just north of Viña del Mar:

Ahhh – Viña….

Cajon de Maipo, southeast of Santiago:

That’s a river I’m driving through. A bit of gnar….

Last night in the mountains. It got mystical…

Here’s a slide show that hopefully represents the vibe and highlights of the entire trip – six weeks on the road in a camper – two very large countries, 42 days, with 5 spent in hotels (I know, I’m getting soft in my old age…). It’s really hard to choose and exclude photos, as I have so many from this journey, but I think these provide a good flavor of what I saw and experienced

The trip was truly great. No mishaps, mechanicals, crazy people, law enforcement or fronterra run-ins or bad luck. I feel really blessed for that, as I’ve driven a ton, including thousands of miles on bone jarring unpaved roads, and I’ve seen an incredible amount of both countries and their people. So, damn the torpedoes – here goes:

That’s it – it’ a wrap. It was an incredible trip, with adventure and fun each day. Thanks everyone for following me on these crazy jaunts. It makes it really fun to share the experience with friends and family. Catch you all on the next one. India and Africa are on the wanderlist…..

Rich