# Other Places Around The World > Mexico, Central & South America >  >  Chile trip report

## LindaP

We finally made a family trip to Chile; and it was awesome!
We flew Albany to Atlanta to Santiago; and our daughter flew Denver to Dallas to Santiago; and we all met up with our son at the airport around 9 am. First though; we had to pay a reciprocity fee of $160.00 each, good for the life of our passports.
And, going through customs, we decided to declare the almond- pine nut cookies I had made; rather than risk the $250.00 fine for bringing in nuts and not telling them. They let us through after asking why we had checked off yes on the form, AND after Xraying the bags on the way out ( a procedure for everyone).

I was surprised to find that Chile reminded me so much of California. The climate, the wineries, the great fresh fruit and vegetable stands the eucalyptus trees lining the roads, the abundance of wisteria trees, and the town near Vina Del Mar, where our son was living : Valpariso, was like San Francisco; with the hills and steps.
 We went to a fishing village: Quintay, and stayed at a coastal town one night; Maitencillo; where we cooked artichokes, clams and Chilean abalone.

We had a winery tour of Matetic in casablanca region, and observed their 20,000 + acres, and tasted their awesome wines.

We explored Santiago, and saw the city from the very top of the W Hotel on their ultra cool outdoor bar.

We went to the National Park in Olmeu, and ran from a tarantula (the photo is from our son's camera, not mine!).

Saw great outdoor markets, snow -covered Andes Mts, ate  great sea bass, calamari, hearts of palm and avocado salads, and tried to stay away from all the smokers.

The wall art was amazing as were the sunsets.
 Our son may return next year; if so, we hope to return also          , as well as travel next time to Argentina. It was an amazing trip and experience.

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## katva

:thumb up:  Wow, Linda----what a trip!  Thanks for the report and pics.  Looks really beautiful!  What a really special trip for your family.

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## Petri

Wow!  Looks like you had a great trip!  Chile is such a wonderful country, we've only seen small part of it (the lake district, Valparaiso-Santiago area) but hopefully one day more of it.





> we had to pay a reciprocity fee of $160.00 each



You do you know why you had to pay it ?   (We don't have to pay anything)

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## LindaP

Petri, not really sure, why do we?
And what's up with no liquids ( water included) brought on the plane after going through security in Chile?

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## Petri

> Petri, not really sure, why do we?



It's the same amount US charges chileans to apply for a visa (tourist or other type, even if it's denied).





> And what's up with no liquids ( water included) brought on the plane after going through security in Chile?



Did you have a intermediate stop on the flight?

LAN has some rules here http://www.lan.com/en_us/sitio_perso...rohibidos.html  which would indicate that if you have a stop in Peru, that might happen.

I'm not going to even understand the airport security rules, the more you wonder about them the less they make sense.   Nor did I argue in North Korea when they didn't let me have my fragrance or sunscreen in the checked baggage :)   (beer and water were ok, and they didn't make a difference between checked luggage and carry on)

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## primo

great  report  from, you linda,   hope to follow  more of your travels in the future.

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## GayleR

Great trip! Thanks for sharing.

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