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Leaving the green Nevados de Chillan valley this morning, we managed to catch the last couple of target birds: a group of Austral Parakeets and a Striped Woodpecker right along the side of the road. Our morning bus trip takes us south on Rt .5 to Conception where we board a short one-hour flight back to Santiago.
Beautiful view of foothills and peaks on our approach to Santiago. Clear blue skies, much warmer, we can shed some layers. Outside of the city the bus climbs to 3000' then descends on hairpin turns while we stop to bird roadside before descending through wildflowers and cacti into the valley covered by cropland: corn, a braccia, orange groves. We enter Central Chile where vineyards abound, eventually coming to Valparaiso on the Pacific Coast. Valparaiso is a seaport, and we are staying just north in Vina del Mar, a resort community. Our hotel, Hotel Oceania, sits right on the cliff overlooking the ocean. We have a beautiful view of the coastline as well as of the ocean, with the sea breeze and sound of waves coming in our patio door. Gulls, terns, boobies, pelicans soar past, occasionally stopping to float on the swimming pool below.
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