It’s been a busy month in South America, where I have been on two tours covering Chile, Bolivia and Peru. I am heading into my last few days in this continent and the Southern Hemisphere and it is very sad, as it is signalling that I am coming towards the end of my travels.
In Chile we went to the desert and observed the beautiful clear skies from the Vicuña observatory. The night was cold but I experienced the South American version of the mistral, the destral I think it’s called, which is a beautiful warm wind which came out of nowhere and rattled the doors but kept us from freezing! The night sky was amazing, with the Southern Cross visible in Milky Way. I am very fond of the Southern Cross – always a thrill to see it! Chile actually has the highest number of observatories in the world due to it’s clear skies. And they make a great pisco sour – a cocktail with lime juice and egg white and pisco, a kind of grape brandy. The Chileans export a lot of pisco but it’s actually Peruvian. Hopefully can get a bottle at home. Here’s one I made (and drank) earlier. 
Bolivia has beautiful landscapes but it’s very poor and has the most disgusting toilets you have ever seen. And they make you pay for them! We spent a few very cold nights in kips of hostels in the middle of the salt flats, which was definitely a low point on my travels. They also have a big problem with cocaine production, but it’s kind of understandable as the people don’t have much else, though Bolivia does have huge natural gas resources. The wealth appears to be held by a few families and certainly doesn’t trickle down to the people. It really makes you appreciate the standard of living we have at home when you see how people live in Bolivia. But I had a lovely group of people with me, so we laughed our way through the rough bits. And peed on the side of the road. A lot. As I said before, you get a good grounding on peeing on the side of the road growing up in Ireland.
