Review: Tour of Chile, Santiago, Pucon, Atacama Desert Hiking, Astronomy Tour, Wine Tasting, Local Cuisine

Overall, our trip to Chile was fantastic.   Every hotel exceeded our expectations and our guided tours were excellent.  The private guides, especially, were informative and open to our questions and preferences.  On the recommendation of our guides, we enjoyed excellent restaurants.  We splurged to stay at two of the hotels and they were worth every penny we spent........gorgeous architecture, excellent restaurants, wonderful excursions, and very caring staff. I fell and hurt my back midway through the trip.   We had to cancel one excusrsion due to my back pain and we still aren’t sure that we will receive a refund.  We also had an issue with the flight from Pucon to Santiago.  We were booked on a flight from Puerto Montt which would have required a 4+ hour ride from our hotel and an early am pick up.  When we requested to fly out of a closer airport, our travel company responded and made the change.  However, we still don’t know why the original flight was made.  It also would have required that we miss a half day at the wonderful hotel.  Within the airport change, we were able to experience a fascinating visit with a Mapuche family.  Our flight from Temuco was cancelled due to engine problems and we were fortunate to get on a flight 3 hours later.  However, we had to wait 30 minutes for our driver at the Santiago airport.  In sum, the trip as planned was outstanding.  The negatives, as described above could have been avoided...except for my accident.