Fresh out of Santiago’s International Airport, excited to practise our Spanish which we’d spent months perfecting, only to encounter…Chilean Spanish…
As our sweet smiley taxi pickup driver tried to welcome us in Spanish we both looked at each other wondering if we’d arrived at the right place…What was this strange language?!
Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit, but Chilean Spanish is the hardest Spanish dialect to pick up. Even native Spanish speakers have trouble understanding Chileans. For example, they cut off the end of every other word, connect words together so you don’t know when one word starts/finishes, and they speak at such a rapid pace… Then there are the Chilean slang words thrown in to confuse you even more, especially “weón” – randomly placed in every other sentence! It’s actually quite a beautiful sing-songy dialect to listen to.
Santiago is certainly the perfect base to get your head around this quirky dialect. The gay scene here is massive, particularly in the Bellavista neighbourhood – probably the largest in all of South America outside of Sao Paolo. The city is also home to an exciting wine culture with world-class wineries to visit, lots of impressive city street art to awe at, tons of outdoor adventures like paragliding to try out, and natural hot springs to relax in – remember the city has the Andes mountains right on its doorstep.
And then there are the boys! Smokin’ Hot gorgeous Latino looking Chilean studs everywhere you look…
Trust us when we say you WILL have a fantastic time in Santiago!
And we’ve got you covered right here with our detailed gay guide to Chile’s capital city. We’ve put together all our practical tips from our firsthand experience travelling in Santiago as a gay couple, including the latest info on the best gay hotels, bars, clubs, parties and events, which we always keep updated thanks to the help of our local gay friends in Santiago.
As a child I would look at maps and think how ridiculous Chile looked. Stretched out and elongated, it defied all the norms about the shapes of countries. I never got round to finding out why it was that shape. Now, it was obvious.
I was on a flight from Sao Paulo in Brazil into Santiago – the capital of Chile – and the pilot had just warned us to fasten our seat belts in anticipation of turbulence as we flew over the Andes. This mountain range stretches from one end of South America to the other. It defines the Chilean boarder with its neighbours Argentina and Bolivia. Chile is basically the gap between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean.
The Andes not only define the boarder of Chile, but rise up and tower over the city of Santiago itself. These mountains help create a climate which, during the UK’s winter months, allows bright, dry, hot sunshine day after day. In January and February, Santiago hardly sees any rain. There are infinite cloudless skies, and temperatures heading into the 86 F and upwards.