Bosque Santiago

A few months ago, I started following the Instagram account Santiago Adicto, which highlights interesting photos, places and events in and around Santiago. Thanks to this account, Claudio and I have discovered some great new places that we'd never been to or heard of before, including Castillo Macul and Cerro Calán.

But perhaps the best place it's introduced us to has been Bosque Santiago, where we went the weekend before last. Bosque Santiago is part of Parque Metropolitano (the city's biggest park) and is sort of a part hiking trail, part open-air museum. During the week, educational tours for schools take place there, but at the weekend it's open to the public in general - and it's completely free!

When you arrive at the entrance to the park, you have to walk uphill for about five or ten minutes until you get to the first attraction, the South American camelids. The sign mentioned llamas, alpacas, guanacos and vicuñas, but there were only two vicuñas there. All the same, they were very cute and brought back memories of our trip to the Atacama Desert!

Nearby, there's a little lagoon, which is a representation of the lagoons of the Atacama Desert.

Then we began following the trail of the traditional houses of Chile, which was really interesting. There are nine different houses to see, starting with one from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), a place that is definitely on my bucket list. The house even has its own moai outside!

Then the tour took us down to the far south of Chile, with this hut from Tierra del Fuego.

The next house is from the island of Chiloé, another destination on our "to-visit" list.

The following two houses are both Mapuche houses from the south of Chile.

The next two houses are both from the centre of the country (the first one is from the countryside in the O'Higgins region, and the second one is from the coast of the Valparaíso region).

The last two houses on the trail are both from the Coquimbo region, in the north of Chile.

It was really fun to follow this trail that took us all over the country!

Afterwards, we explored some more of the park's sights, including the amphitheatre, a garden of cacti, and a wooden bridge that reminded us a lot of the bridge we visited on our recent trip to Peru!

Then we went back towards the entrance to the park, where you can find a little recreation of the Valdivian Rainforest in the south of the country.

We were both really impressed by this amazing part of Parque Metropolitana, and surprised that it is not better known as an attraction to visit in the capital. It actually reminded us a lot of Skansen, the famous open-air museum in Stockholm, which also has native animals, and traditional houses from different parts of the country. Skansen is a lot bigger, and has lots of shops, cafés and restaurants, as well as a recreation of an entire village. But on the other hand, Bosque Santiago is free to enter, and has very few visitors, so perhaps it's better that it remains more of a hidden gem!

To sum up, it goes without saying that I would recommend Bosque Santiago as a place to visit for anyone exploring Santiago. It's a great place for seeing nature, enjoying a walk, and discovering some of the culture from every corner of this beautiful country.