The English-Speaking Union Chile
Official Launch Programme
21st to 26th October, 2006
Saturday 21st OctoberArrival at Santiago
18.30 / Bus leaves hotels for Prince of Wales Country Club.
Welcome cocktail party
22.00 / Bus returns to hotels
Sunday 22nd October
12.30 / Bus leaves hotels for lunch at restaurant, followed by city tour.
17.30 / Return to hotels.
Monday 23rd October
09.00 / Bus leaves for programme with Chilean educational authorities.
13.00 / Bus returns to hotels.
15.00 / Lord Watson of Richmond speaks at Universidad de Los Andes (Los Andes University)
18.30 / Bus leaves hotels for British Ambassador’s residence.
Official launching ceremony followed by a reception.
Tuesday 24th October
10.30 / Buses leave hotels to take group to venue of the finals of the ESU Chile National Dialogue Competition. After the competition we will lunch at a restaurant with participants, on the invitation of the Ministry of Education.
14.30 / Buses leave restaurant for “Pueblito de Las Condes” craft market.
16.30 / Buses return to hotels
18.00 / Group leaves hotels for concert at the Teatro Municipal (Municipal Theatre). Nearly 150 years old, the Municipal Theatre is a notable historic building and the main setting in Santiago for music, opera and ballet.
Wednesday 25th October
9.00 / Bus leaves hotels for full-day tour to coastal localities of Isla Negra (visit to the house of Nobel prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda), Santo Domingo and San Antonio (one of Chile’s principal ports), with a visit to the renowned wine-growing area of Casablanca on the way. Lunch at Santo Domingo.
18.00 / Return to hotels
Thursday 26th October
9.00 / Bus leaves hotels for museum visits, which will give visitors an impression of the artistic and cultural background of Chile.
Lunch at the Santa Rita vineyard. Wines are an important element in Chile’s economy.
16.00 / Bus leaves Santa Rita vineyard for hotels.
20.00 / Farewell dinner at Ritz Carlton Hotel.
END OF OFFICIAL LAUNCH PROGRAMME
(The programme may suffer some minor alterations between now and October)
OPTIONAL PROGRAMME FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO STAY ON AND SEE MORE OF THE COUNTRY
Friday 27th October
You may choose between the following:
- An all-day bus tour to the south-west to the Colchagua valley, which is one of the best known wine-growing areas. Visits to two vineyards and also to the private historical museum at Santa Cruz, which has a fascinating variety of artefacts from both Chile and other countries. Lunch at one of the vineyards. The bus would leave at 9.00am and the return would be back at about 7.00pm. The bus journey there and back takes about 5 ½ hours.
- An all-day outing by bus to Valle Nevado (Snowy Valley), a ski resort high in the Andes mountains near Santiago. With luck there may still be snow. This trip will give you a good introduction to the mountains which form an imposing backdrop to the city of Santiago. The bus would leave at 9.00am and the return would be about 5.00pm.
- A four-day (three nights) visit to Chilean Patagonia. Flight by LAN to Balmaceda on the Thursday. Road transport to Puerto Chacabuco on the coast. Accommodation at the “Loberías del Sur” hotel for the three nights. All meals included. Catamaran trip through channels and fjords to the “Laguna San Rafael”, where a huge glacier is breaking off into the sea. The next day a visit to a private natural park, where you can enjoy virgin forest, rivers, waterfalls, a lake, wild life and a typical Patagonian barbecue. On the Monday, road transport back to the airport at Balmaceda and LAN flight to Santiago.
Saturday, 28th October
- A four-day (three nights) visit to San Pedro de Atacama in the high desert area of the north of Chile. San Pedro was the centre of an important pre-Spanish culture and has an interesting archeological museum. There will be visits to the geysers of El Tatio and either to the spectacular “Valle de la Luna” (Moon Valley) or to the nearby salt flats. Accommodation for three nights at the Terrantai Hotel. All meals included. Air travel by LAN between Santiago and Calama, road transport between Calama and San Pedro. Return to Santiago on the Wednesday.
If you wish to consider the possibility of other tours, please consult the web-site of our travel agent, , or communicate directly with Mrs. María Teresa Lamarca at . In particular those who may want to go on to Cusco and Machupicchu in Peru will have to consider carefully the flight itinerary from your countries of origin. It may be advantageous to book your flight via Lima.
HOTELS IN SANTIAGO
ESU Chile has block booked at two hotels, which are close together in the “Las Condes” area of Santiago, near a Metro station and convenient for the tours which have been planned. One is the Ritz Calton (five stars) and the other is the Rugendas ( four stars). You are requested to choose between the two and make your booking through us at the latest by 15th July.
COSTS OF HOTELS
Ritz Carlton:
Type of room
/Single per night with breakfast
/Twin per night without breakfast
/ Twin per night with breakfastDe luxe / US$ 175 / US$ 175 / US$ 195
Club / US$ 215 / US$ 215 / US$ 235
Rugendas:
Type of room
/ Single per night with breakfast / Double per night with breakfastStandard / US$ 96 / US$ 103
COSTS OF PROGRAMMES
Name of programme
/Cost of programme
/Air fares