The South American exploration of the Bergstrom/Bovell party (a likely description) began with a faultless stress free 9 hour Lanchile flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile. The morning light came up early; quickly and with an eerie glow; illuminating the landscape and revealing the fact that there were enormous mountains directly below our feet. Zipping by rust colored mountains and bright green tropical foilage, the airport appeared out of nowhere as a quaint and calm little establishment surrounded by cypresses. The morning was bright, sunny and crisp with a fresh green smell in the air. The sun was shining and all was well with the earth!! Or at least with Chile right then and at that particular moment.
In the airport, as neat and tidy and bereft of english as I can remember an airport, we paid an entry fee of about 150 dollars and went through the intense scrutiny of no--not immigration and customs--no! Agriculture. Yes that's right; since Chile's economy rests on the security of its farms, plantations, vineyards and whatever spawns avocados, every bag, purse and pocket is checked for contraband carrots, errant eggplant and troublesome tomatoes. It seems that anyone can come, go, leave or stay indefinitely but if you so much as smuggle in a blueberry you will find your sorry self either in jail or on the first plane out back to whatever horribe fruit smuggling country it is that you hail from.
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