At the conclusion of our bus tour, we are taken to an upmarket (though below ground level) restaurant. The meal here, that includes glasses of Chardonnay, has been negotiated by Mark as compensation for the insecure unloading of our luggage when we arrived at the hotel. We enjoy a three course meal that consists of cream cheese with crisps; excellent small steak medallions with mushrooms; and brownies with ice cream. We then return to the hotel to have coffee in our room (below) and prepare for tomorrow's flight home

Before preparing for this evening's meal, we go with Steph and Michael; and Mark and Angie to explore near the hotel - although we are conscious of our tour guides' repeated security warnings. We walk as far as the ornate steps that lead to the Santa Lucia Hill's park and gardens (below). On the way we pass a statue (left) that appears to refer to the famous moai statues of Easter Island. An original moai was held in Santiago for 150 years before being returned to the island in 2022

We also visit the Church of San Francisco (left) which is close to the hotel.

 

Dinner is at 7pm, and is taken in the room where we had breakfast this morning. The meal is included with the price of the holiday as a 'farewell' event but, strangely, was scheduled for the penultimate evening of the tour, not the last. Mark has managed to get it switched to this more suitable evening.

 

We sit with Rosamond and Ralf (below), Mia and Him, as we have a salmon starter, chicken, mousse, and coffee. A very pleasant evening at which we are able to exchange enjoyable banter with Rosamond.

 

We are up at 6:30am for an early breakfast in a crowded and noisy room. Departure for the airport is scheduled for 10am which seems rather late for an international flight due to depart at 1pm. Most of the group start gathering in the lobby from 9am. Mark explains that buses are not available before 10am, however, it is a fast drive to the airport (less than 20-minutes), and it is a quick check-in procedure. This is followed by slow queues through passport control and security.

 

We join Steph and Michael in the first class lounge provided by the LATAM airline. The lounge is very swish, but we only have a short time to take advantage of the facilities with a drink and snack.

 

Departure of the British Airways Boeing 787 is from Gate D7. Our seats (11 A&B) in Business Class are on the left-hand side of a 2-3-2 format. Take-off is at 1:50pm. We both choose soup and chicken from the menu (left) with cheese and biscuits (J) and creme pie (D) for desserts.

 

We manage to get some sleep before waking for breakfast. Flight BA 250 lands at Heathrow at 6:47am - a flight time of just under 14-hours.

 

The TITAN driver takes us (plus Lynne and the Maliks) northwards, dropping us off first at 9:45am after a drive of 1¾-hours.