A swing through South America

[Scarlett]

SCL-LSC LA318
A320-200 Y+
CC-BLB
On time.

Needed water so went and found that generic 'bookshop, snacks, electronics' kind of place that seems to be in every decent sized airport these days. Then to the gate and boarding commenced at what seemed to be a pretty early time, although I've subsequently found it to be the norm for LA flights in SthAm. They start early because even using groups it is a slow process actually getting everyone on and seated.


Departure view of SCL.


The flight to La Serena is just less than an hour so service in Y+ is a bag of crisps and a little muesli bar kind of thing. Plus a bottle of water for each pax and then a drinks cart for tea, coffee, juice. No alcoholic beverages seen. The seating is standard Y seats but with middle blocked and what I guess is a comfortable enough 84cm pitch.

Descent view heading into LSC.


The last natural light at about 2000 local pulling into the small airport that is LSC.


LA, SKY Airline and JetSmart all serve the SCL-LSC route multiple times per day so although it’s a small airport it is still quite busy.

 

[Scarlett]

La Serena is an old Chilean city that has been expanded in more recent times to takes advantage of miles of Pacific Ocean beaches. Resorts, condos and that sort of thing have combined what were formerly separate towns of La Serena and Coquimbo into one large urban area. La Serena old town is actually a couple of kilometres back from the coastline closer to a valley running eastward into the Andes.

I had booked accommodation in the old town area and it turned out to be a couple of Spanish era mansions tastefully restored as a boutique hotel.



It felt a bit like a Moroccan riad with a central open air area and rooms around the outside of the buildings. Staff were lovely too.

The town itself was a mix of some pleasant surroundings along with narrow, basic or maybe ramshackle areas.


I’d come to La Serena for what was the second best ranked golf course in Chile, unimaginatively named Campo de Golf La Serena. As the weather was better for the second day I was in town, for this day I first headed to a different course just for some practice. Pan de Azucar (sugar bread? - ahh Google translate calls it Sugarloaf - which is a common enough name. It’s most familiar to me for Mount Sugarloaf near Newcastle, which was where the regional TV/radio antennae were situated) was the name of the course. Pretty basic club and course.





Lots of mature eucalypts again, but pretty average conditioning. However, I’m playing golf for leisure and there’s plenty of people in the world who don’t have a secure source of food for tonight, so it’s all good.




A couple of sprinkles of rain here and there but very brief each time.