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Do you research things like crime statistics and road traffic accidents before you travel though? Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. I never understand why people think that “feeling safe” means you are actually safe.
I see this quite a bit with American visitors to GCM. They don’t read the local media and constantly bang on about how safe it is to drive there, on the basis of having rented a car for one week. If they did their research, they would know that in Q1 of 2024 alone, there were over 600 *reported* RTCs, including multiple casualties and fatalities – on an island of 60,000 people!
Also, you’ve got to consider how you would cope in a foreign country where any legal and medical services aren’t necessarily going to operate in your first language and you might need to liaise extensively with travel insurance in the event of a crisis. The media is full of stories about people who seem to be shocked that the emergency services abroad don’t function in the same way that they do in the UK.
@NorthernLass – what’s a bit worrying about Chile is that I think that most of us would think it is low risk, because it has historically been very safe and is nowadays a modern, calm, relatively richer, stable democracy but politics have recently got rather complicated and polarised. This level of violence against tourists has all changed in the last 12 months+ so tourists’ expectations have often not been adjusted yet.
It actually wouldn’t have occurred to me to read the FCDO advice which notes the problem but is quite mild compared to the advice of other countries. What is happening now is very real.
We have been to Chile a number of times in the past ten years, and were wondering about going again next year but won’t be going again until the situation improves except maybe to cross the border in the very south (hopefully too far/too cold/too few people for the perps to be interested!).
Crime statistics are next to useless in most of Latin America. And the situation in places like Honduras, Mexico, Ecuador, etc. is far too fast moving to be reflected in statistics.
Often well-meaning people see someone non-local and err on the side of caution. My personal approach to risk assessment, risk mitigation and risk management is somewhat different.
On the one hand, I don’t walk around with expensive jewellery, cars or electronics. On the other, I actively seek out areas and events with higher levels of criminality and political sensitivity.
I personally travel with a constant and dynamic evaluation and re-evaluation of risk. And you have to remember that people typically are very bad at estimating risk. Your mention of car accidents is a case in point. Lots of tourists feel safest inside their expensive hire car but road journeys are often more dangerous than seedy favelas or remote jungles and the car makes them more of a target than walking through a protest with a hoodie on.
@cin3 – I agree with your comments about perceptions of risk and mitigation of risk but this is very different as Chile has historically rightly been considered a very safe country. I think many people still travel there with that impression when there has been a very major and very real change in the security situation with violence and violent scams directed at tourists. That is totally new and people should be aware of it.
We were in both Argentina and Chile just over a month ago and in neither place did we feel unsafe nor did we witness any crimes but in both Buenos Aires and Santiago we chatted to tourists who had been on cruises and were warned by their travel companies not to wear expensive jewellery because of the risk of being mugged.
The crime that is currently rife in Buenos Aires is taxi drivers scamming tourists by either having a speeded up metre or tricking them by adding a zero to the end of the bill. We used Ubers without any problems.
The only crime we were a victim of in chile was when stopped on the highway up to Zapallar for speeding on a Sunday and being told by the policeman that we could attend the local court the next day or pay him the equivalent of £80 – of course that went in his pocket!
My wife and I did a very similar trip to Chile this year.
We started by flying into Santiago before flying down to the south and visiting Torres Del Paine in the south. We stayed at the Rio Serrano – which was expensive for what you got but all about location and saved a long drive on pretty terrible roads each day if staying outwith the park.
Within the hotel is a tour company called The Massif which runs hikes and drives around the area. You could probably do them yourself but they organised a guided drive around the highlights of the park which gave a great overview.
Following that we fly up to the Lakes area. We stayed in the Hotel Awa which we loved. Great location with views of the volcano. The water in the lake was warm enough when we were there to swim in. It is a bit out the way but once of the best hotels we have stayed in – worth a look – cheap it is not.
Following that we flew up the desert. We stayed at Hotel Desertica in San Pedro de Atacama. It is a bit of a back packing town but we did a number of standard tours around the area.
Chile is vast and you pretty much lose a day each time you change location but we really enjoyed it.
We flew Economy+ within Chile on LATAM – which was pretty good – you got priority at baggage control and boarding, a free seat between you onboard and food and drink. It was not much more than regular economy. We booked via the Chile version of LATAM and it did save us quite a lot.
The lounge at SCL is not to be missed – one of my favourite lounges i have ever used.
Just check you have a ticket issued for the home bound flight on BA – that lead to a stress filled last night but that is a story for another day – all ended up good.
Let me know if any questions.
@corking – sounds a great trip. We are planning something similar, but we intend to spend 4 days in Chile’s Lake District, then cross over to Bariloche, before flying home from B.A.
Any ideas on an “even better” trip?thanks @corking ! 🙂
Beware, you need to book campsites for the o at tdp very early these days. But feel free to skip some, the days are very short. And don’t bother with the w, apart from the torres themselves, by far the best scenery is on the back end of the loop and not visible from the w side.
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