You remember that corny song from the 80’s by the one-hit wonder Charlene. It went something like this:
“Oh, I’ve been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run
I took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free
I’ve been to paradise but I’ve never been to me.”
Oh, you know it. It is a favorite song at gay karaoke bars and is the opening number in the fabulous Australia Drag flick movie “Priscilla Queen of the Desert.” And it so happens to be the theme song for me while I am at the Optimum Health Institute (OHI), a detox destination in San Diego.
The truth is, the past few years have been tough on me, or should I say, I have been tough on the past few years. I left my corporate job in 2003 to start Tango Diva, and the website went live in 2004. I then decided to write a book, which took years because of all the changes to the proposal. Basically I wrote 4 books and only 1 got published. In 2006 I took on the challenge of raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and raised the second-most in the nation that year as “Woman of the Year”. 2007 FLY SOLO came out and I spent the year traveling for speaking engagements, TV interviews, and radio show.
Then, somehow 2008 snuck up on me and I totally forgot about myself and my health. My first step back to health was when on February 19, I decided to not work 16 hours a day. I cut back to 12 hours Monday through Friday. (baby steps).
Before I knew it, it was the middle of the summer and I was hosting a huge group of Tango Diva members and guests at Club Med Cancun. It was a great experience, but by the final day I was sick in bed and feeling like the world was sitting on my head.
When I got home I know that this was my chance to do something for myself, so I booked a week at OHI. I needed to detox my body from all the margaritas, chips, and 5 years of running really hard to accomplish my dreams. I realized that if I was sick or fat I would never get to do all the things that I wanted. And I was already sick, and the pounds had started to creep on my belly and arms. Ick.
So, I picked up the phone and booked a week stay. This is a journal of what happened to me on my trip…..
We spent an incredible afternoon in one of the 14 wine regions in Chile drinking wine, eating amazing BBQ beef, and watching beautiful Chilean horses prance.
If you are in Chile, I high recommend a day of wine tasting and a stop at Puro Caballo restaurant, horse farm, and show. It is around an hour outside of Santiago, Chile on the way to the coastal town of Valparaiso.
It is a tricky ride out there, so you need to hire a driver or rent a car to get there. It is out in the country, but it really is worth a day tour.
While we were there, our Tango Diva correspondent Andrew interviews two girls who moved to Chile to teach English and learn Spanish. This is what every 20-something should do! GO out and see the world!!
The truth is, Chile is freaking FAR away. It is the Southern Hemisphere, so far down that it owns part of Antarctica! Chile is in the Eastern time zone, so my internal clock is not shot to hell, which is such a bonus.
So, how do you get down here? You have a few options, but the best is to have someone help you out. Marcelo Diaz owns Americas Travel in San Francisco and he gets the best rates for Latin America because of all his connections. He has been working with American Airlines for so long that he can get you the best rates as well as plan an amazing trip for you. And, as you know, when you are planning a one-in-a-lifetime trip, service and experience is the most important things. THANKS MARCELO and THANK YOU LUIS at American Airlines.
Details:
American Airlines has 2 flights daily to Santiago Chile. One from Miami, which is 8 hours and one from Dallas, which is 10 hours. Just call Marcelo and he will get you on a plane to chile.
Come with me as I speak with Luis from American Airlines, who is on this extraordinary trip with us about AA’s flights to Santiago and what to pack on your trip to Chile.
The resort we are staying at is truly incredible. I predict that this destination will become the chic, cool hideaway that you read about in glossy magazines. And you heard it here first Divas!
The reason why this will become the IT place for the rich and famous is because of how secluded and high-end it is. The owners did not spare any expenses when building this gorgeous venue. There are only 32 private rooms that include an indoor bath and outdoor shower. Everything is top of the line with L’Occitane products – including the full-service spa. The spa has an amazing indoor Jacuzzi pool. The resort is all-inclusive, so everything is part of the package (expect spa treatments) so, you can chill by the crazy pool and drink Pisco Sours to your heart’s content!
Tierra Atacama, the resort and spa that we are staying at offers a ton of different excursions during your stay here. Actually, they are part of your al-inclusive package. Here is the link to pricing at Tierra Atacama. (Could they have come up with a shorter name?)
Our group went on a bike ride to the salt lake today. It was a pretty gentle ride, but I hear there are harsher bike rides and excursions that the resort offers. Honestly, I don’t really care to break anything more than a bottle of wine open, so breaking a sweat is not on my itinerary.
I really enjoyed the hour-plus ride and at the end of it we went and checked out a whole in the salt lake where a crazy Swiss tourist was swimming. Another thing I won’t do on vacation is freeze my !%$ off in water that is 40 degrees on the surface. (I am told it is warmer just under the salty, cold layer, but I was not going to find out. I did dip my toes in and that was far enough.
Who knew that three of the five types of flamingos lived in Chile? As a matter of fact, they can be found around an hour from our resort in San Pedro. After our trip to the Valley of the Moon, we ventured to Salar de Atacama, which is the third largest salt lake in the world. The lake is 92 kilometers in length and is the largest producer of Lithium in the world. So, here at this dry, salty lake, they’ve got pink flamingos, Lithium, UFO sightings, healing salts, and deep Incan folklore. Crazy, right?
Our guide, Pamela share with us an passionate story about a sacred Incan volcano and how God created Chile.
Watch her wonderful story as we walk on salt flats and play with flamingos.
The flight from Dallas to Santiago Chile was a breeze because we flew American Airlines Business Class. They don’t offer First Class to Santiago - but is was all good and I slept during most of the flight. Ahhhh, the only way to fly.
We spent a few hours at the Ritz Carlton in Santiago, then returned back to the airport for a late afternoon flight to Calama. The resort that we are staying at, Tierra Atacama is located in a tiny town called San Pedro, which is arounf 1.5 hours from Calama airport. The flight from Santiago to Calama was around 1.5 hours as well. So, it is fair to say that we were all pretty tired that night.
The next day we were up and out to the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). The Vally is located around 20 minutes from the resort in the “Los Flamencos National Reserve.” It really looks like the moon there because of the salt formations.
For the next 7 days, you can follow me as I trek through Chile with Americas Travel, a tour company that specializes in high-end tours of South America. Marcelo, our host and owner of Americas Travel meets up with a group of 10 women on their way to Argentina.
This is our plans while we’re in Chile:
May 07 - Depart for Santiago de Chile on American Airlines
May 08 - Arrival at 800am at the Santiago airport. Our driver will pick us up and take us to the Ritz Carlton to enjoy some late breakfast or early lunch or a glass of Champagne, also here we can drop some of our clothing that we will not need in Atacama. We have a flight to Calama at 355pm from Santiago airport, so probably we will depart the Ritz around 130pm.
May 08 - Arrival at the Calama airport. We will be met by Tierra Atacama Hotel and Spa, our arrival at Calama airport is at 6pm, the transfer will take about 1 hour to our hotel.
May 08-12 - We’ll be biking treking, hiking, spa-ing, and dining for 4 days.
May 12 - Depart from Calama airport at 935am to arrive Santiago at 1235pm. We will probably depart the hotel at around 7am.
May 12 - Our driver will meet us at Santiago airport and transfer us to the Ritz Carlton Santiago. a few hours for a City tour, back to the hotel.
May 13 - After breakfast we will go and visit Valparaiso ( Port ) and Vina del Mar Sea Side Resort, for Lunch we will meet some contacts at Puro Caballo for lunch www.purocaballo.cl , later on return to hotel.
Dinner at the hotel, then out on the town on our own.
May 14 - Day at leisure, go shopping, relax at the SPA, lunch on our own , late check out, by 6pm.
May 14 - Flight from Santiago at 910pm, arrive Dallas May 15 and then connect to arrive San Francisco at 1030am.
On August 13, 1961 the Berlin Wall went up to separate East Berlin from West Berlin during Russian occupation of Germany after the WWII. We all know the stories of families torn apart because of the wall and how their country got out of sync with itself because of this separation.
I was in New Orleans last week and the levy, to me, was much like the Berlin Wall. Although the goal of the levy was to separate the unforgiving muddy Mississippi from the lives and homes of New Orleans, after Katrina is represented the harsh reality of class disconnection.
And now, even though the levy us up, the “wall” is even higher and thicker than it was before Katrina. There is no longer a middle class in New Orleans and the economic and racial inequalities are more profound than ever. For example, if you happen to be on the fringe of poverty before Katrina, you were definitely drowning in it afterwards.
Katrina was not a war, it was a natural disaster. And it was not just the Lower 9th Ward that got hit. There are dozens of neighborhoods that were destroyed. I visited two of them while I was there, and I was heartbroken and shocked by what I saw. This did not happen a few weeks ago. This happened 2.5 years ago! The Berlin Wall is gone, just small fragments still stand near Checkpoint Charlie, but as for the levy….. only time will tell.
If you want to support a group that is doing great work in New Orleans by training at-risk youth to work in restaurants, please visit Café Reconcile. The work they are still doing is amazing!
Please, go to New Orleans, it is a fabulously rich American city with roots deep in the African, Caribbean and French culture. Tourism is one of the best ways to get the city back on its feet. But whatever you do, don’t stay at the St. Louis Hotel in the French Quarter. I tried to stay there for a few nights, but the room was so smelly and the staff so unpleasant that I left and went to the Ritz Carlton on Canal Street.
My favorite eats:
Lillette in the Garden District – they have a beet salad to die for!
3637 Magazine Street
504-895-1636
Maximo’s Italian Grill (when you get tired of French and Creole food)
117 Decatur Street
504-586-8883 www.maximosgrill.com
Mr. B’s – the best BBQ shrimp in the world
201 Royal
504-523-2078
