We left Alvaralto around midday - many
thanks to Ingrid & Ricardo for their tremendous hospitality.
The journey from Alvaralto to Santiago
Airport was the last opportunity to get lost and we just hate to
disappoint. At the bottom of 'Ricardo's hill' we turned right and
should have turned left. It did not take too long before I noticed
that the signs seemed to take us away from where we wanted to go. With
trucks on my tail, it took a little longer to find a place to turn
round.
Despite the de-tour, we still got to the
airport in time for our rendez-vous with the rep. of LYS Rent a Car.
Once again, we said an emotional farewell to our home for the last 3
weeks. Again, we had taken it to places where a break down could have
had some serious consequences; again, the Hilux had proven to cope
without hitch with everything we had thrown at it. I can strongly
recommend them to anyone contemplating a Chilean trip in the future.
The 13 hour flight to Madrid, the 5 hour
wait for our connecting flight to London and that flight (1 hour 50
minutes) itself were all uneventful. We touched down in the dark,
around 7 p.m.
A taxi took us from the airport to my
parents' home, where we had parked my car. They were exited to welcome
us back. As usual they had worried that somehow our adventures would
back fire on us. 'When are you coming over to show us your pictures?'
'Over the Christmas period.' and from Dad, aged 86 and in rapidly
deteriorating health, jokingly: 'When are you going again? And can I
come along this time?'
Dad died the following Tuesday, 28 November.
The candle had been flickering for some time
and finally went out, suddenly, quickly, painlessly. Thanks Dad for
teaching me the value of travel, encouraging me to record and question
what I see, for helping me to finance the early trips when I was out
of work, and for so much more.
