Arica, Chile

[AlmostThere]

After my previous posting "Ecuador or Bust" I took some of the replies to heart and examined Ecuador a little closer. Generally, you can be safe in smaller towns where expats are congregating, like Cotacachi or Banos. But amenities Americans take for granted, like malls, movie theaters, etc are in the bigger cities where safety can be pretty dicey. I like the beach too but temps on Ecuador's coast are boiling hot with high crime rates. So I started looking at the 3 countries at the south end of South America. You want to be safe? Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile are on average safer than the U.S., although Argentina's crime has increased some with it's ongoing economic crisis. Chile's police force is it's country's most respected institution. Uruguay has a laid back lifestyle that reminds posters on UruguayLiving. com of the U.S. in the 50's. And although Chile is the most expensive country in South America, it's costs are coming down due to the world economic crisis which has caused the price of copper, Chile's main export, to crash.. On the Uruguay forum Arica, Chile was mentioned as a great beach town with a mild climate and low cost living. I found this web page on living there created by a resident who's an electric engineer.

http://tombrad2.googlepages.com/expat

I like that Arica is close to Bolivia and Peru for roadtrips. However since Chile is becoming more affordable there are some very beautiful areas further south I'd consider too.

Regards,
Wade

 

[mountaintosea]

Thanks for the page. It was very interesting. Something to think about.

 

[Gumby]

I found Valparaiso, Chile to be a very nice place. Especially the Vina del Mar area.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Say Hi to Tom for me.

 

[Dreamer]

I think that it would be fun to visit there for possibly 4-6 months and be able to explore different cultures and places. Thanks for sharing!

 

[AlmostThere]

Sorry for taking so long to reply. I've found a couple of webpages that give some good info. The second one has some very strong political opinions but if you scroll past the Living in Uruguay ad she gives some amazing figures on cost of living.

http://www.endofthetrail-arica.cl/places.shtml

http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/89/Chile.html

I agree that Valparaiso and Vina del Mar are very nice cities. There's alot of good choices in Chile, with, it seems, something for everyone. If you like Switzerland go to Google Images and search for Pucon, which is the major resort town in Chile's Lake District. Valdivia is another city in that area. There's a strong German influence in that area.

When that 2nd page was written the Chile Peso was in the low 500's to the Dollar. Today it was 674 to 1 Dollar. So it's an even better bargain for Americans.

Regards,
Wade