On the morning of Saturday,September 11th, ArcticTropic visited a fish market in Santiago. The  icy cold South Pacific Ocean , fed by the Humboldt Current flowing north from Antarctica, is home to the world’s most abundant fisheries.

On Friday, September 10th, ArcticTropic travelled back across the Andes, from Mendoza to Santiago, this time in just 45 minutes ! The highlight of the flight is a view of Cerro Aconcagua 6,962 m (22,841 ft), the world’s highest mountain outside of the Himalayas.

LAN has 3 daily flights to and from SCL to MDZ. Santiago – gateway to skiing at Portillo, and Mendoza, gateway to the Mendoza and San Juan wine regions.

On the last run of the day, one of ArcticTropic‘s skilled videographers shot this excellent downhill footage while skiing.

The Chilean Flag waves proudly over the Andes.

FOR ADVENTURES IN CHILE, CLICK HERE

Sunrise in Portillo this morning.

FOR ADVENTURES IN CHILE, CLICK HERE

Yesterday, Portillo was cold and windy- the temperature never rose above freezing and went as low as 19 ( F) -8 ( C). Many of the upper slopes remained closed. As of this posting it is snowing again.

Just after sunset – about 6:30 PM.

FOR ADVENTURES IN CHILE, CLICK HERE

ArcticTropic is now on location in Portillo, Chile !We arrived yesterday after a great overnight flight on LAN Airlines. Action shots and videos will be posted later today.

FOR ADVENTURES IN CHILE, CLICK HERE

This morning, July 21,2010 , ArcticTropic will be featured on the Today Show at 9:36 AM EDT, replaying hourly across the US Time Zones.  Valarie d”Elia,  the Today Show’s Travel Expert will be speaking about “Cool Summer Getaways”. This summer’s record heat in the Northeast has many people thinking about skiing already. Thanks to overnight flights to Santiago, Chile , and a quick ride to Portillo – the premier Ski Resort in South America – there’s no need to wait for the next Northern Hemisphere winter.

Four and a half million people will be watching at that hour. Many thousands of interested, qualified leads will visit ArcticTropic for the first time.

Valarie is an expert travel commentator who appears on national and local media outlets including NBC’s Today Show, CNBC, Fox News and The Early Show on CBS. She is also a featured speaker at the New York Times Travel Show and makes numerous other public appearances. Every weekend, Valarie is heard fielding listeners’ questions as the host of The Travel Show on the WOR Radio Network.

On television, she is also   seen as the travel correspondent for NY1 News with her featured segments, Travel with Val.

Editor’s NOTE : Due to time constraints the segment did not air.

From September 5 th to 14th , the Paris based Dakar Rally will stage a 4500 km off road race from Kazan to Ashkabat.

The world famous Paris -Dakar Rally – which began every New Year’s Eve from 1978 to 2008 in the Place Concorde, finishing in Dakar ,Senegal about three weeks later, was discontinued this year because of terrorist threats. It relocated to Chile and Argentina during Southern Summer and the Silk Way Rally will be the adventure for Northern Summer. ArcticTropic will have periodic updates and perhaps will particpate in the race in 2010.

2008 saw several trips to the Far South. Above, a forest road in Southern Chile. In March.

Surf in Pichelemu, Chile. March.

Western Argentina highway – March.

Mexico – June.

El Popo Volcano – Mexico , June.

Pie de la Cuesta , Mexico – June.

Pie de la Cuesta , Mexico – June.

Jalapão, Tocantins,Brazil – August.

Jalapão, Tocantins,Brazil – August.

Rafting, Rio Novo ,Brazil – September.

Night forest fire,Jalapão, Tocantins,Brazil – September.

São Paulo,Brazil – September.

Andes crossing – Chile to Argentina – November.

Mendoza, Argentina – November.

Springtime – Mendoza, Argentina – November.

Cafayate, Argentina – November.

Salta, Argentina – November.

Buenos Aires, Argentina – November.

2009 plans include Asia and the Middle East.