Galapagos — a miracle of nature

If any place in South America tops the list of ever being a travel dream for me, it is undoubtedly the fascinating Galapagos islands. The first time I knew about them is when I saw an Attenborough documentary 3 years back. These volcanic islands are a part of Ecuador but…

Arpit Maheshwari

Oct 4, 2016

Peru — A foodie’s paradise

After the bland Chilean food, Peru is the perfect place for any foodie. The country rightly boasts of its cuisine as a very important part of national identity. It’s pretty remarkable how much pride Peruvians take in their food. Given my new found love for cooking, I am also more…

Arpit Maheshwari

Aug 6, 2016

Being a teacher — part 2

I wrote about some of my classroom experiences here. But it was my time outside classes that helped me bond with the students a lot. For them, I was unlike the other teachers and despite the significant language barrier, the fact that a person from an unknown country is in their…

Being a teacher — part 1

One year ago, teaching would have been the last thing I would imagine doing while travelling the world. But I am very happy I took the leap of faith and applied for this volunteer program in Chile. Last 4 months have been an amazing journey with Escuela Las Canteras, a public school…

English Winter Camps

2 weeks of insane fun! The English winter camps have been undoubtedly the best part of my teaching experience here in Chile.

Arpit Maheshwari

Jun 28, 2016

San Pedro — Atacama meets Andes

We had a plan to go to San Pedro de Atacama (most popular destination of Northern Chile) at the end of our program but then a long weekend was sufficient to entice us to go earlier. Our plans also coincided with that of Aimon, a fellow volunteer from Pakistan, who had the…

Arpit Maheshwari

May 19, 2016

In love with cooking

One of the best parts of this South American journey is that there is a lot of time — to enjoy running, reading, writing and sometimes not doing anything at all. One of my latest hobbies has been cooking. We’ve a small apartment here with a furnished kitchen and I’ve spent the last few weeks…

Mi experiencia de aprender español

It’s the first language I’m genuinely learning after failed attempts with French in college and Kannada in Bangalore. Honestly, it was a little uncomfortable to come to Chile knowing no Spanish at all. In the last 2 months, my Spanish has definitely improved and I want…

sakshi bhatia

May 10, 2016

Reserva nacional Pinguino de Humboldt

This national reserve is a great place to see some rare sea animals and be one with the nature. It was a long and memorable day.

How did we get there?

Arpit Maheshwari

May 1, 2016

Serene mountains and lakes — Nevado Tres Cruces

This is an awesome high-altitude national park near the Argentine border with Chile. As much as we prefer to backpack, there was no way we were missing out on this National Park and its beautiful lakes due to lack of public transport. With Vicky…