u/Nexus03

I picked up the new 20-50 f/4 L yesterday. The power zoom function is pretty fun and smoothly implemented. It reminds me of my first Canon camera (A640 Powershot). The lens is very sharp and reminds me a lot of the 14-35 L. This will likely become my default walk around lens with the 35/85 VCM's being used for actual shoots / paid jobs.

I had some free time pop up and decided I was finally ready to explore Brazil; but with the amount of flying required from Seattle, I figured I would add in a few more countries just to make the trip worth it in the off chance I don't like Brazil (that leg of the trip is still two days away).

I was warned in this thread that Chile was worse than this subreddit's most hated country (and where I am currently lol). It prompted me to almost change my itinerary but, I survived living in Germany for 4 years, various other hostile spots and I'm from the US, we don't really get to point fingers and call countries racist anymore with the shitshow in the WH currently. So I ended up leaving my plans how they were.

I'm happy to report, those warnings, while appreciated, were not my experience at all. Before I even get to the people, I just want to express how beautiful this country is. I was only in Santiago during my stay but I've become borderline obsessed with it's geography and, wow. This is truly a gem if you love nature, mountains, varied terrain, etc. From a throwaway / layover spot to now being my future travel obsession is pretty wild.

Anywho, onto the people, I was received so warmly. I stayed at the W Santiago so of course there's a basic requirement for hospitality but you know the difference between someone just going through the motions and someone actually excited to host you and ensure your stay is comfortable. It wasn't just the hotel staff tho. I ventured around the city quite a bit, checking out various tourist attractions, restaurants, the night life, etc and was received warmly everywhere. I don't think it was American privilege as I was mistaken for Brazilian numerous times, even by other Brazilians.

There's a ton of Venezuelans and Colombians who seemed to make up a lot of the service jobs (ubers, restaurant staff, etc). I saw maybe 5 Black folks the entire trip. We exchanged head knods but I was also en route to something or working out so I wasn't able to ask where they were from. Despite being the only Black man in most of the settings I was in, I was never stared at, given rude treatment or anything.

The food was absolutely incredible (seafood heaven). Prices are cheap. I did get scammed at an Oxxo where something that displayed as 10,000 pesos was charged to my card at double the price. I just kept the receipt and disputed the charge and will let Apple / GS do their thing. I felt safe everywhere. I walked around at night, visited a couple different barios and rode the metro a few times, no issue whatsoever.

All in all, this was one of my favorite trips in years and I can not wait to return.

A few pics: https://imgur.com/a/Ig7L39Z