Hello All

I have returned from three weeks in South America and wanted to give all of you a short "heads up" about the trip.   In a week or so -or when I can find a spare few hours- I will post a more complete recap on the site (with photos) of the greatest trip I have ever taken in my 70 plus years.

This trip was a year in planning and all my efforts proved to be worth the time spent. I had 20 out of 21 days of sunshine & perfect temperatures of 60-65 degrees (remember it is winter there and a week before my arrival there was snow in Santiago).   Of course, as I got closer to the Equator it got hotter.   With my luck it turned out to be warmer in NYC with higher humidity!   Every hotel was top of the line with great service (Swissotel, Starwood's San Cristobal, Sofitel were most gracious).   I visited five countries; flew six different airlines (a special thank you to Aerolineas Argentinas that gave me a great rate to Buenos Aires & Mendoza and upgraded me to Business Class.   American Airlines assisted me with my return to the US)  one ferry; one cruise ship; two buses; a bunch of taxis and lots of private cars.   All but two left or arrived on time.   My guides were the best and what they showed me made me want to return.   As a matter of fact I do plan to make the 150th country I will have visited Antarctica in January 2007 and go back through Chile and Argentina to get there.

I have so many people to thank for helping me with this trip and I will not burden you with all their names at this time.   I will personally have thanked them all by the time I finish writing my complete summary.   Without their assistance I would have spent many times my actual cost for the trip.   Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru & Ecuador were my stops, in that order, and all had memories that will last what is left of my lifetime.   Imagine finding treasures like Brian Pearson of Santiago Adventures and Justin & Jonathan of Southern Explorations on the internet and having them work their young tails off for me (they are all in their early 30's).   Paulo Irigoyen is 23 years old and with his family runs the Gray Line operation in South America.   He set up private tours in Buenos Aires, Lima, Quito & Guayaquil and until we had dinner in Quito all our conversations had been by e-mail.   In Mendoza and Uruguay the people working for the winery associations took me under their wing and toured me around to all the wineries.   Both these countries have top notch US public relations people who were very helpful.   If you read my earlier musings you know there is no love lost between myself and the "so called" public relations company running Wines of Chile here in the United States.   That said, Meghan Redmond of Billington Imports & Sebastian Lopez of Banfi took it upon themselves to set up my Chilean winery visits and coordinate my entire stay there.   You will all be rewarded for your efforts. 

If you attended my 70th birthday bash on July 12th you will recall perfect weather, great food and wine with unbelievable entertainment from the best magician most of us have ever seen.   I will have professional photos from that party posted soon on this site.   For those of you that choose to write a check to one of my three favorite charities, muchas gracias (see what I learned in three weeks).   I will be sending in all the checks within the next few weeks along with my contribution to those three worthwhile charities.   As a reminder they are: Ron Kapon's 70th Birthday Fund at Columbia College; The Ron Kapon Wine Library at Fairleigh Dickinson University; The Jim Couch Foundation.   You can mail any checks to me to be included in the total- Ron Kapon- 230 West 79th Street- #42N- NYC 10024-6210- (212) 799-6311.

Thanks for sharing the first 70 years of my life!

- Ron