It got chilly in Chile. I couldn't have been happier when we stepped off the bus at La Serena and we were hit by a cool wind. Santiago had been so stifling and now I could finally stop regretting packing that space-hogging hoodie.

La Serena (the locals drop the 'La') is a Hamilton-sized city which apparently goes off in the summer. It has a small city centre and a whopping new shopping mall. The beach is enormous with white sand, murky water and a very cool lighthouse on the shoreline. On our first visit to the beach the place was deserted except for a group of teenagers boozing and screaming Spanish chants. It was 11am, but there seems to be no appropriate "beer o clock" anywhere in South America.

We were just finishing some lunch when a mottled old mutt came up to us for scraps and it was his lucky day because we had a pile of leftover salami. He ate it happily and then swiftly became our best friend. He didn't leave our side for the whole day, except for five minutes to run off and get his two buddies (both sad looking strays) to come and sit with us too.

They formed a triangle around us and one slowly inched forward until he was sharing Tim's towel and cuddling up to his back. Then one of the teens approached us for a chat and we had to tell him we spoke only English. He said a long "oooooh" and then listed the three filthiest words he knows in our language. Coincidentally they were also the three filthiest words I know.

But the funniest thing happened. The dogs started growling fiercely at him, showing their angry teeth and pushing him away from us until he was back with his friends. Then they returned to guard us once more. We were cracking up and I was wishing we had these mutts with us in Rio de Janeiro, I would have put them to good use.

Anyway, the next day we visited a Chilean version of paradise - Isla Damas - an island where there were no growling dogs but many barking mad sea lions. More on that next time.

Check out more photos from my trip in my Flickr album.

Find out about Chile.

Read more of Kelly's blogs.