Safe Stay: In the city
Don’t only look at the beautiful women and handsome men!
Be aware of pickpockets. Don’t allow them to distract you (a popular tactic) in a crowd. For example, by bumping into you or by spilling some liquid or soda „by accident“.
Try to keep your purse or backpack in front of your body. Always keep track of your belongings, bags, backpacks and luggage. Don’t let them out of your sight.
Don’t show off valuables like jewelry, cameras, etc. Hold on tight to your cell phone while talking.
Leave large sums of money, plane tickets, passport, etc. in a safe place in your residence or carry them in a money-belt or special hidden compartment. Make a photocopy of your passport to take with you and leave the original in a safe place unless you really need it.
At night, avoid going for walks alone in the hills Cerro San Cristóbal and Santa Lucía in Santiago, the same goes for the hills of Valparaíso, and for some parts of the downtown.
Beware of a very special trick: seemingly nice and well educated (most often young) people approach foreigners and present a social, political or ecological campaign they’ve allegedly been planning. With a very valid argument and psychological pressure – they always work in groups – they convince their victim to „donate“ a large sum of money. These groups tend to work in Cerro Santa Lucía and in Parque Forestal in Santiago.