Elqui Valley/La Serena/the desert
Trip Start
Mar 12, 2005
1
5
6
Trip End
Apr 09, 2005
La Serena, Chile
Friday, March 25, 2005
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We flew to La Serena & collected a rental car at the airport. We explored Vicuna briefly & managed there to book a trip to an observatory for the Easter Monday night (Chile has the world´s leading observatories in this area, due to the cloud free nights & low light pollution). Then the drive to "Hacienda Los Andes" hotel via a single lane gravel track winding dangerously through the Andes. The "road" is only really suitable for a 4x4 vehicle, but our trusty Budget car got us there from Vicuna after a couple of hours, mainly at crawling speed.
We arrived at the Hacienda to be met by one of the owners, an unfriendly Austrian guy by the name of Clark. Apparently he is something of a big shot horseman, photographer & explorer, but we mainly found him a bore, with a dislike for Children. Anyway, the Hacienda is a truly beautiful 1000 acre place located in a very remote area at the foothills of the Andes, accommodating only about 15 "guests". We walked the river trail for a couple of hours until dinner. At dinner we met two other guests, Sandy & Pete, who were fantastic. Nicholas is going to write something below about his adventures with the "King Easter Bunny" (in Chile the Easter bunnies deliver the Easter eggs to the kids), that he did with Pete and Sandy.
Saturday
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With Sandy & Pete, we did a three hour trail walk up into the mountains to explore the location of an old Gold Mine. It was a fantastic walk & Nicholas spent almost the whole time talking about the King Bunny. We also collected some unusual rocks, with a completion held later at the Hacienda (Maria, the cook´s assistant, judged Sandy & Nicholas to be the joint winners, although Pete found what appears to be a Metorite that would probably have been the winner, had it been entered).
After the five of us had lunch it was time for a rest in the hammocks. Then Nicholas & I swam in the river - a bit cold, but very refreshing. Nicholas stayed reading in the hammock whilst Carmen & I went on the shaded river walk. Dinner with Pete & Sandy was a further chance to talk & develop our friendship.
Easter Saturday
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Clark announced that he would not consider taking us horse riding since Nicholas was too young & lacked experience. Perhaps a sensible position, but if he had advised us of the small, but real risks, we as parents, could have formed our own opinion. This meant we had to change our plans, since we had intended to do a half day begginers horse riding treck. We decided to leave the Hacienda the following day, although the owners initially tried to claim we would have to pay that last night there anyway (who has ever heard of a hotel that tries to penalise guests for leaving early ?).
On the Saturday we took the long trip, on a better road, to La Serena, where we reserved a very nice hotel on the beach for the following night, plus visited the attractive city. We swam in the sea, that was quite warm. Returned to the Hacienda at 11 pm, after a difficult drive at night on some more dirt tracks.
Easter Monday
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We left the Hacienda pretty early & drove back to La Serena. Nicholas & I had several "Battle of the Bridges" push-in competitions in the pool on Monday & Tuesday. Long walks on the beach & further exploration of La Serena. We also saw Coquimbo, but it was a little disappointing.
In the evening we went with Sandy to a University/amateur observatory (largest telescope about 80 cm diameter) in Vicuna, returning about midnight. We all enjoyed it, particularly Carmen.
Tuesday
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The hotel in La Serena let up check out at 5 pm (customer service somewhat different to the Hacienda), so we had more time to walk on the beach plus swim. A huge lunch on fresh seafood (Machas, scallops, crab & fish) for less than Sterling 10/person, then the plane back to Sabtiago.
We are going to Vina del Mar, on the seaside near Santiago, on Wednesday (30 March), where Jorge & Pili have an apartment, for a week. Then a final day or two in Santiago before the flight back to Europe.
Nicholas writes on the Easter King Bunny
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I left a BIONICLE METRU-NUI Easter egg design in a secret message place. In this secret message place Pete, Dad and I found four mini Easter eggs on Easter Sunday. Next morning my Dad and I went back to the secret message place and found.
1. The king Rabbits legendary stick
2. a nibbled letter from the king Rabbit
3. a hard boiled egg - I was supposed to put my design on it.
4. a mini egg with rabbit tooth marks
(P.S I am not using V.C.O.P on purpose, because I need to keep the location of the King Rabbit´s den secret)
