La Serena & Pisco Elqui

La Serena, "the serene one", is a pleasant town, birthplace of Lisa's coteacher and our friend Hugo. He gave us some tips on things to see and do, as did our taxi driver: She still charged us an arm and a leg to go from the airport to our hostel in town, but she explained that there was an airport surcharge included, and she gave us a great recommendation for a restaurant. It's a pleasant town, but it was cold and a bit foggy the whole time we were there. Oh well...

After a nap, we set out for a picnic on the beach. Though we found the bus we wanted, unfortunately we didn't catch the name of the stop we wanted, so we took the bus all the way to the next town Coquimbo. It's a port town with an intriguing statue Cruz a la Tercero Millén, a mosque built by the king of Morocco, and a nice fish market - but no beach. We had a picnic in the park and the kids played in the playground, but on the advice of a policeman in the park, we got out of there before dark.

The next day we set out around La Serena. We found the Av. Francisco Aguirre not far from our hostal - as Hugo pointed out, it's an open-air art gallery with reconstructions of classic sculptures. After a spin around the Plaza de Armas and a look in the main church, we set off up an almost-pedestrian mall to the archaeological museum. This had a fascinating collection of artifacts (including boats) and a mummy from the Atacama Desert. We discovered that the local Diaguitas people used to hunt whales from small rafts they would paddle out into the sea.




















After lunch in front of a small church with a fascinating bell tower, we stopped by the history museum and then headed for the beach. It was a long walk over there! We couldn't figure out why the town was back against the hills with a 1.5-km largely undeveloped band between the town and the beach hotels, but Hugo told us that when the town was closer to the beach it was overrun by pirates, and Charles Darwin mentions in his journal that the low damp area near the beach was farmed. Now it is being developed with hotels and condos. The beach was pleasant, and after a school group left, we were about the only ones there. Lisa and Berto had a good time collecting shells of clams that had some nice blue colors, and Gabi napped in the baby backpack. We then had a pleasant dinner of local seafood (a fish called reineta, like a cod?, and scallop ceviche) and watched Costa Rica score a dramatic 3-0 victory over Bolivia in the Americas Cup.

Friday: Off to Pisco Elqui, up in the mountains and the home of all sorts of spiritual and metaphysical activity. The Elqui River has a narrow valley all the way down to La Serena, and the entire valley is planted with fruits and grapes. The road is up on the side to maximize the arable area - or maybe to keep it clear of flash floods. Snow-capped peaks drop down steep, mostly barren slopes to the valley. The road winds up the valley up and over Paso Lago Blanco (4200 m = 13 000') to Argentina, and we took a side valley up to the small towns of Paihuano and Pisco Elqui. It's another oasis town, and from above could be a small town in Switzerland or Austria (except for the appearance of the slopes above).
















We took a hike up the gulley to get a view over the valley - then Mike and Gabi raced back to the hostal to get our clothes out of the rain (still not quite dry) while Lisa and Berto rounded up the pisco, and picked oranges, and lemons from the garden outside our cabana. Mike fired up the heater, Berto set to work squeezing the lemons and life was good. After dinner we caught the sunset glow reflecting off the mountains. Pisco de Elqui is a favorite spot!










The next day we took our rental car up to the top of the valley to check out what we had heard was a nature preserve. No longer! Somehow it had been privatized. We took a short hike up the side of the valley to get some nice views; then Mike scouted for other hikes in the car while Gabi napped.

Tuesday we headed down the Pisco valley a short distance and then went banging up the Cachihuaz valley. From there we did a great day hike in hopes of reaching the snow line. Big wide valleys can be deceptive: the hike took all day. We paused for lunch by the valley stream, watching the vegetation diminish within about 50 yards from the stream and turn to dry rock. As we started hiking again a pickup truck came by and offered us a ride. Mike and Lisa acceded "for the sake of the children" and rode up the remaining kilometer to the snow. Berto was quick to make snow balls, and a snow war was on! After snow balls were tossed and mashed down collars, we started down the valley. We encountered quite a few local folks making the excursion up to the snow - must be an unusual event! Gabi took her afternoon nap and we got to the car after about 6 km (4 miles) of walking. A tasty dinner of pastel de choclo (creamed corn and chicken casserole) at a local restaurant and off to sleepytime. A fun day!

Window view in Santiago

A quick little report of a bit of excitement this evening in Santiago. Our hostel is so much in the center of things that it is only a block away from the main square (Plaza Italia) where all the protest marches start. Tonight Berto learned some new concepts: protest march, water cannon, and tear gas. In the half hour between when we walked past the Plaza Italia and saw youths with banners on one side of the street and riot police on the other, things escalated to tipped-over dumpsters, water cannons, flaming trash piles, and tear gas. Between tooth brushing and being tucked in, Berto joined Lisa at the window to look out upon the action. Mike was downstairs in the lobby having a quiet moment. He got to learn firsthand that tear gas seeps through doors but generally does not rise. Now, an hour later, the kids are drifting off to sleep, sirens are zipping around in the neighborhood, and Mike and Lisa are sitting outside the bedroom reflecting on different countries' methods of crowd control and blowing our noses to the light waft of tear gas. With this much big city excitement, it is a good thing we are going out to a friend's country farm tomorrow.

A follow up word on the student protests. Starting in early June, high school and university students in Santiago and other major cities have been on strike. The students want more government support for education. According to the student organizations, Chile has the highest costs for university of any country. (Bearing in mind private US college costs, I think they must be taking average income into account.) The students also point out that the majority of European and Latin American countries have low cost or free universities. At the secondary school level, I have heard numerous tales of public school classes of 40+ students. Parents in Chiloe were quick to point out to me that my experience in Carpe Diem was atypical as CD is a well managed semi-private school. The general consensus is that income disparities are growing in Chile and that the tiered system of private, semi-private and public schools is widening the income gap.

For my part I had to hand it to the students for creativity. They did not just march and carry placards, they made street theater. In my mind their protests have been evidence of intelligent, determined people. While we in Santiago we witnessed a mass queca dance in the Plaza de Armas, a march and choreographed dance by cartoon and super heroes, a plea for 1800 pints of blood (symbolizing the $1.8 billion investment that they are seeking in education), a day and night continuous relay run around La Moneda (the Presidential palace) to keep their demands in front of President Piñera, A mass recreation of Michael Jackson's thriller video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76TIfIqjyPc&feature=related complete with ghoulish makeup and a leader in a red leather jacket, and student dressed as Jesus bearing a cross of university expenses. We were disappointed that we missed the mass kiss in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5EJXGd70KY Mike and I would have been ready to lend our support.

For more details check out the NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/world/americas/05chile.html?ref=americas

and Santiago Times http://www.santiagotimes.cl/chile/education/22145-students-and-police-face-off-in-chiles-capital

Go North, young man (and woman and boy and girl)

...All the way past the Tropic of Capricorn, to Calama in the Atacama Desert.

We arrived Sat. mid-afternoon, and Sunday we went out to explore the surroundings. We went to Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) which is famous for its stark rock and salt formations and its sand dunes and for an almost total lack of vegetation. We got some nice views over the big salt lake nearby. We took a hike up a canyon that turned into a tunnel - Bert particularly enjoyed that part, but Gabi wan't so sure about being in the dark underground. She needed a lot of time in the safety of Papa's arms after that hike. Berto was a perpetual motion machine climbing and jumping all over. He has proven to be a very good hiker / adventurer in Chile.

Throughout the tunnel we could see sparkles from salt crystals (we were in the Cordillera del Sal = Salt Range), and most of what we thought were rocks were hunks of salt with a little dirt mixed in. We could see where raindrops from the rare rains falling on vertical surfaces would dissolve a groove in the salt and leave a little salt stalactite on the bottom. Later we explored an old salt mine. We could see the vein of white salt that the miners had followed into the hillside, and the ground underneath was riddled with small holes where rain had dissolved tunnets into the salt. Sure glad we weren't the ones chipping salt under the summer sun! It seemed like life there would be hard - nowhere to go and nothing to do but dig, eat, and sleep. We also hiked up a 750 foot high dune and took in some of the many odd rock formations that seem like modern sculpture dropped in by the Gods.
In the middle of all the dry, arid, big sky ; we felt moved to leave behind a Sugarloaf sticker. Sure hope all this petty vandalism gets us a free lift ticket or at least a bragging rights beer at the Rack.





We went back to Valle de la Luna Monday night to watch the sunset, but most of the stars were hidden behind heavy clouds. Oh well...

Monday Mike hooked up with his friend Lyman (proof of Lyman's intellect = he married a woman named Lisa Olson) to check out his observatory (Atacama Cosmology Telescope Project: ACT) on a shelf high on the slopes of Cerro Toco (5604m = 18 400') at an elevation of 5150m = 16 900' - at least, that was the idea. (That's Volcán Licancabur (5950m = 19 500') across the way; the top is the border with Bolivia.) We weren't sure that we'd be able to head up the road, because the day before the road had been closed because Pasa Jama into Argentina was closed. We sailed past lines of parked trucks with no problem - the problems came later. We turned off the main road onto a narrow dirt track and before too long were into the snow. The drifts got thicker, and finally we got stuck (at an altitude of about 4500 m = 15 000'). It took us about 45 minutes to get the trucks out and turned around, and back down the hill we went. We did see wild guanacos and a little creature vizcacha that looks like "a rabbit with the back part of a squirrel". It's a relative of the chinchilla.

While Mike was trying to get up to the observatory, Lisa, Berto and Gabi went exploring up about 1500 feet up from San Pedro. Not quite to snow, but noticeably cooler and a bit wetter. Berto checked out the cactus. They may look soft and fluffy from afar... All three had fun poking their fingers in the ice cold snow melt stream.

The following day it snowed again, so poor Lyman had to go back to the U.S. without getting up to the site. The good part for us was that he was able to join us for wine and snacks after the kids went to bed and drown his sorrows. It was fun to hear his stories. He (and several other people around town) told us that it was the coldest and wettest it had been in 10 years or so. Glad we could bring a little bit of Chiloé with us!


Tuesday we bid the hostal adieu and took a turn off the road to Calama toward the little settlement of Rio Grande, 90 km (60 miles) in the middle of nowhere. As we drove along we could see fresh snow just a couple of km from the highway, and low clouds and raindrops came by all day. We didn't make it to Rio Grande, but we got as far as a rock outcropping in a glorious river valley with numerous petroglyphs. Lisa and Mike found them fascinating, Roberto enjoyed climbing over the rocks, and Gabi enjoyed pointing out all the llama poopie. Something for everyone!

After an overnight in Calama (we don't feel bad that we couldn't spend more time - although we did get a glimpse of the tailings piles at the world's largest mine at Chuquicamata, and we enjoyed an actual salad-based meal with vegetables at a fun Chilean chain restaurant, Schop Dog (schop means beer on tap)), we flew back to Santiago and turned around to fly north again to La Serena. (Virtually all flights in Chile start or end in Santiago.) More on that next time!

Farewell to Chiloe

Our stay in Castro is over. Our last week was a whirlwind of parties and fêtes (it was very sweet), but it, like all good things, had to come to an end. The last Sunday with our last onces with the family was a time for reflection, gifts and the usual silliness of Gabi and Berto. Monica's brother Manuel was psyched to get a Red Sox cap. Monica had a huge tres leches cake (which we tried to pack in after Victoria's big dinner). Afterwards, Gabi got her long-awaited lesson on how to be a good Chilote girl while Margot taught her how to clean up.



After Sunday's onces, we had our last English class on Wednesday. Since the summer the class has dwindled down to a few dedicated folks. Our bombera friend Jacqueline gets the prize for the most classes attended. Paul, the EOD volunteer at Colegio Charles Darwin, has agreed to continue the English charlar (chat). Our last English class was one last time to gaze upon our favorite painting. It's of the town of Castro and the Gamboa neighborhood from a trail from Nercón that we used to hike. Unfortunately for us, it is part of the City of Castro's collection and not for sale. If we had found a local artist who could capture the interplay of light and cloud in Chiloe, we would have paid anything. Oh well, all they had for sale were clichéd palafito images.


Gabi's jardin infantil gave her a big sendoff. Gabi has become quite the little Chilean girl. She never leaves day care without una saluda a sus tias (saying hello/goodbye to her teachers). This time it was Gabi's Tías' turn to give her a big hug.








Before we left Castro, however, we wanted to get in some photos of our friends who have given us a smile every day as we went about Castro. One of Mike's first friends in town was Raul, who owns the local lavandería (laundromat). Raul once lived in New Bedford, MA and has a brother in Hartford, CT. Raul was one of Mike's Spanish teachers. He always had a smile and a wave when we walked by his shop on the Plaza de Armas.








All the micro drivers have been very good to us. After a short time we no longer had to say "stop in front of the second red fence", because all the drivers knew where we lived. For those who did not, a joke about para a la embajada de Gringolandia, porfa, got everyone remembering where the gringos lived. Roberto's friend José made a point to chat with Roberto early on. Through the days of Berto-no-speak, José persisted with a smile and an invitation for Berto to sit in the front seat. When Berto had a Sugarloaf sticker, José let him stick it in his bus. So of course, José was one of the first in Castro to have a Red Sox hat. And Mike and Gabi were
invited to sit in the seat of honor on our last trip with José.

Our other long time friend has been the Frutería Tía, who owns the frutería near Gabi's day care. She always has a smile and a hug for Gabi and never seems to be troubled when Roberto instigates hide and seek amongst the displays of fruit and eggs.

In the final volunteer survey, English Opens Doors asked "Did you feel appreciated by your school ?" and "Did you feel welcomed by the community?" A resounding ¡SÍ! to both of those questions. On reflection, there is but one thing that Mike and Lisa left unfinished. Between our house and the Nercon church was a little shack that served as a local bar. Looking down at the woodchuck hole, we could see a crude bar and three bar stools. Boxes of empty quart bottles of Cristál beer were out back. We often joked about going to the woodchuck hole on a Saturday date night, but never did. Then, two weeks before our departure a powerful windstorm blew the sheet metal off the roof and the light never came on again at the woodchuck hole. Alas, an opportunity missed.




On Thursday afternoon (after a big pulmay dinner at Tía Victoria's, of course) we said goodbye to our family in Castro and got on the overnight bus for Santiago. It was very sad to think of our family and all the great friends and memories we were leaving behind, but we'll be back someday. Lisa saw it fitting that her first meal in Castro had been a welcome lunch of pulmay at a restaurant with the other EOD folks and her last meal in Castro was a farewell pulmay. The two events also punctuated what everyone said about pulmay/curanto: the best is served at your grandmother's house.

We rolled into Santiago and got settled in our hostal around noon. We were at the Hostal Rio Amazones, the same outfit that we stayed with when we first arrived in town almost one year ago, but their other hostal - and much nicer! Central heating! Windows in the room! A much nicer neighborhood, too, with clean parks, nice buildings, and big open spaces. They're going high-end, and that's fine with us. Same really nice folks working there - it was fun to see some familiar faces after such a long time.

After naps our neighbor's son Diego (who's studying at a music conservatory near here) came by, and we took him out to dinner (Peruvian - yum!) and he showed us his neighborhood. The buildings along the main streets are unremarkable (except for the Performing Arts Center, which is a dramatic edifice), but there's a whole neighborhood with narrow winding streets and open-air bookstores tucked back there. We'll explore more when we come back through before we fly out!

Lunch tour with Gustavo & Paula

Our last week in Castro was a whirlwind. Class parties every day, last English class on Wednesday, all school activity on THursday, Onces at Diego's Friday afternoon, Primero Basico parents asado Friday night...by Saturday morning Mike and I were tired!

Good thing Berto and Gabi let us sleep in a bit Saturday morning, because Saturday's outtng was something we did not want to miss.

Our friends Gustavo & Paula had invited us out for a parents only lunch in the south east of the island. (We met G&P at a kid birthday party as their son Cristobal is one of Berto's buddies. It helps a lot that the speak for Gringo's to understand and that Gustavo can kick English in when we flounder.)

When they showed up ina friend's 4 door pick up we knew we were going to see some secret parts of Chiloe. The day was blue sky clear, phenomenal for early winter in the south. As we headed south to Quelin, we had to stop for the first of many stunning views of Volcan Corcavado across the gulf in the Andes.

We took a dirt track off the main road towards the north end of Lelbun beach. The sides of the road were dripping with trees, ferns the size of a man and intertwining vines with red flowers. G&P recently purchased a plot of land on the beach and we were taking the back way down to the beach.

Mike and I posed at the edge of the bluff where the future front porch will be built. Wide sandy beach, a grove of trees for afternoon shade, a farm next door for fresh lamb to roast and a straight view to the Andes; what's not to like? If it wasn't for the pesky full day of travel Cambridge to Lelbun, we'd be invading Gustavo & Paula every weekend.



After a stroll down the Lelbun beach, we back roaded it out to the hamlet of Aituy. Aituy had a still better view across the gulf. THe town itself was a church, futbol cancha on the flat space in front of the church, club house for the fishermen's union and the rural elementary school. On the way out of town we passed a man and his llama. Mike took advantage of our gringo status to do the shameless task we all secretly wanted to do; ask the llama to pose for a photo.



The afternoon was flying by so we figured we better get to lunch before it was evening.











Our destination was the restaurant of a luxury resort. The restaurant is in the shape of a boat beached on it's side. The hull faces the road while the deck is mostly windows a great views to the ocean.

After placing our orders at the restaurant, we strolled about the paths of the resort. Ever since the summer we had been wondering why there were no high end luxury resorts on Chiloe. The landscape is splendid, the food is fresh and wonderful and there is no shortage of out of the way places with great views. We are wondering no more. And now that we know that there is a place with $800 a night cabañas for rent that are tucked into private little groves and pastures linked by lighted paths down to the beach, we will send our gringo friends there. (While we rent the spanish only cabaña down the road for $80 and recharge our flashlight for a sheep turd walk to the beach.)

After a lunch of fresh, well cooked seafood and great conversation, the sun was beginning to go down. THis was, after all a few days after the winter solstice in Chile.


As we drove north towards Castro we kept looking in the rear view mirror and exclaiming at the sunset colors reflecting of Corcavado.

Our last Saturday on Chiloe island was all the best of what we have come to love about Chiloe, Beautiful countryside, good friends, generosity of people and the freshest best seafood anywhere.


To all that add the best views we've enjoyed all year!