Central Chile

Central Chile: photo and travel diary

The Central Chile must not be overlooked: many travelers focus on holidays in the Atacama plateau and in Patagonia , but also in this part of Chile there are truly unique locations. If you haven't read you again, take a look at travel information and the complete route map in Chile and Argentina here: www.wildrips.net/chile-argentina.htm. Here you can find a long series of photos interspersed at the footing travel diary.

Travel diary in Central Chile ... and photos

The goal of our travel itinerary in Chile was to find incredible landscapes, typical fauna, spectacular trails, very friendly people and fresh seafood ... and he went so! We left on December 14 from Italy with a flight A/R Milan-Santiago (Via Miami) to "only" 850 euros each. We landed in the Chilean capital on 15 morning at 7 - if long flights include you change your idea on your trip to Chile, or, at least, you agree to spend more and look for a direct flight from Europe. We retreated the rental car, booked from Italy with the courteous local company Chilean rent a car through the search engine Auto Europe , which we paid 800 euros for 17 days). I say this to inform any travelers on Chile prices, not for avarice, eh!

It was a four-door Nissan Terrano pick-up: a "camioneta ", as is called in Chile, ideal for travel itineraries on Andini dirt roads. At the Hypermarket Lider near the airport we buy camping equipment.
We left north along the Panamericana which was here a comfortable highway. Proceeding towards North the vegetation became increasingly rare.

We paused on a beautiful stretch of coast characterized by a large-kilometer and wavy sand arc sandy dunes which came on the Pacific Ocean.

We got back to the march and arrived in Coquimbo and the Serena, populous and busy city, with few foreign tourists. We held inwardly, direction valley of the elqui , first destination of our travel itinerary in Chile. There were vineyards and reddish mountains on which only cactus grown. We stopped in the characteristic country of vicuna .

Then I continued until Pisco Elqui , where we found a hotel.

In a bar we tasted the local red wine and the famous Pisco Sour, a cocktail produced with the Pisco, the local superalcolico , and we felt happily on vacation. We accompanyed the glasses with a "tabla", that is a rich dish of tastings, with a grilled meat. We spent about 35,000 Chilean pesos (more or less 45 euros) for the double room and 6000 each to eat and alcoholize.
The next morning we resigned the exploration of the beautiful Elqui Valley.

The first great goal of our vacation was San Pedro de Atacama, which is still 1200 kilometers away . We drove a long time, in a landscape that became increasingly deserted, approaching the goal.

we arrived in the evening in the seaside resorts north of caldera , which, however, were only disrespected gash of abandoned barracks, so we stopped so in a bettola for truck drivers , where we ate fish for 5 euros (presented us a quintal of stracotti seafood and not very tasty) and where we slept for 12 euros each. Cleaning left to be desired.
The next day, the coast was wrapped in the haze. Thus, we abandoned the idea of visiting Parque Pan de Azucar and decided to do the last car pull towards San Pedro de Atacama.

Panamericana, straight and empty, crossed a deserted dish interspersed orange and red hills that ranged a bit. We stopped at Baquedano , where there was a fascinating railway station in disuse, with the sanded tracks.

From here we arrived at San Pedro de Atacama , where we spent a amazing week, visiting incredible and unforgettable places, described here:
Travel diary in the Atacama desert fish market on the Pacific Ocean .

We started grinding kilometers, along the coast, up to Taltal , resort resort on the sea notwithstanding by foreign tourists. Cute place, not exceptional. Continuing our travel itinerary south along the Pacific Ocean (avoiding the Panamericana traveled in the first leg), we arrived the day after at Parque Pan de Azucar .

We walked along the beach, between impressive gray rocks, and then organize a boat trip in search of the Humboldt penguins that housed on the surrounding rocks. It was aware of a sufficient number of tourists and contact a place fisherman. The expense was 6000 pesos each once reached the right number of people, and, fortunately, of the 20 visitors who were throughout the park, 12 wanted to go from Humboldt penguins, which we could so admire together with lots of pelicans and numerous marine lions .

Then, in Camioneta, we went to visit the Mirador , the most spectacular panoramic point of the Pan de Azucar. From Caleta de Azucar I drove for a few kilometers, first on the main road and then on a dirt road. We then walked between the ocher hills sprinkled with thousands of cactus and so we arrived at Mirador, a terrace overlooking the sea that offered a stunning panorama .

A Caleta de azucar can be camped on the beach ... not bad !!

The next morning the coast invaded by the mist and decided to drive towards the interior of Chile, crossing increasingly incredible villages and landscapes.

Our destination was the Nevado de Tres Cruces park , in the Andes. We were in immense and isolated places, where few tourists passed and the journey was almost a shipment.
With the Camionet we had up to more than more than 4000, at green lagoon . Here there were natural hot springs, with the only spacious tank inside a Spartan refuge on the shores of the lake, where one of these sulphurous water streams was conveyed.

This refuge on the green lagoon was the starting point to climb the highest mountain of Chile as well as the highest volcano in the world, the Ojos del Salado . A technically difficult undertaking, but takes physically. Visit the area, we resumed the car and returned back, towards the Laguna Santa Rosa , a spectacular mirror of water reflected the mountains and was populated with pink flamingos.

Furthermore, here there was one Spartan sheltered wood shelter positioned on the shores of the salar , completely empty, where we decided to slip up and sleep. The night temperature dropped below zero.

Around the lagoon there was a vast and white expanse of salt.

We resumed our travel itinerary in the direction of copying, on a road different from that of the first leg, but equally suggestive, with sandy mountains and huge gray dunes with green and yellow reflections.

We arrived in the afternoon at Bahia Inglesa , sea resort described very positively on the Lonely Planet, but that is actually okay, nothing special for us Europeans. After so many tourist places, here we found several well-kept hotels and apartments, and also various bars and restaurants that offer fish and beers, with a very English style.
we continued south on a foggy day (typical of the coast at the end of the end December) and I slept in a b & b south of La Serena.
North of VINA del Mar We visited papudo and the haze finally went away.

There were skyscrapers on the beach and thousands of seagulls and pelicans and seals in the sea.

We arrived in the early afternoon at Valparaiso , probably the most interesting city of our travel itinerary in Chile. We threw down the center, on the hills, between narrow streets, colorful houses and beautiful views. Here the Camereta was a footprint, but luckily, we found a convenient double in a hostel and a comfortable parking space. We were on the Cerro Concepcion , the most picturesque and tourist.

The center of Valparaiso is a work of art (as confirmed by UNESCO, and if you say ...). We walked for Cerro Concepcion, Cerro Alegre and Cerro Carcel and we often stopped to admire buildings, murals and views of the piled houses that sleded from the hills to the sea.

Valparaiso is a great city full of excellent restaurants. The next day we decided to visit Pomaire , a characteristic village in the countryside around Santiago, where there were terracotta artisan products at a good price (I bought a nice piggy bank, big as a ball, at 1500 Pesos, one of the most expensive than 6 or 7 souvenirs bought in my life) and excellent restaurants. We had lunch with quintals of meat and took away the leftovers.
From Pomaire Our improvised travel itinerary took us to the Cajon del Maipo , a suggestive valley traveled where Santiago inhabitants often go on a trip on vacation. It was therefore well organized for tourism, with rafting, horse riding, etc.

We visited San Josè del Maipo where there was an information office where some goals were recommended. In the end we walked through the whole valley, entering us between mountains from snow-capped peaks. We met before the spa from the reddish water, then, in peaks to the valley, the spectacular spas Valle de Colina .

Those puddles remotely remotely remotely those of Pamukkale . We were amazed how on the Lonely Planet this attraction was just mentioned: actually, he deserved much more than all the other spa described joyfully from the guide, at least for the part of Chile visited by us (those of Puritama were beautiful, but not like these, And more expensive and cold; at the green lagoon there was just a puddle; and Socos, south of La Serena, only of the bathtubs in a hotel!).
The Termas de Colina had natural warm waters between 60 degrees (other) and 24 degrees (in the pools below). They were rich in minerals and near the ponds you could mount the tent. There were only us. After dinner, another heating bath and went to sleep.

The next day, uncertain whether to trek along the Cajon del Maipo or in a secondary valley, we decided at the end of taking a two-hour trip on horseback, starting from the town of San Alfonso, in the Natural Park Cascada de las Animas .

Preceded by the guide, we walked a steep path that led us to enjoy beautiful views of the valley and on the particular vegetation.

In the evening we went to sleep in a motel at hours near the airport (the only economic place in the surroundings) and we returned the Camioneta in Chilean Rent a Car, at Santiago airport, with a thrill of nostalgia after the 6000 Kilometers traveled together , then Fly to Punta Arenas, in Patagonia .
To continue the itinerary in chronological order, click here for the diary of Travel to Patagonia .
To return to the itinerary in Central Chile, on 7 January, at dawn, we left Patagonia and flew from Punta Arenas to Santiago (not slamming Strong arms, by plane I intend). We took the bus that for a few money took us to a metro station, from which, in a few stops, we arrived in the rich and well maintained Centro of the Chilean capital . We wander through the pedestrian streets up to the fish market, which was not as characteristic as that of Antofagasta nor equally economical, but still worth a visit. After being swallowed with seafood, we arrived at the start of the cable car that carried to the panoramic point on the Cerro Concepcion . Since there was tail and despite the heat, we walked to the top, from which the gaze ranged from the city to the Andes, through smog.

We went down and in the lively neighborhood below, after exploring the area, we sat at the bar, at a table on the road: a liter of Escudo beer costled 1300 pesos! Prezzaccio! We ate a tabla, we walked to the center, we resumed the meter and then the bus. It was evening when we mounted on the aircraft of American Airlines that with airports in the USA and London brought there in Italy.
was the end of an amazing journey: in the heart, we had the colors and landscapes of the wonderful Chile ... and there I still have now, what do you remember!

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