We’ve done a lot in the past few weeks. When I’m busy, I don’t have time to write and I like that. We have so enjoyed our time in southern South America. A huge continent, it has given us the most of what we love which is of course, wild, beautiful spaces. The places we’ve visited on the San Francisco Pass road have delivered some of the best scenery we’ve ever seen. But first, backing up to the coast which despite being dubious about, actually showed us a great side of Chile. As usual, we’ve been met with much kindness from the people we meet. It is, as one Chilean lady exclaimed to me: “the Chilean way”. We’d say that about each country we’ve visited actually.
We drove the coast of Norte Chico in Chile from north to south, finally turning eastward at Copiapo to head over the San Francisco Pass into Argentina. Outside of Pan de Azucar NP, we camped at a spot from I Overlander called “Wild Love”. It looked over a huge pure white sand beach, there was no one around and we had this awesome view. You can’t pay for a spot that nice. In the morning, we took a hike from there up a canyon which was just OK but we collected a lot of miles that day doing it. When the sun gets going it’s really strong so we’re trying to cover up more.
In the area of Caldera, there is a spot right near the water that has orbicular granite. This is granite formed in the Jurassic period, when magma slowly cooled beneath the earth’s surface making spherical patterns and a unique appearance. We’d never seen that before. The caretaker had fixed the place up so cute and we camped there overnight and walked over to yet another sea lion colony except this one stunk! I always remember how in the Galapagos, the sea lions would crap in our dinghy overnight and then I’d have to clean it up. They really are disgusting but funny too.
I was really excited to get to the area of Bahia Iglesa because of the long white sand beaches and the potential for diving. But after a few snorkeling entries on the Pacific coast here, we decided that there wasn’t going to be enough to see to make scuba worth it. While pretty, there isn’t a whole lot going on except for a few fish, sea stars, anemones and crabs. Even so, most of the time, I was dying to get in the water, but the waves and swell were too strong for us to do it. We had to hunt for places to even to put the packrafts in but we did get them in a couple of times.
This coastline is known for seafood soup and scallops au gratin so we got some one day at a seaside restaurant in Bahia Iglesa. We also did a lot of beach walking. Some are flat enough to run on.
A park in La Caldera shows off the most important collection of fossils in Chile. They’ve found vertabrae from over 70 differrent species in that one area including birds, fish, giant crocs and even an ancient sloth. It was really interesting an nicely presented. My favorite was the marlin.
We visited another national park called Llanos de Challe which is known for its desert super blooms but that only happens every few years. However, there are still a few trails to hike up canyons and see some flowers but also the coastline has a lovely beach. Because there was an island offshore that we wanted to kayak to, we stayed at a beachside campgroud there to be able to launch from. But, in the morning the swell picked up and we couldn’t see a way to get them in. Even if the weather is calm, swells come from long distances at this time of year and hit the shore with such strength it is scary. This beach advertises Caribbean colors but the water temp would tell you otherwise and of course, the tropical fish are among the missing.
We wanted to try getting some fresh scallops since this area of the coast is known for them so we visited a scallop farm on a little peninsula. The owner was a little bit crazy and she had us standing at the edge of the water beside her bucket of scallops holding a lemon while she showed us how to properly clean it and serve it up on the half shell. As she cleaned it, she would dip her hand in the seawater of this backwater area and then before we knew it, she was handing one over to each of us to eat. We were a bit nervous but then in the end we did eat them after squeezing a shot of lemon on. It was yummy. But we cooked all the others we bought! First goal is not to get sick. I’d never seen scallops out of the water before and I was surprised how snappy their shells were. Whereas mussels and oysters just open and close their shells a little, scallops have a lot more movement. I really just wanted to put mine back in the water.
We stayed a couple of days at a beautiful, secluded beach with just a few other campers and were successful launching the packrafts from there to take a little spin. The coast is full of spots to pull over and head down to the sea. We always enjoy looking in the tidepools too. There are also a lot of beach shacks that the locals spend the summer in. It’s really a shame that they litter so much because it ruins a pristine area. So the goal is to find beaches where they aren’t, so you can enjoy a clean, beautiful place the way it should be. Having gotten back in to Argentina now, we sure can see the difference in the amount of trash. Argentina is better than Chile & Chile is better than Peru.
Further down the cost, the sandy little town of Chanaral de Aceituno had a cute little harbor and some nice walking trails along a coast of crashing waves. It is sort of mesmerizing to just stand there and witness their force. There was an interesting cave too, out on the point. We got empanadas on the sandy square and hung out in the town.
Not far away, Punta de Choros has a big reserve for the Humboldt Penguin that includes 3 islands and they run boat trips out to see them. In the season Sept-March, there are about 25,000 penguins that nest on the rocks there! So we spent a few hours taking a tour around a big rocky island looking at penguins and other birds, cruising the open sea for whales and then walking on one of the beautiful islands. We saw a fin whale several times, cormorants & boobies and the best part for me was walking on the island. It was full of gulls and chicks and some were still sitting on eggs. We think that after snorkeling with humpbacks in Tonga, it’s hard to fully appreciate seeing them topsides, because you really CAN’T see them that well, but nice to see them anyway!
The following day, we managed to put the kayaks in again and paddle the backside of one of the park islands but there was still a lot of swell. It did look tropical but there was no getting in. So I swam in a tide pool instead. More to see anyway.
Remember the mining accident in Chile back in 2010 when 33 miners got trapped for 69 days underground? It took 17 days for rescuers to locate them (they survived on rations that are placed in mines for emergencies) before they could start providing lifesaving supplies. And it wasn’t until they designed a special rescue capsule and winch system that they could actually extract each miner one by one. It was an amazing story and we could visit the mine and see the old pics and the staging area for the rescue. There was a line of flags for each of the 33 miners who were rescued and everyone survived. There really wasn’t much to see overall, but neat to be there just the same.
The Andes provide a great high elevation location for astrological research so there are many observatories from all over the world dotted along the mountaintops. We visited the La Silla Observatory that is run by the European Southern Observatory and took a 3 hour tour. They have several very large telescopes and they do a thorough job of showing them to you. While the data from the telescopes can be analyzed remotely, the staff required to maintain the equipment, repair breakages and maintain the whole physical site is substantial. It is like a community in itself with living accommodation, meals, cleaning, entertainment, security, etc. We could camp overnight there and the stars were beautiful at that clear altitude. I see I mixed up the order of the pictures but oh well.
We were finally ready to move up toward the San Francisco Pass which is a very quiet road that crosses the Andes and is full of park land. Then we heard the pass was closed due to an avalanche on the Argentina side and we were so sad. Fortunately, we found a phone number and I babbled to the officer in my Spanish and found out that it was going to imminently re-open and we could start the drive up. We’d been wanting to do this pass for several months since when we were up there previously, it was still closed for winter and there was too much snow to get up into the mountains themselves.
We spent a week up at high elevation camping next to incredible colored lagunas full of flamingos, vicunas, huge mountains well over 6000m tall, all under a big blue sky. We hiked all over which was really fun. We’ve upped our walking/hiking miles and recently, have had fun circling several lagunas. It’s funny how it can look so big all the way around but a few hours later, you’ve closed your loop. We dipped in a turquoise salt pool, hiked on a salt road, climbed switchbacks to look out over endless mountain views and chatted with climbers who were acclimating to go even higher than we were by summitting Ojos del Salado at 6893m. It is South America’s second highest peak and the world’s tallest active volcano. Wish we could have done that!! It is something to go around feeling breathless just by talking, sometimes with blue lips and not sleeping well is a drag. But the scenery makes up for it and we don’t sit around. It seems like that makes it even worse than being outside hiking. It’s still funny to consider that we camp higher than Mt Whitney and hike higher than that. While we use all of our senses to experience all of the great scenery, it’s really our eyes that are the key to appreciating it. We try to take pictures but you can’t capture it the way your eyes can.
Our favorite area was the Balcon de Pissis. You drive 50km out a dirt road to get to the balcony view of all these beautiful 6000m peaks and then you can drive down to camp beside them. It’s crazy beautiful. All of the colors just seem so crisp and bright in that thin air. We’d met a Swiss couple, Reni & Marcel the night before heading in to the Balcon so we camped beside each other a few nights, one next to one of the lagunas. Over happy hour, we learned that they’d already hiked the PCT and half of the CDT and had overlanded to tons of places we are still hoping to go. It’s always fun to meet like minded travelers and share stories. That morning when we were inside sipping coffee, Marcel was outside taking pictures of our vehicles in the bright morning light. Throughout the day, the colors change as the sun hits the water or the sky is reflected into it. One of the lagunas has a salt bottom that creates a distinct line of white. Never seen that before!
Running low on fuel, we finally headed out and back onto the paved road south. It was really hard to leave something so beautiful. We’re traveling some dedicated scenic roads now and re-visiting a couple of places we really liked when we passed this way before. Being in Argentina is like going back in time. The adobe houses, cowboys coming up over a hill, the pastel scenery, old cars that look like they shouldn’t be running, the feel of everything and the Andes backdrop just fill in an interesting picture on rural life. We can find a lot of peace here.
