Elqui Magic

We rented a little Toyota Yaris in Valparaiso and set out north to La Serena...about 4 hours up the coast.  Traveling the main highway was easy and fast - the posted speed limit is 120 km/h, but it seems like just a suggestion to all the other drivers...including Jeff. 

La Serena is another pretty city on the ocean with beaches and lots of condos on the water.  We spent only a couple of hours here.  We toured around the main city square, had lunch, and although our original plan was to spend a day and night here, we continued on to our next planned stop.  We were ready to leave the city and the crowded beaches and head for the mountains!  That's the beauty of not having all of your accommodations planned ahead of time - it's nice to be able to change plans on the fly. 

From La Serena, we headed east into the interior about 100 km.  Driving on a paved, twisty, 2 lane road, we made our way through a beautiful valley towards the Andes mountains.  We passed people riding donkeys and horses, little palapas set up on the side of the road selling fresh squeezed juices, and many small villages.  Unlike the main highways, these quieter roads do not have great road signs, and we found ourselves backtracking on a few occasions.  Our detours were not long though....upon taking the wrong turn at an unmarked Y in the road, it was quickly obvious that the 1-laned, dirt goat trail we were on, wasn't the right choice! 

At a dead end of sorts, in the middle of a narrow, steep valley, we arrived at Pisco Elqui....a remote, tiny, quaint village that felt like the middle of nowhere.  The green valley was a vivid contrast to the dry desert landscape all around.   With the towering Andes as a backdrop, the scenery literally took our breath away!

the main drag

our mountain refuge :)

their happy place

 
The area has a reputation for having one of the most beautiful, starry skies in the world.  We read that the sun shines 320 days a year here!  Isn't that unbelievable?!!  Our trusty travel book said that there are 4 different observatories in the area and that there is almost no other place on earth with such a clear sky full of stars as the Elqui Valley.   WOW!!!  It sure didn't disappoint and it was pretty cool to gaze upon a different sky full of stars than the Northern Hemisphere.   It was (sigh)... magical!

Thanks to the perfect weather conditions, the valley is the heart of the best 'pisco' (grape brandy) production in Chile.   I tried one at a local hostel - it sure was SOUR, and packed a punch!! 

sampling the national drink ... the 'Pisco Sour' (well named)

An excerpt from Stella's journal: 
It's really gorgeous here.  And the mountains are really, really big!  They are definitely bigger than ours.  And the views are amazing!!  The village was really nice, and the cabin we stayed in was cool - it had a loft that Max and I slept in.  It was very comfy!  There are so many cute dogs here.  They just live on the streets with no owners, and it is very sad to see them.   And some cats too.  I love traveling - it is so much fun! 

sharing her granola bar ... she'd help every dog if she could

leaving the valley ... a place we'll never forget!

How Stella (and her family) Got their Groove Back

What a difference a few days makes!  A week ago we were feeling overwhelmed, rushed and a little rusty at navigating our way through a foreign country.  It only took a few extra days but I’d say we’ve got our traveling groove back!

Last Friday, we took the metro to a bus terminal, and hopped on a bus 5 minutes later for Valparaiso.  It was a gorgeous, comfortable, air conditioned trip though wine country!  The kids were excited to travel through a couple of long tunnels through the mountains. 

We spent almost 4 days in Valparaiso.  It’s a large, colorful, quirky, hilly city about half way down the coast of Chile.   

lots and lots of graffiti around the city!

because the hills are so steep, they had a few of these 'funiculars' to take you up and down

we spent one afternoon at the beach :)

It was nice being on the ocean and exploring a very unique city but the highlight for all of us (including the kids) was staying with a SERVAS host family.  SERVAS is an international organization connecting travelers to host families around the world.  It’s been in operation since 1949 and I just heard about it last year.  We applied as a family, went through a thorough application process, were reference checked and  interviewed.  Once accepted, we were given host lists for the countries we are traveling to.  We were lucky to make a connection with a great family in Valparaiso.  Michael and Paz, along with their children Melinka, Felix and Gala, welcomed us strangers into their home and busy lives without a hesitation.  Our experience with them was easy, homey, comfortable, familiar, casual, accepting and warm.   We prepared and ate meals together, the kids jumped on their trampoline, we did laundry, and I helped Paz one evening, peel peaches for jam.  Our time in their home had a ‘help yourself, make yourself at home’ feel.  Michael and Paz are freelance architects and spoke English well.   We had lots of great conversations about life in Chile and life in Canada.  Our long talks ranged from Pinochet’s reign to social, economic, and political topics as well.  And………bears!   Their kids were especially fascinated with the wildlife in Canada –particularly bears – if we had ever seen any, been chased by or know anyone who had been attacked or eaten by one.   Conveniently enough, Jeff had video footage of a bear who visited the cabin we rented last summer.  They couldn’t believe their eyes!!!   

 

Those 4 days in Valparaiso  were exactly why we love to travel.  Making connections with local people brings so much more to the travel experience.  You leave behind the sheen of being an ordinary tourist and you get to see what true life looks like for a family in Chile.  Not to mention the advantage of having some locals direct you to the best sights around town.   

This homestay experience was an invaluable one for Stella and Max as well.  The first day, well not even, maybe the first hour,  all the kids were shy and very aware of the language barrier.  In contrast, on the day we were leaving, there were some tears and no one was eager to go or see us go.  We had to repeatedly call for the kids who were playing in their new friends’ bedrooms.  Max and Stella were very quiet as we drove away.  When we asked what was wrong, they told us they were sad to leave their new friends and that they wanted to stay longer.  

Hablo un poco de espanol

When you do a trip like this, you expect challenges for sure.   Of course we knew, that while traveling in South America, the predominant language would be Spanish .... we just didn't expect there to be as little English spoken ... and by little, we mean none.
Having traveled a lot before, we've got our tricks, our essential phrases to get us by but we've found it particularly difficult trying to make bookings with a travel agency.   Truth be told, we had a really hard time finding a travel agency in the first place!!!!  Addresses to agencies we found on-line were not accurate.  What once was a tourist office is now an optometrist.   And it's taken us a couple of days to realize the visitor map we are following is "off" by a block or two.  Normally, all these setbacks get sorted out in a few days, but with the delay back in Vancouver, we've felt a little rushed and overwhelmed here in Santiago.

That said, we've had a great time exploring this city.  Santiago is a beautiful city that lies in a valley that is flanked by the Andes mountains on one side and another coastal mountain range on the other.  It feels and looks like a desert here - very hot, dry and brown.  With a population of nearly 6 million people, Santiago is a huge city with many different districts - each with their own 'flavor'.  We're staying in Centro, the oldest and busiest area with lots of interesting architecture and sights.  There are many 'paseos' - streets for pedestrian traffic only- that make walking around the city enjoyable and easy with the kids.  There's a cool vibe here like Vancouver in the summer, with artists and performers and vendors all around.  This is no third world city.  The economy is exploding and there is construction and development every single direction you look.  They are currently finishing what will be the tallest building in South America.  Prices are not that much different from home.

The metro is super easy to navigate and has cheaply allowed us to explore different neighborhoods and easily get to other parts of the city. 

Yesterday, we checked out a major park set atop a large hill in the center of the city.  The park housed the national zoo which had many interesting animals and birds we had never seen before that are native to Chile and other parts of South America.  And what were the locals most interested in?  The enclosure that housed a brown bear from North America...too funny! 

From the zoo, we traveled farther up the hill to a spectacular public swimming pool with amazing views of the city!

Our last stop in the park was at a Virgin statue that towers atop the summit with more sweeping views of Santiago.

We've been staying in a basic, little apartment that has allowed us to cook many of our own meals which has been nice.  The best part of this building is the rooftop pool.  Those of you back home probably don't want to hear this, but it's hot enough to go for a swim after breakfast and we've enjoyed cooling off in the pool in the evenings after being out and about all day!

Today we went to Fantasilandia ... a little mix of Disney/PNE/Canada's wonderland with a touch of an extreme water park too.  The kids had a blast!   Entrance was $40 for the family that included all the rides, as many times as you wanted.  When I saw the roller coasters and particularly the one where you hang beneath the track, I was ready to ditch the family and meet them back at the apartment!!!!!  A proud moment for me was when Stella came on an airplane ride with me that went upside down and spun around like crazy.  She loved it and would have gone on some of the coasters with me if she were tall enough.  THAT'S MY GIRL!!!

The kids have been awesome!  They've kept up with us every step of the way and are really and truly having fun!  Stella made friends the other day with some girls from Argentina in the pool.  We're meeting all kinds of fellow travelers.  One girl we spoke with for quite a while, has come to Santiago from Buenos Aries and was able to easily communicate with us in English.  When we complimented her on her fluency, she told us she learned the English language by playing video games on-line!  And who says video games are good for nothing?!

Tomorrow we are on the road again ... off to Valparaiso on the ocean.

It's all about the journey!

"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving."  (Lao Tzu)

My mantra yesterday.  And today. 
I love this quote.  I've repeated it often.  I've just never had a slower, more arduous start to a journey than this one! 
I should be writing from Santiago, Chile right now, but instead, this post is from Vancouver, Canada.   Surprise!!!

To catch you all up,  I'll start at the beginning ... 2 years ago.  (Yep,  I said YEARS not days ...I'll try to make a long story, short for those of you who didn't even know we were leaving on this trip :)  When we came home from Vietnam, we knew deep down in our souls,  ok,  maybe not even that deep,  that we would be embarking on another adventure sooner than later.  Our experience as a family was so positive, amazing, smooth, and life changing that we began dreaming about and saving up for another trip right away.  We chose South America and settled on visiting Chile, Bolivia and Peru rather easily.  We had the desire to travel,  the opportunity (time) to go,  knew where we wanted to go, we were just lacking a little in the funds department ... who isn't?!    

Can we 'afford' this trip?  Not really.  Is it financially 'responsible'?   Ummm, probably not.  We've been saving for 2 yrs,  Jeff sold his treasured dirt bike and we may have to borrow a little from the line of credit.  What's funny is that if you look at our pictures, you'll see we're wearing the same clothes we did on the last trip.  As an investment in our family, and an attempt to give our kids a realistic global perspective, the question really is.... can we afford NOT to take this trip??!  To us, we see this investment as something more valuable than RRSP's; it's an education for all of us that you can't learn from a book or school.  Mark Twain actually says it best:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover."


That brings us to yesterday, Friday, our departure date.  We were supposed to fly from Kelowna to Vancouver, Vancouver to Toronto and Toronto direct to Santiago, Chile.  However, instead of just having a quick bite of lunch in Vancouver, we've had to stay the weekend due to the major snow storm blasting the east.  At first, our flight from Vancouver was delayed a few hours, making our connection impossible to make and leaving us to work through MANY different travel scenarios for the next couple of days.  We spent a few hours debating different flight times, trying to get on stand-by lists, wondering where we'd sleep for the night in Toronto (as hotels were booked solid) when we heard the news that our flight was no longer delayed but cancelled.  The decision was made for us!  Enter Eric and Julie, our great friends that have welcomed us into their home for the weekend.  Saying THANK-YOU doesn't even begin to express how much we appreciate this wonderful couple's hospitality. 

So, aware that the kids were watching how we'd respond to the chaos, and conscious that there was nothing that we could do about things, we decided to make the most of the situation and made plans to catch up with some friends and have a little fun in Vancouver.   Just as we were heading out the door,  Max proclaims,  "I feel like I'm going to puke!"  Change of plans......again!  Max spent the better part of the day with a temperature, sleeping.  He hasn't been sick, just lethargic ... we're hoping he doesn't get worse and a lot of sleep will be all he needs to bounce back.

Tomorrow we start all over again.  Back to the airport and hopefully onward to Chile.  Well, at least that's the plan.  And we know that plans can change.  

"A good traveler has no fixed plans ..."   I guess that makes us really GOOD travelers !!! :)