Road Trip!

Well that pretty much sums up the last 4 days of my Chilean life! On Thursday night Ellie, Pablo, Sebastian (referred to as Chama), Arlan and myself all set out for an adventure due to the fact that May 21st (which happened to be Friday) is a national holiday (ergo, no classes) commemorating a naval battle that took place in Chile. We skipped town around 8:30 pm and because there is about a 5 1/2 hour drive to our destination we decided to stop in Los Vilos, a little roadside town revolving around it's rocky beach of approximately 50 square feet, for the night and hit the road again the next morning. We pulled into the rickety little town around 11:30 pm and started asking around for the cheapest cabaña (like a mini cabin) we could find. By we I of course mean Pablo and Chama, but they ended up using their charm and finding us one for 4.000 pesos (approximately $8)/person. Not bad! So we stayed there for the first night. I was the first to go to bed (at around 3:30 am) and when the others decided to finally come in I was just about to fall asleep and the entire place started to shake. I thought there was an earthquake until I realized that it was just the outstanding structure of the stilted cabaña for which I paid eight dollars.
The next day was Friday, May 21st, and as aforementioned, it is a national holiday so naturally that means there was a nice early morning parade. We all woke up around 9 am (some earlier) to the sounds of a high school-type marching band and that led to us hitting the road by no earlier than 11:30 am. We made a little pit stop in Huentelauquen for some of their deliciously famous cheese and shrimp empanadas. They had an exquisite taste and made me realize that I really don't think I'll get sick of the empanadas here. The cheese makes a difference and being a (sometimes) faithful member of the Badger Cheese Club at the UW I definitely have to say that this cheese was pretty delightful. We set out again and after falling asleep while rocking out to my favorite group the Beatles, I woke up to see a new landscape: sandier mountains covered in cacti! I have a fetish for cacti and for some reason just can't get sick of them. The fact that they are so exotic and different than the trees I know just captivates me. Well we arrived at our next destination, Valle del Encanto (which roughly translates to valley of enchantment), via dirt road to see just what we could see! This valley is famous for it's archaeological excavations and petroglyphs which are images engraved into the surfaces of rocks. I don't exactly know how old or who made the ones we saw, but they were surprisingly pretty entertaining.

After goofing around in the valley and taking a bunch of silly pictures in the ancient Inca baths we made our way up and out onto our next destination: Valle de Elqui. There we were to have a "wicked" asado and go to the Mamalluca (mama-YU-ka) observatory and then camp out for the night. (As an aside, the names of the places only get stranger, so stick with me.) After getting there we had a few hours to kill so we decided to find something new and exciting: eat, have a beer and play pool. We did this and while in the middle of our intense game of billiards Pablo got a phone call. It was Mamalluca and unfortunately the weather was cloudy so the observatory canceled all of its tours for the night, which actually proved to be a big letdown because Chile has some of the world's best observatories and I was hoping to get a sneak peak at the stars (which, as many of you may know, I love). We made a reservation for the following night and then skipped along to Guallaguaica (wai-a-WIKE-a) where our friend Arlan happened to have a family friend with a weekend home. Patricia and Arturo just happened to be there and very graciously opened their home to us. The house was extremely basic and rather than being worried about 5 young adults coming there for the night they were most worried about us being comfortable. The 3 guys stayed outside in the tent we brought along while the girls were spoiled with a mattress inside the house. We had a great asado and took some cervezas down to the beach and just enjoyed the evening. We came back and yet again I was the first to go to bed, this time around 1:30 am. I find it ironic that I go to bed earlier when I'm on vacation than on school nights. Hmmm.

The next day we left early (on Chilean time) - 10 am - and headed for Punto Choros to go on a boat ride to the National Reserve of Isla Damas. There are penguins, pelicans, sea lions, vultures and a plethora of other types of wildlife. The drive was about 2 hours and something but was totally worth it. We finally got a change of scenery, more than once! It began with the ocean and we were driving along it for quite a while until we came to a turn and headed into a more desert-like setting. We got to Punto Choros and made it for the dock where the boats take off. The tour was awesome and the boat we were on was so small. Just think: 12 people, one small boat and the big blue sea. It was pretty 'righteous,' as some may say. We got off the boat on Isla Damas and explored a bit, taking silly pictures, tripping into the water while trying to take silly pictures and watching the waves crash over the huge rocks. It was 100% worth it. We re-entered the boat, headed back and realized we had 2 hours to get something to eat and head back to Valle de Elqui to make our reservation at the observatory. We got some more empanadas, these being even better than the last and got in the car to brave the nice and smooth, purely gravel road. We found out along the way that the observatory yet again canceled the showings due to rain at the observatory, so our plans for the evening opened up quite a bit.

We went back to Patty's house to see if we could see the stars from there, didn't stay long and then headed back to Coquimbo, which is like the Sauk City to the Prairie du Sac, only to La Serena. We got some amazing ice cream and sat outside and froze while eating it. I'm so glad that people from Wisconsin aren't the only ones who like to eat ice cream in the cold. After that we of course bought some more Escudo and found a cabaña. We ditched our stuff and then headed out in search of what else, but food. Ellie and I got some sandwiches while the boys got chorrillana: greasy french fries topped with fried eggs and onions mixed with beef and chorizo...mmmm bring on that heart attack! We then made our way back to the cabaña and played a couple entertaining drinking games (all innocent, don't you worry!) until around 2:30 when we hit the hay (all of us finally going to bed at the same time!).

We got up on Sunday morning and Pablo, Arlan and I went to mass in the cathedral in La Serena and met up with Ellie and Chama after for lunch at El Plebeyo which was a simple little restaurant in La Serena just across the street from the beach. We each ate enough for the day, including loco (a crazy type of marisco), ceviche (a salsa made out of fish and lime) and congrio a la plancha (grilled fish). It was a delicious and expensive meal but you can't put a price on being able to walk on the beach with Ellie afterward and giggle like girls without a care in the world. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun.

Highlights of the trip:
-Singing in the car while Arlan played the guitar and learning two new songs in Español.
-Using the 10 second timer function on my camera.
-Drinking beers on the orilla del mar two nights in a row, different locations.
-Hanging out with Ellie and discovering so many more things we have in common.
-Seeing a real jote (HO-tay) (vulture)! There is a term for guys here in Santiago that are always trying to get with girls and that is a jote. I never got a decent explanation so seeing a real one cleared up the definition for me.
-Boat ride on a sunny day in the ocean and seeing pelicans.
-Trying to flip my coin into the 'cave of wishes' when we were in the boat and having it bounce back. Apparently I demand too much with just one wish!
-Eating amazing empanadas and ice cream.
-Seeing the different landscapes and a couple of amazing sunsets.
-Being called a chiquilla all weekend long.
-Playing hangman with Chama and Ellie on the way home.
-Learning the phrase, estoy como quiero and using it to the boys' disadvantage.
-Seeing all the cacti, especially the ones with flowers.
-Not having a care in the world for the weekend.
-This picture:And that pretty much sums up my road trip up north!
More to come,
Kelsey Marie