The Valle de Elqui (The Elqui Valley).

The drive through La Serena was easy with not as much traffic that we have found in some large cities and soon we were in a verdant green valley with the arid mountains above us. The Elqui Valley is considered to be one of the most unique regions on earth for a number of reasons. Reason #1. This valley, which benefits from a unique microclimate, is famous for its production of fruits and grapes including the Pisco grape needed for the Chilean national alcoholic drink. Irrigated by two rivers which feed the numerous vineyards and fruit fields of the surrounding area they create a thin strip of fertile land where vegetables, papayas, and vines grow on hillsides covered with cacti. Reason #2. The Elqui Valley is famous for sunny, clear days, it is said that the sun shines here for 300 days of the year and cloudless nights. The region has what is considered to be the clearest atmosphere in the world. The valley is located far enough away from the city lights of La Serena, and has a climate that is so calm and stable, there is very little wind and precipitation to disturb the air. Scientists and astronomers come here to study the stars in many professional observatories, because of this natural atmospheric phenomenom. Except on nights with a full moon, and even then the difference too amateurs is barely noticible, the starry sky is absolutely magnificent. The Milky Way is very “milky” in the deep blackness of the sky and the stars and planets are simply spectacular. Reason #3. For a smaller number of people, the Elqui Valley is known for its cosmic location and its magnetic energy. They believe that with the new millennium and the cosmic era change from Pisces to Aquarius, that the magnetic and spiritual energies of the earth have been shifted from 30 degrees north to 30 degrees south. Before this change, the Earth’s magnetic center was located in Tibet in the Himalayas, now it is in this area of the Andes. Since 1960 many esoteric groups linked to astrology, yoga, shamanic teachings and meditation, have settled their communities in the Elqui Valley due to this source of magnetic energy. To give some credence to this belief, in 1982, the magnetic forces on the ground were measured professionally by satellite for the first time. The map of Magstat showed a large positive energy point between 27 º and 33 º south right where the Valle de Elqui is located. So the sciences of Agriculture, Astronomy and Astrology exist side by side in this beautiful valley, now is that cosmic harmony or what! We plan on staying in the area for about a week and have a great camping place at Las Pataguas which is located a short distance from the town of Vicuna. With a great place to stay and a perfect place for Winston to run since Las Pataguas has a few dogs of their own for him to play with, we are looking forward to exploring this unique valley.

Tongoy

By the time we left Valle del Encanto it was two o’clock in the afternoon and after checking our maps and guides, we decided to get back on Route 5 but then take a loop road around the coast to Tongoy. Located on the coast, we hoped we would find parking for the night and a nice stretch of beach for Winston. When we arrived at around 5pm, we encountered this amazing red beach. Yes, red, with so many different sea birds most of which we couldn’t identify either on the shore or floating in the water. We stopped off at the naval guard station, which serves as a tsunami evacuation center and chatted with a very kind officer (he had all kinds of medals on his uniform) who told us he was in charge of the station. He pointed out some places close by on the beach where we could park overnight and also offered the kitchen, bathroom and shower facilities for us to use in the station. He also told us that the beach is red because certain currents in the ocean which trap a type of algae which then gets swept by the tides into the bay. This also explained the wide variety of sea birds who feed and I have to say some of the most enormous pelicans we have ever found. After parking, we walked Winston along the beach to the fish market on the pier. This is where the numerous fishing boats come to sell their daily catches either to restaurants, buyers from the nearby large city of La Serena or to individuals – like us. We purchased some crab, a kilo of cracked and a kilo of claws (4lb total) for a mere $17.00. With dinner taken care of, we wandered back to the motorhome, photographing some of the incredibly large pelicans which were perched on rocks and rooftops. Unfortunately these were the highlights of Tongoy. The town is very poor and very dirty. The beach is completely littered with trash, old fish netting and whatever else the tides swept in. Too bad really because with a little money this could be a beautiful bay. We parked by the beach, close to the naval station and it was ok except for drunks passing by hassling us for money until we closed the door for the night. After that it stayed quiet. The next morning, I got up early to walk Winston. Watching the ocean changing colors in the reflecting sun is splendid and I never tire of watching. In addition, Winston gets to run and play before too many people are around. But again, the walk along the beach appalled me; there is just so much garbage, what a shame. Instead I watched the ocean and the thousands of birds milling overhead waiting for the fishing boats to return. Feed time in paradise for them. Before leaving we went back to the wharf and purchased some freshly caught Chilean Sea Bass that they obligingly filleted for us. We have dinner for tonight. Tonight we hope to be in Vicuna, the main city in the Elqui Valley but to get there we need to pass the large city of La Serena and shop for groceries. It is a long drive but with luck we should make it.

A visit to Valle Del Encanto (The Enchanted Valley)

Located in the Limari Valley about 20 km west of the town of Ovalle, The Enchanted Valley (Valle del Encanto) is home to the largest collection of pre-Colombian rock art in Chile and is noted for having various archaeological petroglyphs and pictographs from the Molle culture dated from 100 to 600 AD, as well as traces of hunter groups from around 2000 BC. Discovered in 1946 and declared a Historic Monument Archaeological Monument in 1973, it is accessed by a 3 mile (5 kms) dirt track. The valley is a boulder strewn ravine in a rocky tributary canyon of the Limari River that allows low scrub and cacti to grow. At the entrance to the area, there is a small guard house manned by a very enthusiastic character. He not only expounded on the history of the area, he also donned an indigenous feathered headdress to help illustrate the Molle people, played a small flute type instrument with hauntingly beautiful melodies and cheerfully posed for photograph with us. The valley floor is divided into three sectors and as we drove to the access point for the first sector, I said to Tom that we would need to stop on the way out and purchase something from his small collection of memorabilia. We took a wrong turn and wound up in Sector 2 first. It seems if we stayed left on the main track we would arrive at Sectors 1 & 3, which makes no sense, but that’s the layout. After parking in the designated area and putting Winston on a leash, we walked the narrow trail following the small river, which at this time of year is simply a stream. The petroglyphs are distributed over many rocks and boulders, in a random fashion, along a mile stretch of the valley but in this sector, we had a hard time making out any of the art. We had read that the best time to visit the valley is around noon when it seems the sun doesn’t cast as many shadows so you can see the rock art more easily and depending on the time of day, some drawings may be lighter than others. Also, those that were carved in low relief are still clearly visible while others have been faded by erosion over nearly 2000 years. Well, in this sector we could only make out a little of the petroglyphs despite it being noon. Easier to find and more easily visible are the “tacitas”, stone cups similar to a mortar. These are found in large boulders with holes hollowed out, some quite large. It is believed they were used for storing and grinding food and in some of the rocks there were over 10 holes. However, because of the water that runs close by and erosion by wind and rain these holes are growing in depth and diameter and over time will catch more water and erode to large pools. Sectors 1 and 3 were much more interesting as far as petroglyphs were concerned. Here we saw many examples of carvings and drawings. The etchings are of geometric shapes, stylized human figures and faces, often with headdresses and eyes and some with antennas. Of course no one knows the why, what for, or meaning of the petroglyphs, although many locals point to the square heads, unusual accessories and antenna of some of the figures, as evidence of extraterrestrial contact. I remain skeptical of this theory. We spent a couple of hours climbing up and over boulders, crossing the stream and walking up hills exploring the different drawings and enjoying the silence and solitude of the place. Winston was excited that although kept on leash, he was allowed to be with us instead of having to stay in the motorhome. In addition, the entire time we spent there, only one other vehicle came in. As we left we stopped off to visit with the guard again, take a couple more photographs of the valley and we purchased one the small flute instruments from him, which he obligingly played one more time for us. This was an interesting detour inland and we are glad we made the time to check out the site.

Some coastal towns of Norte Chico, Chile

In lieu of taking route 5, the main highway in Chile and also the one termed “The Panamericana”; we are going to stay on route 1, the coastal road as much as possible. Leaving Algarrobo, we passed through the pretty towns of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, where we stopped for lunch and let Winston run on the beach. Due to the geographical topography of Chile, the coast road is really just a narrow strip with the ocean on one side and the 5,000 foot (1,200 meters) mountain range directly to the right. Our stop for the night was at Quintay on the Playa Grande beach. It was very quiet with only some houses in the distant. Unfortunately, the road is really steep entering to the playa and we have to leave the same way but we have the place to ourselves and Winston gets to run. There is a small shrine set into a nearby cliff and several cars come by with people laying small bunches of flowers and gifts around it but after sunset, which because we are on the west coast is magnificent, no-one ventured down the steep road and we had a quiet night. The next day was much the same. The coastline is very similar to Route 1 in California with lots of sandy bays and rocky inlets. The big difference is the coastal range which is very high. Where the mountains reach the ocean, the road steeply veers inland and then equally steeply heads back to the ocean. The following night we stop at Maitencillo. This is a more upscale town set in a wide bay with a beautiful stretch of sandy beach. There are a few hotels and some very nice homes overlooking the ocean which we surmise is probably busy in season but now is very quiet with most of the houses boarded up and only a few residents walking by. The evening is clear and we pull out our gas barbeque to cook dinner. Watching the sun set as our steaks sizzled on the grill and Winston ran and chased errant gulls who dared to venture too close was great fun. Our third day on the road was disappointing. We left Route 1 to go inland onto highway 5. We had read about some supposedly beautiful thermal pools at Socos. We were hoping to stay at Termas de Socos for a couple of days and soak in the thermal pools but the campground is only open December through April and although the hotel was open there was no place to park the motorhome and dogs were not allowed inside the hotel. In addition Lonely Planet has it wrong. The place is not beautiful and the thermal spa “pools” are really just indoor baths, some with Jacuzzi style jets so they qualify for “whirlpool” status. We were told we could use the baths if we wanted but after looking at them it didn’t seem worth our while. We do want to shower however so we go back to the main road and stop at the Copec gas station. This is a big truck stop style station and offers excellent hot shower for 500 pesos (about $1.00). The showers in these stations are serviced and clean with individual small private rooms consisting of a changing area and shower room. There is a lady who takes the money and then cleans the room afterwards. This is as good a place as any for the night and after nightfall was surprisingly quiet.

Photographs of Argentina

Attached via a link are photos of Argentina. Enjoy. https://plus.google.com/photos/118181109521024542820/albums/5896073866136564417

Photos from - Andes Route 40, Argentina

Attached is the link for Google Picasa for photos of Patagonia, Route 40 along the Andes Mountains. Just copy and paste. View individually or as a slide show. https://plus.google.com/photos/118181109521024542820/albums/5896059794393147409?authkey=CKSewIiJ9oC3pwE

The legendary Route 40 (Ruta 40)

After much deliberation, checking out maps and taking the weather into consideration, we have decided to stay in Chile and go north to Bolivia instead of returning to Argentina and going north. We have loved Argentina. The land, the people, the food and wine and the culture. Buenos Aires, without a doubt is one of the top capital cities in the world. The large cities in Argentina, Cordoba, Bariloche, Mendoza and others are so different yet so enjoyable to visit. The great national parks of the country, Iguaçu, Los Glaciares and Tierra del Fuego to name just a few are incredible. So, why stay in Chile? The main reason was weather, it is now winter and getting unpredictable and that we would, once again be travelling long distances on Route 40 much of which is unpaved. Along with Route 3 on the eastern Atlantic side of Argentina, Route 40 is the other main artery for travel within the country. It also shows the vast diversity of Argentina and because of its diversity it really does deserve something more than just a quick mention. First, it is the longest road in Argentina passing through eleven provinces (states) in the country. Running parallel to the Andes, it is also in certain areas the highest road in the country. It undoubtedly crosses a large part of the most beautiful regions of Argentina, passing through Patagonia, Cuyo, the Central valley and northern Argentina. The road takes you to some of the most important tourist destinations within Argentina and offers the possibility of getting to – get this – a total of 14 National Parks, 26 Reserves and Provincial Parks, 5 “heritage of humanity” sites, 13 ski centers, 18 significant rivers, and countless secondary ones. There are an unprecedented 41 international border crossings along the way, most with neighboring Chile. Yet for all this, much of Route 40 is still only about thirty percent paved with the rest of it being either gravel or dirt and you can drive for miles without seeing another living soul or another vehicle. The wind, which is created from the cold air coming from the glaciers in the Andes, gains momentum as it blows across the pampas and through the valleys and ravines and is phenomenal in its intensity and ferocity. For many miles, the barren, stark landscape, the wind and loneliness of the road are the only companions and it is for this reason, we decided to download some audio books to keep us entertained on these stretches of the journey. Yet, Route 40 possesses a special magic. Travelling this route has taken us close to the land of the dinosaurs, to the world of unique pictographic caves over 9,000 years old and to petrified forests. We have gone from majestic glaciers of amazing beauty and incredible colors to thermal hot springs where the steam and smell of sulphur fills the air. We have passed through lush, subtropical jungle where seemingly everything grows to barren, arid wastelands which appear to be devoid of any living thing through lack of moisture and then by contrast to acres upon acres of grapevines and trees laden with fruit, ripe for making into wines, olive oil and the commercial markets. We have driven for hundreds of miles across the Argentinean pampas with cattle and sheep farms raising the meats for which the country is renowned and we have passed volcanoes one of which, Copahue was still belching steam and ash from its last eruption. We have passed cascading waterfalls, glistening mountain lakes and rushing rivers with world class fishing. And all of this with the glorious backdrop of the jagged snow-capped peaks of the Andes mountain range to our left. I only mention the contrasts since it is these things that help make Ruta 40, one of the legendary, great travel routes on the planet and it embodies the diverse nature of this beautiful country, Argentina.