Road Trip - La Serena, Vicuna, Guayacan Brewery, Montegrande and Pisco Elqui

After breakfast on Sunday, we mounted up and took our 45 minute trail ride.  It was still cloudy but otherwise a lovely morning.  Ash’s horse (Lola) was a little small for him but made the trip.  On the way our aged guide pointed out a small owl on the ground.  This owl is evidently a ground dwelling owl and also one that is active, at least part of the time, during the day.  It was so exciting to see an owl up close and in its natural habitat.  On the return to the hacienda we became immersed in the daily movement of a herd of goats and a few sheep from their farm to a pasture.  Three dogs led the way with the goats, of all colors and sizes following, then the docile sheep, and finally the two human masters.  

Juan Pablo supervises the loading of the four Gringos on horses

Ash tries to fit on his horse

Juan Pablo's father also viewed the spectacle

Cuatro caballeros

Arin got the hang of things quickly

Lola lagged behind for most of the journey and contrary to what this photo looks like, Ash is not riding a donkey!

Our friendly guide, Lugo or something like that

A small house with lovely and well attended garden on our ride

The burrowing owl that our guide pointed out to us - Athene cunicularia

On the trail again

A nice orderly formation

Selfie on horseback with some recently bought Chilean copper and stone jewelry

The herd of goats and sheep are on the move- note the big buck below

Leaving their pen at their ranch home they head for their day at a pasture

Heading to the pasture accompanied by three dogs and two herdsmen

Ash admires the Chilean saddle

Hibiscus in the garden of Hacienda Santa Cristina

View from our room down to the pool and restaurant

Same view - looking left

Saying goodbye to Juan Pablo and his Hacienda Santa Cristina reluctantly, we drove northwards to La Serena.  La Serena, normally a hustle bustle city was fairly quiet on this Sunday.  The venerable church, San Francisco, that Warren and I tried to see was closed (does it ever open?) but we enjoyed the view from the La Republica bar and restaurant across the square.  The sun came out finally and we hit the road to Pisco Elqui.  We stopped once again at the Puclaro dam where we viewed the wind surfers and listened to the music of the wind emanating from the artwork the dam.  Then, we got out at Vicuna and walked around the square, pretty lively on this Sunday afternoon.  We bought the locally made copper and stone jewelry and admired the Bauer Tower and the 19^th  century church (closed).

The guys at Iglesia San Francisco, the oldest church in La Serena dating from the late 1500's

The boys had beer here while we all partook of their very good bathrooms

Arin gets into the Chilean lifestyle

The patio was pleasant

Some of the decorative tiles that surrounded the small plaza

A mermaid statue (actually a fountain but no water was running) with the Iglesia San Francisco in the background

Mermaid detail - hugging a fish?

Lazy cat at the Puclaro dam area

A shot out of an Antonioni movie - Ash and Arin seek the meaning of modern life at Puclaro dam

The central statue at Vicuna - notice the pigeon on his head

Ash and Arin check out the lovely square, well populated on this Sunday afternoon

The lady with the good jewelry - we all bought from her

We refreshed with beers at Guayacan Brewery at Diaguitas and the guys also tried the food – a beef and cheese sandwich for Arin and “Completos” for Ash and Randy.  Completos are found everywhere in Chile – they are hot dogs topped with avocado, mayonnaise and, in this case, sauerkraut.  The men enjoyed their snack immensely and we lapped up the beers.  A brief stop for gas, and a brief stop at Montegrande where the church was open.  The inside was interesting especially the wood ceiling painted sky blue and inscribed with countless small white stars.  We were glad to finally view the inside of this historic church.  We also bought some jewelry from the local vendors outside on the small square.

This small town is home to Guayacan brewery

Ready for a cold one

Beer happiness

Arin chows down on his beef and cheese sandwich

Late lunch heaven - a completo with the high gravity beer from Guayacan

Randy loved his completo and his bottle of "Uno" beer - yes, only 1% alcohol

Arin contemplates staying here forever

One of the religious decorations in the church at Montegrande

 The colorful altar

The very interesting pulpit

The best part - the ceiling of a starry night

One of four fat stone frogs in the fountain in the small square in front of the church at Montegrande

One of the jewelers in Montegrande from whom we bought great copper link bracelets and necklaces

At Pisco Elqui the church, Our Lady of the Rosary (Iglesia Nuestra Senora del Rosario), was also open!  Randy waited in the car while we took a look.  It was larger than the one in Montegrande but not as sweet.  Garish statues of the Madonna and Jesus were in abundance but the whole thing worked for what it was.  We traveled 1.7 kilometers south of town (according to the directions) and found our lodging for the night – Caballieri Cabins.  There are four of these.  Ours, the Cobre (copper) perched on the main road but up a story and consisted of a living room/kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms.  The best part was a large deck which was great for both mountain and star viewing.  A pool was located several terraces up and Randy and Ash dipped their legs in.  The internet was not really usable so we all went through connection withdrawal.  

Interior view of Our Lady of the Rosary

Beautiful parquet floors

One of the colorful stained glass windows on the sides of the church

This decoration was a little over the top

The altar area

Madonna with Chilean flag (and baby Jesus)

A saint (?) holding an effigy of Jesus

Sign to our lodging for the night

View from our deck

Another shot of the view - the best thing about this place

Ash and Randy cool off by the pool (after disturbing a romantically entwined couple on one of the lounge chairs)

The India Indian influence seemed strong in some of the decor of the place

Ash takes a chill pill

An Asian garden statue

View at dusk - how memorable is this?

Light hit the mountain tops as the sun set (our cabin faced east)

Our cozy cabin was on top with the deck to the right over where our car was parked - the only downside was the structure sits right on the road between Pisco Elqui and Horcon

We walked back to town to find all restaurants, save one, closed on Sunday.  The sole open restaurant, Los Jugos, was the only game in town and we sat down.  A single waitress and a single cook made up the staff.  Nevertheless, we drank good pisco sours and ate an assortment of pretty tasty simple food – small pizzas, a salad, some potatoes, beef for Randy and an unusual combination of artichoke bottoms, yogurt, capers and goat cheese.  Sounds a little bizarre but it was delicious.

Along the walk back on the darkened streets we marveled at the stars and particularly the Milky Way easy seen and the larger Magellan Cloud, also seen.  We enjoyed watching the stars on our porch – this is world class star gazing territory – before turning for a good night of sleep.  The boys all saw shooting stars but I missed these - not looking at the right times.  Next time!

We walk the mile to town

Sign at the entry to Pisco Elqui with the guys below (the camera would not use the right lighting for both the sign and the men so this is shown in two photos)

In search of food and drink - Ash evidently has some shiny things on his shirt which the camera picked up (or he naturally glows in the dark)

Our dining spot - the guys had endless fun with the name

Randy and Arin check out the menu

Nothing better than a pisco sour after a long day

Alice's plate - potatoes, onion and tomato salad, pesto pizza, artichoke and yogurt salad

No - this is not our picture but it does give an indication of the glories of the Milky Way and the night sky we saw at Pisco Elqui complete with shooting stars