The Penguin Island at Cachagua

Saturday we rode around Valparaiso showing Warren the main part of city on the flat coastal area and then heading up to the hills.  We went to the "wrong" hill at first (a residential, lower income one instead of the popular one with restaurants and bars - Conception).  We had an exciting time by ending up on an extremely narrow dead end from which Randy needed to back up surrounded by the street dogs (and street dogs abound in Chile).   We did find the Conception hill but ended up going down to the flat part of Valparaiso for dinner.  Rosa knew of a place downtown that was a combination dance hall, disco and upscale restaurant with view.  We opted for the latter and enjoyed machas (giant clams baked in their shells with melted cheese) and some pretty delicious entrees.  I had a Chilean crab for the first time and it was very nice.  You can't go wrong ordering seafood in this area.  We drank pisco sours and had a bottle of Montes Alpha Carmenere. Carmenere is a special Chilean grape that is a spicy close relative of Merlot (and, in my mind, much superior to Merlot).  It grown almost exclusively in Chile and was thought to be a "lost" grape until about 50 years ago.  It was great to be reunited with Rosa - all in all, a very nice evening!

Alice and Rosa enjoy pisco sours - Peruvian for her and Chilean for me.  The Peruvian version has added frothed egg whites and a dash of bitters on top

Alice and Warren in front of a mural of Valparaiso at the restaurant

Sunday we headed with Rosa up the coast road to the north.  We passed Renaca and Concon, beach towns full of holiday condos.  Our destination was Cachagua, another very small beach town about 50 minutes north of Vina.  This place has a tiny island, close to the shore, that is a penguin (and sea bird) haven and sanctuary.  Humans are not allowed on the island.   I had read about it in my guidebook and always wanted to see penguins in the wild.  This was by far the nearest place to do that.

Thanks to Rosa we actually found the place.  Heading on the small Cachagua road, it turned to dirt.  I would have turned back thinking it was wrong, but she urged us on.  We ended up at a dirt (or compacted sand) beach parking lot.  Again, I would have left thinking this is the wrong place but she asked a man selling drinks there and he told us to walk along the beach.  Sure enough, the penguin island was right there.  Moreover, a spectacular walk along the rocks wend its way along the shore with its crashing waves.  I had hoped to take a small boat to get nearer to the island (my guidebook said this was possible) but there were none going out during this off season time.  Fortunately, Warren brought binoculars and we could see the penguins quite well.  They were outnumbered by the pelicans and other sea birds but there they were standing proudly on the rocky island.  It was really amazing.  No one knows why or how the penguins found this island so far north of their Antarctic home.  But they stay here from November until April.  We took our fill of the penguins while they stood like mini-statues and flapped their flippers once in a while.

Randy, Alice and Rosa on the beach at Cachagua with the penguin island in the background - yes, it was windy and quite cool

Some jelly fish had washed ashore on the beach.  This was the most colorful one

A selfie in front of the penguin island

If you look closely you can see penguins on the lower rocks on the right

It is easier to see this group of penguins - Randy hypothesized that they like the white boulders because they remind the little guys of Antarctica

Warren got as close as he could to the island from the mainland

Another shot of the penguins - this time on the lower rocks on the left

The sign on the island - Isle Cachagua

Flowers along the sea walk at Cachagua

Warren on the sea walk amidst the boulders

The splashing surf was Randy's favorite part

More flowers - there were very upscale and gorgeous beach homes along this sea walk - I envied the owners

Then we drove to Zapallar, a very close beach town that is a haven for the rich.  Wealthy homes abounded and the only restaurant (on the beach) was packed full so we left.  Using the new GPS that Rosa had purchased for us (great, excepts it only speaks in Spanish) we found another restaurant back in Cachagua.  This small cafe, inland, was adorable and nearly empty, being off the beaten path.  We sat in the peaceful garden and ate huge sandwiches.  It was very relaxing and very local.

In the garden waiting for lunch (at around 3:30 PM, a typical time for Chileans especially on the weekends)

The boys had beers (Austral from Patagonia) and Rosa a raspberry smoothie while I stuck to mineral water con gas and Alice saved her drinking for the evening

The cafe in Calchagua with its flowers and a typical sleeping huge Chilean street dog

The drive back allowed us time to reflect on the beauties of the coast, the wonder of the penguins and the fortuitous good luck that let us experience the penguin island and the sweet cafe in Cachagua.

Panoramic of Isle Cachagua with Warren in the middle foreground.  The shape of the island is interesting with its flat top

Alice was excited to finally see penguins in the wild - no need to got to Antarctica now