Trip to Pisco Elqui - Part 1

We headed north on Thursday morning with Warren for a three day trip to the Pisco Elqui valley.  We had visited there for one night when we were in Chile last September.  Driving on the freeway, we left at the turn off for Ovalle, a small market city.  We saw a brown sign (this means cultural attraction) for a historic church and decided to visit.  Warren had wanted to see an old Spanish colonial church.  It turned out the church, located in Barraza, was about five miles down a rather steep (into a valley) gravel road.  However, Randy is intrepid with driving and we made it fine.  The church, San Antonio, is old (from the late 1600's) and in a tiny town way off the beaten path.  Inside, there are a number of former priests (from olden times) buried.  This is not unusual but what is, is that they are buried perpendicular.   The walls are one meter thick adobe and the interior is painted wood. We used the bathroom of a very nice looking restaurant and head back to the main road.

Our favorite chain of gas stations in Chile - reliably clean restrooms

A door in Barraza

The venerable San Antonio church in Barraza - adobe walls one meter thick with a wood facade

The wooden interior was simple but appropriate to the setting

One of the vertical graves of former priests in the church interior

This church is also a national historic monument

The altar

Jesus on the cross detail - the South Americans prefer their Jesus'es on the Cross with plenty of blood

Selfie at the church

Detail of the steeple

Warren in front of another historic building in the hamlet of Barraza

Our next stop was Valle del Encanto, a Chilean national monument.  This place, again down a steep gravel road in a valley, contains petrographs and dug out holes ("tacitas") from ancient native people (circa 700 AD).  After the friendly caretaker took our particulars and we paid the entry fee, he gave us a very basic (like hand-drawn) map.  There are three areas to see.  We started with the third area which covers the most ground and you walk around cacti and boulders and brush to try to find the petrographs and holes.  We found a lot of them and it was like a treasure hunt (there are occasional white arrows to help you out).  These were interesting but we enjoyed the desert landscape just as much.  We then drove down a gravel track to area two.  These petrographs and holes were centrally located so there was less climbing and less thrill of discovery.  We saw a young couple there also enjoying the park (the only other visitors we saw).  We decided to skip area one as it seemed far away and Randy had enough archeology for one day.

The signage was not the finest at this national historic monument

Warren with a "tacitas."  The holes were used for some kind of worship and are in the shapes of star constellations.  Either they were filled with water or offerings, or used to mix up hallucinogens to enhance the religious fervor.

Another tacitas

Alice with large tacitas in area 3

Warren enjoyed scrambling around the rocks more than anything

Randy and Alice in area 3

Alice also enjoyed the minor rock climbing

Area 3 was a treasure hunt for petrographs and tacitas's

One of the petrographs in area 3

Another one - they are faint but remember they are really old and are in situ - exposed to the elements

A guy with wonky arms

The whole view.  The ones on the right with headdresses were supposedly priests or shamans.

Alice's favorite - a big smiley face :-)

Warren plays explorer

Big tacitas in area 2

This gives you an idea of the rock formations in the area

Then, we drove about a half hour to Ovalle.  This seemed a nice town with a big central square.  We were trying to find the Limari Museum (Limari is the name of the valley).  This is supposed to be very good with lots of archeological finds.  However, we had no street address (just a corner) and there were no signs.  The traffic was very congested and we were nearing the time that the museum closes so we gave up and headed back out of the Limari valley the way we came.  Later, I discovered a map of Ovalle which shows the location of the museum in our pamphlets.  Next time, we will definitely see that museum!

Our lodging for the night was Hacienda Santa Cristina.  There was no sign but the friendly proprietor (with good English) had sent me a map.  It was easy to find and only involved about 1/2 mile on a gravel road.  Tucked away in the middle of nowhere is this absolutely beautiful and pretty high end hacienda.  There are two rooms all with their own porch.  There is a large and upscale restaurant.  There is a gorgeous pool and horses to ride.  We were blown away with the garden and the service too.  After settling in our rooms, we lounged by the pool they brought us gratis pisco sours and the local goat cheese marinated in olive oil and herbs (also local).  Fantastic!   We had the usual late dinner (9:30 PM to 11:30 PM) - fish for me, lamb for Warren and beef for Randy.  We also had a bottle of Tamaya Grand Riserve Carmenere from the Limari Valley.  The Limari Valley is not noted as one of the better Chilean wine regions so we were surprised that the wine was excellent (and very well priced).  The internet is so good at the Hacienda we could watch some of the SEC basketball tournament on my iPhone using Slingbox.  Alas, Auburn had already won their game earlier in the day (yeah, going deep in the tournament!).  We also made friends with the hacienda's small dog who ate up Warren's lamb bones (intended for the dog) and his chocolate chip cookies (not intended for the dog) and my chocolate truffles (not intended for the dog and pilfered from my suitcase!). 

View from our terrace at Hacienda Santa Cristina

Looking back towards Warren's room on left (Warren is on the terrace) and Alice and Randy's room on right

Warren used his terrace for smoking

The beautiful pool - we arrived a little late to swim - next time!

Randy enjoyed the gratis pisco sour and local goat cheese

Chilling on the patio by the pool at Hacienda Santa Cristina

  Warren did too - all by the pool.  Warren liked his pisco sours with a beer chaser.  Really!

One of the beautiful birds that frequented the lawn

Two hawks were also making themselves at home on the lawn

The impressive Chilean palms line the entry to the hacienda

Some of the plants in the lush and perfectly kept garden

Flowers were in bloom

Lavender grew outside of our terrace

We enjoyed their Grand Riserva Carmenere with dinner.  The restaurant has an interesting wine rack in the middle of the room with a metal ladder to get to the bottle stored higher.

The very friendly dog with the big appetite especially for sweets

Warren was happy to share his lamb bones from dinner the night before

Randy found someone to love at Hacienda Santa Cristina

Sleep was great in this dark and quiet place and breakfast was ample - with cheese omelets, fruit, cake, cold cuts, cheese, coffee, etc.   After breakfast, we rode horses (again, gratis) around the grounds.  The horse ride was just right – about 50 minutes through the agricultural area growing tomatoes, peppers, grapes, and cactus.  Yes, cactus.  We assume this kind of cactus is the one with the fruits that are eaten.  The aged horseman who accompanied us was friendly though he spoke no English.  Our horses were pretty gentle though they moved faster as we headed back to the hacienda.  The views across to the mountains were great and the morning air felt refreshing.

Randy is ready to roll

Alice is too

Warren is worried if the horse can actually hold his weight - as he was assigned the smallest of the lot

On the trail

Warren lagged behind much of the way - maybe his horse was tired?

One of the fields of cacti

Warren in the saddle

A selfie while riding - not a simple thing to accomplish

Our friendly and veteran guide

What a find - we will return whenever we can!

A panoramic from our terrace - what a day, what a place!