Road Trip North - Part 1

We left on Wednesday for a two night road trip up north.  Our first goal was Hacienda Los Andes, a remote lodge focused on astronomy that we had visited the year before.  Along the way, we stopped at several attractions.

First, is a famous empanada spot that serves only cheese empanadas and papaya juice.  We enjoyed two freshly made empanadas and pushed on to the north.

The place to stop between Valparaiso and Serena

Randy enjoys his cheesy empanada

 The next stop was the Valley of Enchantment (Valle del Encanto) which we had also visited in 2015.  Unfortunately we did not have much time because we had to get to the Hacienda Los Andes before dark, which comes pretty early in June.  After talking in my terrible Spanish to the friendly (and lonely) care keeper we drove in our trusty SUV to the valley below.  I ventured out to the part of the park that I had not seen the previous year where I finally stumbled on a few petroglyphs.  The park has terrible signage which makes finding the interesting ancient artifacts difficult and rather random.   But, we all enjoyed what we were able to see and also the natural atmosphere of the unpeopled and remote place.   We just needed another hour or two to fully experience this unique place.

Our Toyota RAV 4 SUV at the Valley of Enchantment

The ancient petroglyph is just visible

I stumbled on this treasure in the remote part of the park

Another weathered petroglyph

A tacita - a stone with holes with unknown purpose.  It is thought that these are used to reflect the night sky constellations during spiritual ceremonies.

One of the better signs of the park but still offers virtually no information

Another cute but uninformative sign

We then drove through Ovalle, the main town in this region (which we would explore the next day).  Then, we entered the single road that leads to Rio Hurtado and the Hacienda Los Andes which was paved about 2/3's of the way and then became a challenging dirt road.  Fortunately, we were in a 4 wheel drive SUV and felt more confident than when we traveled along this route the year before.

The amazing views on the road to Rio Hurtado

We reached Hacienda Los Andes at dusk and we were the only guests.  Ash and Rachel were upgraded to the huge suite room (which we had occupied the year before) while Randy and I took a room with three beds.  Randy took the bigger bed while I was happy in my single bed.  It was cold and I requested a space heater.  We had a delicious dinner early at the lodge building with a weak fire in the fireplace.  Since the moon rise was early that evening, we had to get our star gazing in early.

The fire was nice but did not put out much heat

The Floating Island desert

After dinner, we met the German astronomer who would lead us and she led us at a fast pace up the hill to the observatory.  It was a challenge after the rich dinner and a couple of Pisco Sours but we all made it.  She explained about the southern skies and pointed out some constellations, stars and planets using a laser pointer.  Then, we entered the observatory and she cranked up the sophisticated telescope.  While we were done before the moon actually rose, the light where it was rising increased minute to minute.  We were able to see some stars and clusters before it got too light.  Then, we saw Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, all clearly visible and with the rings, moons, and internal features.  Really outstanding viewing even under less than ideal conditions.

We hiked back down and went to bed around 9 PM and slept about 11 hours.  That star gazing is hard work!

Seeing Valparaiso from Land and Sea

Tuesday was spent in Vina / Valparaiso.  We started with a visit to PUCV to meet Jimena and get my payment from the central administration.  We piled into Jimena's SUV with Ash squeezed in the jump seats at the rear.  Tim's lady, Melissa, joined us for this tour also.  We went first to the classic overlook south of Valparaiso.  It is amazing to look west over the sea and think that the next land mass is Australia (or, maybe New Zealand).

Ash could get a neck ache from this seating arrangement

The main administration building of PUCV - inside is a huge courtyard

The headlands near Valparaiso

Beyond Rachel and Ash is the Pacific with the next stop being Australia

The cemetery with lower class housing beyond (but they all have a great sea view)

The functioning lighthouse

We were enjoying the nice weather and the views from Valparaiso never disappoint

We then drove to the port area and took Ascensor Artilleria up the steep hill while Jimena drove the car to meet us up top.  This provides a great view of the city especially over the port area.  There are also some nice vendor shops which I made use of.

Headed up the easy way - in an ascensor

The classic view of the container port of Valparaiso

Jimena drove us through some of the winding and narrow streets of the hills then we decided to head to the port marina to take a boat tour.  We had never done this before so I especially looked forward to it.  There are standard tours but we would have had to wait so Jimena commissioned us a boat (still quite reasonably priced) and we embarked on a private tour of about 45 minutes.  It was pretty cold out on the water so that was long enough.  It was great to see this metro area from the water but the best part was to get close to the lazy sea lions as they sun bathed on buoys or ships.

Our tour boat

On board before we donned our life vests

In the bay, the National Geographic expedition ship Endeavour was getting totally refurbished

Sea lions living the good life in Valparaiso bay

We drew up close and few bailed out to avoid our nearness

These huge creatures are actually pretty adorable

Sweet face

One of the tankers waiting in Valparaiso bay

Our PUCV engineering building from the sea - I could even see my office windows (top floor, in the middle)

This was the best I could in capturing the pelicans flying in formation around the bay

More sea lions lounge on a docked up ship

Returning, Jimena let us off in the hills and we choose a lunch place she recommended, Cafe Turri.  The view was nice (though it was cold sitting outside) and the food very good but it was really over priced.  Fortified, we walked around and ended up at the art museum, housed in a mansion, the Barburizza Palace.  The mansion had just been refurbished and was still being completed.  The collection was a nice set of Chilean artists mainly from the early 20th century.  The entire mansion was utilized from the basement to the attic and there were few visitors.  In fact, it was a restful and enjoyable interlude of a busy day.

Our lunch spot - Cafe Turri

I totally forget what they were whispering about

Randy's smoked salmon was primo

Strolling the neighborhood after lunch we chanced on a lane with a unique use for discarded bathtubs and bidets

We walked up this interesting pedestrian street - colorful in a seedy way

We learned that the metal siding that is common on the historic buildings in Valparaiso was used as ballast in the many ships that arrived in Valparaiso.  Not needed anymore, it was repurposed to construction

A colorful building across from the art museum, the Barburizza Palace

One of the paintings within the palace

One of my favorite pictures at the museum - lovely handling of light

This painting is massive

Worth a visit if you are in Valparaiso

The interesting Art Nouveau exterior - built for the original owner, business person Pasual Baburizza, from Croatia in 2016

We then walked down to the main city (the flat area).  We randomly caught a city bus and were lucky enough to end up right at our building at PUCV where we retrieved our car from the underground carpark.

On the way back to the apartment, we stopped at the Floral Clock of Vina for a photo opportunity.  Then, the Fonck museum to view the moai from Easter Island and the (horrible) Rodin sculpture.  These three are iconic musts of Vina and Ash and Rachel (now fully rested) appreciated their uniqueness.

Ash and Rachel at the Floral Clock of Vina, an overrated sight in my opinion

Doing our best moai imitation at Museo Fonck - I think Ash captured it best

A vigorous imitation of the Rodin statue, which must be the worst thing he ever sculpted, at Palacio Carrasco

That evening, we invited folks over for dinner and to watch the U.S. play soccer at the American Cup.  We dined on pasta and salad (and wine) but saw the U.S. lose badly to Argentina.  Argentina would go to the finals (and lose to Chile).

Tim, Randy, Ash and Rachel at dinner at our apartment in Vina

Jimena and Pedro Salud with the soccer on the TV in the background

Randy digs in while Tim checks out the wine

Watching the disappointing game of U.S. versus Argentina (disappointing for U.S. fans that is) - Tim and Melissa, in the foreground

While we watched soccer after dinner, Jimena graded.  What a hard worker (though she was accompanied by some wine)!