Why all the talk about regions? Because that is how locations are identified when talking to Chileans, and I always found it confusing and found myself asking what city was in a particular region in order to better understand the geographic area being discussed. Go figure, one year after having lived there, I've embraced describing locations in Chile by regions - ha! La Serena is located in the 4th of Chile's 12 administrative regions (think of Chile's regions like states.) FYI: Calama is in the 2nd region. In addition to the administrative regions, Chile is divided into five geographic regions: Norte Grande (where Calama is located), Norte Chico, Middle Chile, Lake District (my personal favorite), and Patagonia. Think of the geographic regions as the geographic regions in the U.S.: Northeast, Midwest, South and West. Okay, enough of that....
La Serena (according to my trusty guide book) is one of Chile's oldest cities, founded in 1544. In addition to being a Chilean summer beach destination (January and February), surrounding countryside attractions include vineyards, international astronomical observatories, "quaint" villages and nearby National Park Fray Jorge.
We headed east in search of the Elqui River. Below is the Puclaro Dam controlling the flow of the Elqui River.
Below is the Elqui River Valley generally looking west. Taken from the top of the dam. I'm glad there weren't any earthquakes while we were standing up there.
Any flat land is fully utilized for grape vines. The grapes from this area are for the Chilean liquor Pisco as well as table grapes and some wines.
We drove into the Andes until we arrived at the border crossing into Argentina and turned around enjoying the drive and view from a different perspective.
Many of the vineyards are protected from the winds evidently common to this valley.
We took a side trip into the Claro River Valley with a destination of the small town of Pisco Elqui where the well-known Mistral pisco distillery is located.. This valley has become the "heart" of Chilean pisco production and any available land is utilized.
A Pisco at the Mistral distillery.
I'm finding it hard to not include pictures. It was such a treat to be back in Chile and playing tourists. (I do think I need a new camera though -- one that likes doing zoom photos better than the one I have -- just not as clear and crisp of a photo as I would like.)
This was the pool area of our hotel - Serena Dream Hotel. We were a couple of blocks from the beach. I love traveling Chile this time of year. Cooler, yes but so worth it not to deal with a bunch of other tourists! We're not pool people anyway -- except when there is one in your back yard and it is over 100 degrees...oops, I got off track.
So, our first day behind us and a new day in front of us, we headed out with an ultimate destination of the National Park Fray Jorge with a few "quaint" villages in between. Below is the old mining town of Andacollo.
Below is the "Old Temple"inaugurated in 1789. The towers were added in 1855, one chapel in 1925 and another in 1938. Gad, don't you just love the antiquity of Chile!
Below is the "Grand Temple" inaugurated in 1893 after 20 years of construction. Our Chilean guide book explains that it was constructed from Oregon pine.
Below is a photo of one of the vendor booths in the Plaza. We bought a rosary for niece Elizabeth here (don't tell her though because I want it to be a surprise.)
Had to share road construction -- can't avoid that no matter where you are on a vacation road trip.
We got lost in Ovalle. Maybe I'm not the best map navigator after all. So, as we were driving down different streets trying to find "the big road", I had to take a picture of something. So, is the house going to be yellow, lavender or tan?
I recovered my map reading abilities and we found our way out of Ovalle -- destination Parque Nacional Fray Jorge. Can't mention enough the beauty of not traveling in Chile in January and February - national park all to ourselves!
Parque Nacional Fray Jorge harbors what is described as a cloud/fog forest. It is a unique 400 hectares (shy of 1,000 acres) of trees and plants in an otherwise semi-arid region. The park was named for a Franciscan priest. A rough, steep dirt road delivered us to the area where paths led us through trees and plants ending with a view of the ocean from high above.
The following morning it was time to head back to Santiago for our flight to Calama. Having spent two days in a beach location, we decided we needed a picture to prove we'd been at the ocean -- that is the moon in the background.
We arrived Calama. It was so good to see the friends there and meet new people including two babies! Friends Michelle and Casey are proud parents of Elise (right) and Sophia and Ricardo are proud parents of Luciano (left).
Tracey hosted a tea allowing me to spend time with old friends and to meet some of the new arrivals in my former neighborhood. (front row (l-r) Flor, Patricia, Tammy and back row (l-r) Tracey, Michelle and baby Elise and Makarena. (Sure hope I spelled names correctly....)
Tammy and Michelle took me to the new Calama grocery store. I didn't get to meet the manager but we decided his photo would do.
Patricia and Marcello invited us over for dinner - such a pleasure to be able to spend time with our former neighbors.
We had a great dinner at Tammy and Corey's the night before we left and then, before we knew it, we were back in Carefree and Sue brought Harper up so I could see how much more her hair has grown - she just keeps getting cuter. Does that kid have good eyebrows or what!?
We arrived to Arizona May temperatures (think hot) and after some yard work, Larry decided it was time to start using the pool.
I attended Jimmy's (he really would prefer I call him Jim) promotion ceremony from 8th grade to 9th - 2016 will be here before we know it.
Oh my gosh, he is almost as tall as me
The world recently lost two special people. My friend Toni passed away in April following a nearly 15 year battle with breast cancer. Friend Susie, who I'd recognized in an earlier post in recognition of her sharing her head scarves with me, passed away while we were in Chile following a four year battle with Multiple Myeloma which is a bone marrow cancer. Two very special ladies who were inspirational in their strength, their attitudes and how they chose to be. I'm grateful they were in my life.
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