Cooking Classes and Long Walks

When I got back from San Pedro, I had gotten a cold thanks to the crazy weather (so hot during the day and so cold at night...deserts), so I spent a lot of this week sleeping and reading. But I did get to have some fun at a cooking class with Alan! We learned how to make some traditional Mapuche (indigenous Chilean people) food that I have no idea how to spell, but it was really good. Essentially little balls of pureed, cooked beans of different varieties. And the class was taught by a Mapuche woman, and she told us a lot about her language and culture throughout the class. I've never taken a cooking class, so it was a fun experience. We even got to wear aprons! So official. I'm basically a chef now.

Alan the chef

I spent this week doing a lot of planning for future trips coming up as well. Right now, I’m working on planning a trip to Machu Picchu and Patagonia, which are my 2 big trips that I have to cross off my bucket list while I’m here. I’m so excited to actually make these trips that I’ve always dreamed about come to life! Looking at more short term, a few of us are heading to Santiago this weekend for a 2 nights to do some Santiago touristy things and also visit the Cajon del Maipo, which is a valley close to Santiago with vineyards, canyons, rivers, and lots of green space for things like rafting, ziplining and horseback riding.  It will be great to explore some adventurous nature like that! While we were in Starbucks, in the middle of booking our hostel for the trip, a huge earthquake began and everyone started frantically rushing to get out of the building. This earthquake was much more intense than the other one, and the whole world was violently shaking. On the Richter scale, it was marked as a 6.6, which is pretty big. There was no major structural damage to any buildings, but there were plenty of power outages (our apartment included) and broken streetlights. I’m so glad that we were all together when it happened though because I was pretty shaken up (pun intended) after it. We were all a little freaked out, since it was the first really big and actually concerning earthquake for all of us. So we went out for pizza to calm our nerves. It totally worked. I knew coming here that Chile was one of the most seismically active countries in the world, but it’s so strange because there is absolutely no warning or prediction when it comes to earthquakes, and they can happen anywhere at anytime. It’s kind of a scary concept, but one for which the country is well-prepared. So no worries :)

Such a shame that this beautiful piece of artwork in our apartment was knocked off the wall by the earthquake

Not the collection!!

It's kind of hard to see, but the grocery store was in shambles after everything fell of the shelves

 

Today we went on a long walk along the coast up to Reñaca and Con-Con, which are beach towns just to the north of Viña.  Along the way we found Lobos del Mar (Sea Lions) sunbathing on rocks and plenty of beautiful views of Pacific waves crashing against the jagged rocky coastline, and ended up at the dunes in Con-Con, which are so impressive to me every time. It looks like the desert right next to the sea. And just a bit inland, there is a mountain range called Cordillera de la Costa. Being surrounded by so many natural wonders makes me so happy. And we watched the sunset from the beach on our way home, which is just always so peaceful and a perfect end to any day. We were especially grateful for the warm sunny weather that we had today because in the past week, we haven’t seen the sun thanks to constant fog and rain. It was quite the Sunday! And ice cream with Cristian and Rodolfo was not a bad way to end the evening :)

All those blobs are the sea lions!

There's no such thing as a slow week here, because there is always so much to see and do! I encounter something new every day and I'm so grateful for all of the experiences that make up my unbelievable life here. I can't wait to see what next week brings <3

Besos xox

San Pedro de Atacama

I'm back from the my long weekend in San Pedro de Atacama in the north of Chile, and it was absolutely amazing!! It was a trip that was a lot of firsts for me. I've never been to a desert before, and San Pedro is in the driest desert in the world. I've also never been higher than 4,000 feet and the highest I went on this trip was about about 14,100 feet. It was also my first trip that I've taken alone, staying in a hostel and sightseeing completely alone. This whole trip was full of new experiences for me and I am so glad that I decided to do it. Here's how I spent my unbelievable weekend:

As soon as we landed in Calama, I knew I felt like I was in a whole other world. There were vast open sandy spaces surrounded my mountain ranges on all sides. Such a strange place unlike anywhere I’d ever been before.  Just look at these pictures from the sky!

 When I arrived at Hostal Rural (the best hostal ever!) I was greeted and checked in by the super friendly Ignacio, who ended up being the most helpful person, recommending tours and getting me booked to do everything that I wanted to do while I was in San Pedro. I booked a tour for the next day for sandboarding in the Valle de la Muerte and went to dinner with some new hostel friends :)

The hammock section in the courtyard of the hostel

Such a cool place, right?

 
The next day a few of us went mountain biking in the Catarpe Valley, looking for the Quebrada del Diablo (Devil’s gorge), but ended up just getting lost among the other gorges and valleys, crossing rivers and climbing mountains. It was so nice to be out in open spaces, and we could see for miles once we climbed to the top of one of the hills.

These cuties followed us the whole day!

Pretty great view from the top!

Such a happy fellow. He has a wonderful life!

That afternoon we went sandboarding, which was way more intense than I was expecting. They fitted us for boots and gave us what are essentially snowboards (It might have even been a snowboard) and drove us out to Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley) to a giant, steep sand dune where they gave us a brief introduction and some instruction and then just letting us walk to the top and go for it. I definitely spent some time in the sand, but it was so much fun and I got pretty brave by the end of it, going higher and higher to the steeper parts after each run. The view was also breathtaking, so I spent a lot of time just sitting and taking in the vista from the top.

Driving through Valle de la Muerte to get to the dune

View from the top

Sorry this is awkwardly sideways but it's a video of me sandboarding down the dune!

After sandboarding we went to the watch the sunset over the Cordillera de la Sal, and watch the mountains change colors to pinks and purples. The whole thing just looked like a painting. 

It may have taken going to the desert, but I finally got to break out my Chacos!

Our hostel hosts bonfires every night, which is a fun way to get to know the other guests and to keep warm in the cold desert nights. Everyone staying at the hostel was so great and I made a lot of friends right off the bat that I know I wouldn’t hesitate to call if I was in their country. This place had such great vibes and I feel so lucky to have found such a perfect place to stay on my first solo trip.

On Sunday, I woke up at 4 am to go to the Tatio Geysers, which are about 2 hours away.  The geysers let out a lot of steam, and in order to be able to see it you have to get there early in the morning when it’s still cold enough. It was definitely worth the early wake up call though because it was so magical to be in a valley of hundreds of steaming geysers at sunrise. It was also absolutely freezing (-8 Celsius, which is about 17 Fahrenheit) but still totally worth it. And it warmed up after the sun came up :) 
 

On the bus on the way to Tatio

I was still freezing...

The geyser fed hot spring, which was pretty lukewarm everywhere but the one corner where the hot water came from, but it still felt good to get warmed up a little. Getting back out in to the cold air was a little tricky though!

Little fox! Our guide kept calling him Antonio Banderas ('Zorro' means fox in Spanish)

Vicuñas (llama relatives)

 

On the way back from the geysers, we stopped by a little town and I had my first taste of llama. It was pretty good!

That afternoon I went to the Cejar Lagoon, Ojos del Salar and finished with the sunset at Tebenquinche. The Cejar Lagoon is a lagoon in the middle of the Atacama Salt Flat, which has a really high salt density so that you can effortlessly float in it, like the Dead Sea. It was the strangest feeling ever! The water was freezing, but it was worth the weightless feeling of floating in the middle of the desert.

The ground is actually completely made of salt, so weird!

Ojos del Salar

Tebenquinche

More salt on the ground

Beautiful reflection of the Licancabur Volcano at Tebenquinche

I think my favorite thing I did the whole time was the stargazing tour that I went on later that night. We only drove about 10 minutes outside of town, but it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere (which is pretty much where San Pedro is anyway, since it’s such a teeny little town) We went on the roof of a building where a guide was waiting with a giant telescope to tell us about so many constellations and planets. He was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He showed us Saturn’s ring through the telescope, explained stars’ colors and brightness, told us the stories behind constellations and astronomy, and showed us constellations that can only be seen in the Southern Hemisphere (which I realized that this is my first time ever being in the Southern Hemisphere! Another first) like the Jewel Box cluster, the Southern Cross, and the Omega Centauri Globular Cluster. It was so unreal. I’ve never seen so many stars or seen them so brightly in my life. Plus we saw at least 15 shooting stars in an hour and a half. The only downside is that I’m pretty spoiled for stargazing now!

I got back late Monday night after having a relaxing day exploring San Pedro, eating ice cream in weird flavors unique to the Atacama region, like Rica-Rica and Chañal, doing some shopping, going to the museum that has lots of intriguing history about the town and its people, and relaxing in the hammocks at the hostel. I woke up sick that day (I think all the drastic weather changes and dryness in the air got to me) so it was actually the perfect way to spend my last day. My bus came to pick me up that afternoon to take me to the airport and I had an easy journey home. Once I got into the Santiago airport, I waited for Nicolas, my friend that I made in the hostel, to get in on his flight, which was an hour later. By the time my flight arrived, there were no more busses from Santiago to Viña del Mar, and Nicolas happened to live in Valparaiso, which is the city just next door to Viña. He had driven to the airport and offered to drive me back, which was insanely kind and generous of him. I am so lucky to have met him! And now I have another friend in town, so it worked out really well. I finally got back at about 1 am and it felt so great to be home after one of the best trips I’ve had! 

Just hanging out

Adorable downtown San Pedro

I of course had to get myself a Cinnabon at the airport while I waited. Traveling is hard and I think I earned it :) 

 

 

This was such an unbelievable trip and I felt like I was living a dream the whole time. Every where I went was beautiful in a way like I've never seen before and I am so glad that I went out a limb to do this trip alone. I learned a lot and loved every minute of this adventure! 

Besos

xox