Yerba Loca

We went to Santuario La Naturaleza de Hierba Loca with some friends and camped Chilean-style. While we had packed our tent, sleeping bags, food, clothes, etc. to fit into two backpacks, our friends’ car was overloaded with shopping bags, a duvet, a table and chairs, inflatable mattresses, you name it! Clearly we had misunderstood the brief that we were leaving home very early, walking very far and then camping. Turns out we left the city after midday, pitched camp about 20m from our car, and took a gentle stroll along the river before dinner!

  

And we ended up having a great long weekend! Yerba Loca is located halfway up the Andes about 30km from Santiago. The glacial Yerba Loca river winds its way through the valley and there are lovely trails and an abundance of wildlife. We saw several new bird species, lots of guajitas (lizards) and a very cute little chilla (fox).

Chileans take their dining very seriously and we had the biggest asado (braai) we’ve ever had, washed down by some piscola. There was music playing around the campsite and we all enjoyed a weekend getaway out of the city.