La Campana

La Campana National Park is located about 2 hours northwest of Santiago and is home to one of the last palm forests of the Chilean wine palm. We drove up to the park for a weekend of camping with our friends Federico and Joselin. We stayed in a cute little campsite with winding trails along a dry stream bed and campsites hidden between the trees.

The forests were filled with birds and lizards, and we even saw some cute and hairy wildlife near our campsite.

On Saturday we went for a lovely hike through a beautiful forest with soft leaf-lined paths. Along the way we passed a 15th-century settlement of the Inca Maray people, marked by walls and large grinding stones.

We made it up the 7km trail to Portezuelo Ocoa, a little further down the ridge from Cerro Campana.  Here we had a lovely picnic under the trees whilst enjoying the spectacular views down the valley of the famous palm trees.

Yet again, we had a superb weekend exploring a new part of Chile. ¡Que bacán esta vida!

Glacial Camping

We returned to Yerba Loca for another round of hiking and camping, and this time we made it even further into the mountains.

Our hike started off in a lovely green valley, but the terrain changed over the 13km. Near the end it got pretty steep and rocky as we gained another 500m past the waterfalls that freeze in winter.

The glacier is actually much higher and further away than we anticipated, and although we though we were close last time, and closer this time, it still took Daniel over an hour on an early morning run to reach it. Here's hoping we both make it all the way next time!

Camping in the Andes

Daniel and I spent New Year's Eve camping in the Andes. We hiked up from Yerba Loca to a beautiful camping site at over 2800m near a glacier. We managed to sneak a bottle of wine into our rucksacks, which we enjoyed in our valley, next to a river, with the glacier and waterfalls in the background.

It was a little hard at times to take in enough fresh air for the next breath, but we survived the altitude and welcomed the new year together.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo a todo!

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.

Camping Road Trip

Over the National Day long weekend, we drove north on a 1600km road trip to the start of the Atacama Desert. At the small town of Huasco we turned towards Tres Playitas ('three little beaches') and set up camp on the dunes for two nights. 

The reason for this trip was to see the desert flowers, a spectacular natural phenomenon in the dry desert (see next post!). We also spent one night in Apolillado ('moth-eaten beach'). The trip was a huge success and we spent some quality time with friends, sharing wine around the camp fire and falling asleep to the sound of the waves. 

We drove on dirt tracks through some beautiful mountain passes and enjoyed the vast flower-covered landscapes. This was definitely a great way to explore a new part of Chile!