Isla Negra

Pablo Neruda is arguably Chile's most well-known poet. He was a diplomat and a politician, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. We visited his favourite house (of three), Casa de Isla Negra, situated in a small coastal town about 100km west of Santiago.

Neruda is known for his quirky collections of ships' beakheads, shells, coloured glasses, globes and compasses, ships in bottles, butterflies, you name it! Neruda loved all things to do with the sea and he built his house to resemble a ship, with low ceilings, creaking wooden floors and narrow passageways. He received ships' bells as gifts, and even bought his own boat - which never saw the sea! Instead, Neruda would enjoy a drink in his boat in his garden while looking out over the ocean.

The house overlooks the sea and we went for a stroll along the beach in front of the house. From here we could see the house and the graves of Neruda and his third (and favourite) wife Matilde, built to resemble ... a ship!

Senderos de Santiago

We had a trail-filled weekend as we joined some friends and the Santiago Hiking Club for a hike up Cerro Pochoco on Saturday, and then a trail run along Cerro Carbon's contour path on Sunday.

We've hiked up Pochoco before so this time it was a little easier and just as beautiful. Thanks to some rain the previous night, the surrounding mountains were lightly dusted with snow and the views were washed clean.

The trail run along the side of Cerro Carbon was very peaceful and we both got in some training before our races in May.

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!

San Pedro de Atacama

I flew up to San Pedro to give Daniel a hero's welcome after his race. San Pedro is a small town near the border of Bolivia. It lies 2400m above sea level, has 5000 inhabitants, and overlooks the vast Atacama Desert and Licancabur volcano.

Recent rainfall in the area resulted in the river bank washing away, leaving a gulf next to the road. The walls, which are usually just dusty, are now mud-streaked.

The town is well known for its markets with handcrafted products made by descendants of the first inhabitants of the town, the Atacameños.

We had a lovely weekend together again in the dusty desert town, appreciating the local food and crafts, and resting after a long week apart!

Daniel's Atacama Action

Tent #7: El Toro

Daniel and his tent mates at the end of Stage 2

Hitting a sandy road on Stage 3 

Strolling up a sand dune on Stage 3! 

Blazing through the desert in Stage 4 

Approaching a checkpoint in Stage 5 

Sprinting towards the finish line and Vanessa!

A short video of Daniel crossing the finish line - 4th in Stage 6, 9th overall, and 1st in the 20-29 age group. WELL DONE, DANIEL!

Atacama Crossing

Daniel recently completed his first 4Deserts race in the Atacama Desert in the north of Chile. He finished 9th overall and was the youngest finisher in the Top 10! He also won his age group, 20-29 years!

The race is a multi-stage race that takes place over 7 days and covers 250km. The competitors have to carry their own food and sleeping gear, but they are provided with tents and water. The Atacama is the driest desert in the world, and previously, it hadn't rained there for over 500 years. Two weeks before Daniel's race, however, there were storms and heavy rains and large parts of the desert were flooded!

The six stages of the race take place around the town of San Pedro de Atacama. The course went over salt flats, sand dunes, rocky plains, river crossings, lunar valleys, you name it! Below are some scenic pictures of the race.

 

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!