From the Route of the Stars to Shaking of the Earth

Judy. One of my yoga teachers in Atlanta is originally from Chile. When I asked advice about where to visit when we came here, she had suggestions from the Altacama Desert in the north to Patagonia in the south, and all points in between. Several women I’ve met in Santiago have summer homes further south where it’s cooler, and have had even more suggestions. If we had a year, maybe we could do all that, but time and budget limited us to the six weeks in Santiago, a two-day trip by bus to Valparaiso, and a four-day trip to La Serena.

The main reason for La Serena was that friends from our repositioning cruise, Sylvie and Gilles, are on a South American cruise, and would be stopping there, so meeting them was a no-brainer. Besides, it’s the second-oldest city in Chile, and the gateway to the Valle de Elqui, home of pisco (brandy), observatories, and stargazing.

Traveling the Route of the Stars

 We flew into La Serena and immediately rented a car to drive up the Valley. We’d been told that the drive was a bit dangerous—winding roads and tourists that stop at overlooks and then pull out without looking. Maybe it’s because we just missed tourist season by four days, but the drive was a breeze—and beautiful.

The Valley itself is lush and green, filled with grape vines, trees, and a few other crops. In some places, especially at the beginning, it’s pretty wide, but as you drive, it narrows considerably, and the dry, treeless, cactus-covered mountains begin. It’s such a strange contrast! Much of it reminded us of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, except for the verdant crops and river below.

Desert cactus

Green valley

The Elqui has a reputation as a mystical place, and some shops offer Tarot readings, tours to alien sightings, and chakra balancing. It lends itself well to such speculation, because it’s like entering another world, and evidently the petroglyphs in part of the valley look like aliens. The mountains press in so closely that it can feel either oppressive, or enlightening. Yes, I know that makes no sense. But at night, when the stars come out and the Milky Way pours across the sky, you do feel as though you could be lifted up and carried away. Astronomers gather in several places, and observatories are scattered along side and on top of the mountains.

The river below

Across the valley

The valley is also home to several pisco distilleries. Pisco is a brandy made in Peru and Chile (the countries argue about who made it first or best—I think Peru wins) that can knock you on your backside. I’d had pisco sours—the national drink—in Santiago. No big deal. Our hostess offered us each a drink upon our arrival, and it was a whole different ball game. We had to take a nap afterwards!

We stayed in the town of Pisco Elqui, and our first dinner was in a courtyard restaurant, lit only by candles and later a fire pit. From there we could watch the stars begin to peek out. On our walk back to the hotel, we kept stopping to stargaze.

The cabañas of our hotel were located in gardens on the side of one of the mountains. It made for wonderfully quiet and private cabins, as you had to climb up and down sets of stairs to get to them. At night from the pool area, you had a full view of the Milky Way, Orion’s Belt, and the Southern Cross. We sat for ages just looking, and I found myself getting up in the night to look out our large windows just to see it all again. Well, and go to the bathroom.

 

Gardens at the hotel

Our cabaña

We had planned to visit an artisan’s village and a pisco distillery, but the village was slowing down (the season was just over) and few shops were open, and the distillery was too expensive for our blood, especially since Ted couldn’t taste the liquor and still drive the winding roads. Instead, we drove down to the next town, Monte Grande, to visit the museum of Gabriela Mistral, Chile’s first Nobel Prize winner, and a teacher of Pablo Neruda, the second. The “museum”, which cost about $1.50 to visit, consisted of the schoolroom where Mistral taught, her room, and some of her original manuscripts of poetry with corrections, as well as photos and copies of the Nobel Medal. Compare that with the three Neruda elaborate homes, which cost about $12 each to visit, and concluded with a gift shop. There I was able to buy a Spanish/English copy of one of Neruda’s volumes; there was no bookstore for Gabriela, and I’ve not been able to find her work translated to English. Both were ambassadors, both lived in other countries, both were Nobel Prize winners in Literature for their poetry. I’m not really sure if or why their legacies seem so different. At any rate, it was humbling to see the tiny school and room where this great poet worked for awhile.

Gabriela Mistral statue in Monte Grande

Pisco grapes

The rest of the day we wandered a bit in Pisco Elqui, but there wasn’t much there. I found it interesting that there were murals of India and shops selling East Indian clothing. I guess that’s part of the mystery. Still, sitting in our cabaña or on our patio, or up by the pool to watch the stars, we felt restful and happy.

The following day we drove back to La Serena and turned in the car. We had a great hostel/hotel in the middle of the colonial area. Again, there was a long patio and garden leading to the rooms, kitchen, lounge, and three outdoor seating areas. So very comfortable to return to after a day of sightseeing!

Courtyard in La Serena

A few months ago there was an earthquake in La Serena—about 6.7 on the Richter scale, and four years ago, an 8.5 hit. Fifteen people died and there was a fifteen-foot tsunami. In Latin American countries there are temblors, or “earth rumblings”, and sismos, or big quakes. The ones a few months ago and four years ago were considered sismos, and people were killed. The receptionist in our hotel didn’t speak English. As we were checking in and struggling through in Spanish, her eyes suddenly got big and she froze. We didn’t know what we’d said to offend! Then she took a deep breath and said, “Temblor!” Somehow we never felt a thing.

Advice after a seismo

As we saw in Oaxaca, there is still damage to some of the older buildings from former earthquakes. Some buildings were closed, others had barriers around them so no one could be harmed in case of falling bricks. There are some absolutely beautiful old colonial buildings, and churches on every corner. This was a rich town once! Down a main road is a long park, called by natives “The Street of Naked Butts,” because of all the Greek statues there! How can you not love a town like that?

That night there was a free concert in the Plaza de Armes, two blocks from our hotel, in honor of International Women’s Day. Local women were recognized and honored, and Maria Jose Quintanilla, a famous singer performed. The crowd—and it was packed—were happy and well behaved—lots of dancing! My favorite were the abuelas who made those standing in front of their bench move out of the way so they could see. When we left, one was standing on the bench and they were all shaking their shoulders.

Gathering for the concert

The following day we took an Uber to Coquimbo, a port town nearby, to pick up Sylvie and Gilles from their ship and spend the day in La Serena. We mostly talked, but also wandered around the colonial area. Sylvie and I scored some earrings while Ted and Gilles sat and talked.

With two of our favorite people

Our Uber driver, Hugo, who took us to pick up our friends, brought us back to La Serena and then met us in the afternoon to take us back to Coquimbo so Sylvie and Gilles could return to their ship. On the way he pointed out a few things, including a sea lion basking on the shore!

Leaving our friends was tough, but more and more often we are keeping up with the people we meet who are important to us, and our community is expanding throughout the world.

Hugo is an Argentine immigrant who arrived in Chile four years ago with two bags and a faith in God. Now he’s married to a Chilena, honeymooned on a cruise, and is making a good life for himself and his wife. It was uplifting to talk to him. He insisted we take his number and let him know if we go back to Argentina. His family, he says, would welcome us to Mendoza.

That evening there was a women’s march in honor of International Women’s Day. Thousands of women paraded down a street near our hotel in a noisy and joyful event. I watched for a while, and never felt unsafe in the crowd.

The excitement of spending the day with Sylvie and Gilles, and seeing the parade kept me awake that night. Some of the march participants returned to a bar near the hotel and were pretty noisy. I was reading and Ted sleeping when I heard a dull roar and the room shook a bit. Yeah. It scared me. The noise from the bar stopped, and when the shaking stopped, there was a great cheer. Crazy!

On the day we left, we mentioned the temblor to another receptionist. Yes, she told us, it was a 4.4. But earlier in the day, there was a 5.2.  We never felt a thing during the day! Ted says he doesn’t know if he felt the nighttime one or my hand grabbing him. By the way, I got back to sleep. He didn’t.

Turns out, this is a hotspot for earthquakes, and there have been several in past years, causing severe damage and tsunamis. All part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, I suppose. We had a taste in Mexico as well. But it’s what to expect here, and it’s not stopping us. Life is too much fun to worry about it.