Exploring: Santiago, Valpo and La Serena; Day 7
Valle de Elqui: a driving tour
Today we decided just drive around and get to know the area. We started with a quick walk around town, but wanted to get out into the country a bit more so we drove to the ends of a few dirt roads and soaked up scenery and pastoral life (upper Alcohuaz and Cochiguaz). This valley is an interesting combination of wealthy Pisco growers, tourist services, new age vagabonds and hardscrable herders and farmers. We were able to visit some petroglyphs, climb up a ridgeline and eat lunch along a bouldery creek. A beautiful place indeed. Toward the end of the day, we headed up the valley toward Argentinia, but turned around just in time to catch a spectacular sunset. The cloud cover assured that tonight would not be a good night for stargazing.
Today we decided just drive around and get to know the area. We started with a quick walk around town, but wanted to get out into the country a bit more so we drove to the ends of a few dirt roads and soaked up scenery and pastoral life (upper Alcohuaz and Cochiguaz). This valley is an interesting combination of wealthy Pisco growers, tourist services, new age vagabonds and hardscrable herders and farmers. We were able to visit some petroglyphs, climb up a ridgeline and eat lunch along a bouldery creek. A beautiful place indeed. Toward the end of the day, we headed up the valley toward Argentinia, but turned around just in time to catch a spectacular sunset. The cloud cover assured that tonight would not be a good night for stargazing.
