The Ocoa Valley is a small valley in Chile between the Aconcagua River and part of the Chilean Coast Range (Cordillera de la Costa, a long series of mountains and hills), located about 80 km from the city of Valparaiso and 100 km from the capital of the country, the city of Santiago.
We went there at the very start of a big trip through Chile and Argentina a few years ago, and spent our first night at the pretty Domos La Campana de Ocoa, part of Rancho Alegria. You can see it in a few photos below, and the unusual and pretty domed houses in which we lived stand out in particular.
The valley is located at the foot of the 8,000 hectare La Campana National Park, which is a part of the La Campana-Peñuelas Biosphere Reserve. On its territory there is a mountain of the same name La Campana with a height of 1880 meters above sea level. The park consists of several sectors, along which hiking trails of varying complexity and duration are laid. It protects many species of flora and fauna, and is also home to one of the last forests of Jubaea chilensis (Chilean wine palm), a rare palm species endemic to several regions of Chile. There are not many tourist accommodations near the park, and this place is great for basing for a few days when visiting the park.
Inside the houses, the atmosphere is rather spartan, but everything is enough: beds, tables and bedside tables, light.
On the territory there is a swimming pool with sun loungers and a swing, a small vineyard and greenhouses with tomatoes, a kitchen and a grill for cooking hot food and outdoor tables for warm fun gatherings in the evenings, which is what we did that evening: we got to know each other and talked.
Rancho Alegria began with greenhouse tomato production, in addition to growing various vegetables, succulents and cacti, and then they decided to build houses to accommodate guests - and they did not fail. From there it is convenient and to get to the park, there you can book an excursion with a local guide, and they also host various events, including those typical for rural tourism: seminars on astrophotography, winemaking and the construction of domed houses, ecological walks.
Most of the valley and part of the hills around it are occupied by agriculture, including vineyards — in Ocoa one of the vineyards of the Errazuriz winery is located. I always want to know how photogenic are such places, so I launch the drone. :)
As a rule, bright, pretty and graphic pictures come out with clear rectangles of fields of different colors.
Well, when there are mountains in the background, it’s generally wonderful!
The hills look interesting. Partially they are occupied by almost terraced agriculture. If I'm not mistaken, there, on the hills, grapes are mainly grown. Dark dense greenery with path lines looks beautiful.
Fields, hills and mountains, only a large turquoise lake is missing for a complete landscape set :)
I wonder on what basis the hills are selected, the slopes of which are cultivated by people, and how they differ from those that are empty? ... Well, in any case, they give contrast to the landscape.
The sight of these yellow and green rectangles has a calming effect on me.
The sunset seems to be coming, the colors are changing.
So the sun sets, the mountains and the valley sink into shadow, and sunset colors appear in the sky.
Well, the last look at the panorama of the surroundings and it's time to go back. Meat on the grill will not wait long :)
Here are our houses again. A great evening awaits us, and ahead is a whole journey full of new places and beauty. How I love those moments! It's a feeling of anticipation of the journey :) Rancho Alegria turned out to be a good place to start.
Of course, I could not resist and decided to photograph them later, when the stars became visible in the sky, and the light in these pentagonal windows attracted me with its comfort. I'm happy — the Ocoa Valley is beautiful and I'm glad I saw it.
It's better to watch the photo in high resolution.
Camera: DJI Mavic 2 Pro, OLYMPUS E-M1 Mark II
You can also see my photos in my blog LJ and in my profile on NatGeo. You can read a short interview with me here.