We started the journey to our last destination in Chile: San Pedro de Atacama. 1200 kilometers that we hope to be able to do in two days. As it happens with all the tourist places, there are conflicting opinions about San Pedro: many say it is nice but too touristy, others tell us not to lose our surroundings. The truth is that San Pedro de Atacama is one of the most expensive towns in Chile (a country that is already expensive to travel). For us it will be our place of passage before crossing to Bolivia. We are on the countdown: although we do not have a return date or plans, we decided to spend Christmas and New Year with Olga and Mirla, two of my best Peruvian friends, so that is our first big goal: travel a bit through Bolivia and reach Lime
Some images of Coquimbo, one of the last places we visited in Chile
Pelicans in one of the coves of Coquimbo
Day 1: we advance 350 km
The next morning we grabbed the backpacks and went on the road. Luis lives next to route 5 so it's easy to start the journey. Forty-five minutes go by, my arm starts to hurt (it's very windy and it's hard to keep it firm), and Tito stops. He's in a hurry: "Come on up, hurry, do not see them", he gets us in the car and starts at full speed. "It's because my boss forbade me to raise people and walks around here, I do not want her to see me because she challenges me later," she says. On the road to La Higuera, where he leaves us, he dedicates himself to spending the horn with every woman passing by.
We got out of the car and did not wait for five minutes: a truck brakes suddenly. "I saw them there in Coquimbo and I wanted to take them, but I could not stop because I was in the other lane", says Agustín as soon as we got on. He offers to take us to Copiapo, 280 km away, where he lives. I sit in the back seat, next to his guitar, and the hours fly by: Agustín is a traveler and has many stories. In 2011 he went on tour with his band through Latin America in a motor home built by him. I ask him how the experience is and he tells us that it was one of the best in his life. They met a lot of people, they exchanged music for accommodation and food: "We played everywhere, we loved doing it, it was something that we enjoyed a lot." The van had room for ten people so backpacking was always on the road.
When we arrived in Copiapó we decided to stop for the day. It is still early, but we have more than half the way and we do not want to arrive at night. Agustín suggests that we go to know Bahía Inglesa (or the Pan de Azúcar National Park, although for that we need our own mobility and we do not have it), he gives us his tent so that we can camp on the beach and he tells us that if we do not have where to sleep what let's call and stay with him in Copiapo. We say goodbye and make a finger towards Bahía Inglesa to spend a day at the beach (clearly out of itinerary).
We are looking for seagulls ...
Immediately a family picks us up in a van and the father tells us to settle back in the box (the open part). Perfect. I love to travel back there and feel the wind. At 15 minutes the truck brakes in the middle of nowhere. The father gets off and says: "My son has a heart ache ..." (I'm scared) "... and he asked me to please come inside with us" (ahhh ...). We tell him that we are well, that there is no problem, and we continue on our way. After a while, a truck gets behind us, pegadito, and I see that the driver picks up his cell phone and takes a picture from above. An image that I would have liked to remember: the two of us in the box surrounded by backpacks, in a white van on a Chilean route somewhere on the planet Earth.
First images of Bahía Inglesa
Finally we reach Bahía Inglesa, a small town that explodes in the summer. The sea is there just. Damien shouts suddenly: "AH NO, look at the color of the water!". It is transparent. Transparent Caribbean light blue turquoise. You see the background. Everything that is inside is seen. It is a piece of Caribbean Sea that the GPS failed. I put my feet: it's cold but I get used to it quickly. The bad thing is the wind, so we took refuge in the tent and slept for a while. We are in full nap when we see something black that moves in circles through one of the cloth walls: it is a dog and it has just pissed in our home. We christened the tent. It is the sign that we have to get up and start thinking about where we are going to sleep. We approach a house and ask where the campsite is. The owner offers to take us in his truck, he has to leave because he has to leave the city. We ask him where he is going. "To Copiapó". We look at each other. "We're going with you." We call Agustín and let him know we're going to his house.
Conclusion of Demian's day (said almost to the shouts and with emotion): "Traveling extraordinary things happen to you every day. People have to cheer up! "
THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOTE. IF YOU HAVE TRAVELED OR ARE FROM CHILE, I WOULD LIKE TO READ YOUR COMMENT
