Vacaciones en el norte

Jueves - 14 nov
Tonight I will travel to the north of Chile for a small holiday. It is a 6 hour trip so I will take the night bus to save time and money.

Viernes - 15 nov
Today I arrived in La Serena, a beach city in the north of Chile, at 6 am. I took a taxi to my hostel, ´´Hostal El Arbol´´. If you ever go to La Serena I will recommend you this hostel. It is very clean, the even won a price for cleanest hostel in 2012. The staff is very friendly, hospitable and helpful. It´s cheap and include a breakfast with fresh bread and fruit juice.
After my breakfast I booked 2 tours for the next day in the hostel. I decide to visit the Elqui Valley by my own today. I went to the bus station and bought a ticket to Pisco, a small village in the valley. Only the bus trip itself was worth it. During the 2 hours ride I enjoyed a beautiful landscape with mountains, lakes and vineyards. In Pisco I had lunch in a typical Chilean restaurant. After lunch I did a tour in a Pisco factory. During the 1 hour tour they explain how the made Pisco, the national drank of Chile. We also taste some different types of Pisco. The tour end with a Pisco Sour, a cocktail made of Pisco and lemon, in the bar.
Actually my plan was to visit Montemarde and Vicuña, two other villages in the valley, after the Pisco tour. But in the sun was so strong it made me really ill and I decide to go back to the hostel directly. I skipped dinner and went to bed at 8.30 pm.

Sabado - 16 nov
Today I had to woke up early, to prepared me for the tour of today. After a long night I felt better. During the breakfast I met two Dutch girls from Amsterdam and a boy from the USA. The American boy joined me today on the tour to the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve and Isla Dama. During the 2 hours ride to Punta de Choros we could enjoyed a beautiful landscape and spot some vicuñas. Punta de Choros is a small village north of La Serena. From here we took the boat to Isla de Choros, a penguin reserve. Where we didn´t only saw the Humboldt penguin, but also sea lions and lot of different sea birds. Unfortunately we didn´t saw the dolphins.
Because the waves where very big and the boat we used was very small and a bit old I got sea sick. Luckily I could recover at Isla Damas, a quit island with a bounty beach (white sand and a turquoise sea), which was really beautiful. On the island we had 1 hour free time, which I spend with Ja the American boy. He is a really cool guy! We walk around the island to make some shots for his video. Ja is making a movie about a penguin who is travelling around South-America to find out where he belongs. Ja is the producer and play the penguin by himself. He has a hugh penguin costume with he took with him during his journey.
After a horrible navigate back to Punta de Choros and as short drive we had a great lunch. After lunch we continued our trip back to La Serena.
Later that night I did another tour to the Mamalluca observatory, an observatory (to see the stars) in the Elqui Valley. Because of the full moon we could only see a few starts, but the full moon itself was worth it. And I saw Venus!

Domingo – 17 nov
Today is my last day in La Serena, at 2 pm I will take the bus back to Santiago. Because I didn’t saw La Serena itself yet and I had only a short time left I decide to wake-up early. After breakfast I discovered the city center. After a two hour walk I took the bus to Coquimbo, a city in the near of La Serena. In Coquimbo I visited the dock where I spot some sea lions. After I bought some cheese empanadas for lunch by a Chilean man who have lived in Belgium and spoke some words Dutch, I went back to La Serena for the bus back to Santiago.