Typically, it’s 14 with sea fog when we leave and 28 later when the sun comes out so we can peel layers as we go. Love having a car to do all this.
We stop off en route and drive the 24k good dirt road to see the famous and very scenic Pan de Azúcar national park. Listed as open all year, it is totally deserted, nobody wants to take you out in a boat to see the Humbolt penguin rookery or seals so we just enjoy a walk along the front and enjoy the coastal drive, a welcome relief from the arid, gritty landscape. One fisher woman is being attended by a group of pelicans waiting for their share, but that’s it for any action here.
WE stop at a gorgeous windswept beach with an ecolodge (closed) that looks like it would be swapped with visitors in season. Into Taltal, the only reasonable spot to stop on the way to the Atacama desert, at a small friendly but rather rundown hotel. It caters to miners coming in for some RnR (and whatever else...) so prices are high for what would be a less than 1 star motel in N.America. (US$100). We walk along the nice front, meet a huge sea lion begging on the shore. A naval vessel is in port and several smartly uniformed officers come off a boat and enter what is the local coast guard station. We find a local resto, hardly anyone in there, a menu on the wall, a mom and pop sort of operation, but get lovely fish, salad and beers for $25.
Back to the hotel, there is no hot water so we fall into bed, only to hear the boom boom from the huge gym close to our room and people partying next door. Ear plugs in, we sleep til 8.
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