Posts
I call Chile the largest museum on earth; The museum of our creator. It’s one of the few musea we really appreciate, not only because entrance is free and it is outdoors, but also because tere are less chances for it to be altered or controlled by mankind as has happened with Niagara Falls, just to give an example.
We’ don’t hang around Caldera but continue along the coast with its large number of beaches, each with it’s own character. Just outside of the city, at playa Ramada, is one of the highest dunes at 1.043 meters high, covering an area of 240 square kilometers. They were formed by an ancient migration of sand from the east, in an area where there are no mountains to stop the sand from entering through.
Not too far from the dunes is a zoo. A zoo of rocks, shaped by the with and the sand. There are some very unusual shapes, which with a little imagination can be seen as animals, such as lion, crocodiles and others. We even see a cactusaurus.
The highway from Caldera to Chañaral is the last 85 kilometers along the coast until Arica, after that it is through the desert. We make Chañaral our next stop. A short trip for today but we want to enjoy the coast as much as we can.
It’s just about lunch time and we are ready to get something to eat, but we don’t want to take any chances and look for accommodation first. There is not much here and we take the first available place we can find. They serve lunch as well, which is perfect.
After a quick drive through town we enter Pan de Azucar (Sugar Bread)Park.
It has numerous fantastic isolated beaches and mysterious looking mountains.
Camping is available in certain areas. Some of the commercial camping spots have half meter high stone walls around them and a roof, as protection from the wind and the sun. Ecocamping and Ecocabins are also available.
The park is protected, with Ramiro’s Chilean Citizen cards, we are able to enter at half the prize charged to foreigners.
We are told to stop at the warden office for an explanation of what to expect and what to do and what not. I am curious about the frequency of rain and we are told that there has not been any rain for ten years. WHen I ask when the next rainfall can be expected, we learn, that when El Niño strikes, the sea water drops in temperature, causing the formation of certain clouds, which results in rainfall. The last time it rained 80 mm. Often it is much less.
Midway is a tourist stop, people have set up tents and there are a few cabins. It seems that there is plenty of fish in the sea, and the pelicans are aware of this as well.
Clouds often form over the mountains at night, containing a lot of condensation. There is a system in place which catches the dew from these clouds, the narrow channel filled with water is an indication of how much water is in these clouds.
When we are ready to enter the park, we have to leave the car at the entrance. where baby foxes are playing. It’s as if they are someone’s pet, they don’t seem to be afraid at all.
We have to walk 2 km which does requires a little effort. When this walk turns out to be uphill, of course it is more of an effort, but uphill, through the sand in the hot sun is much more of an effort. But it is worthwhile. From the viewing point, our reward is a spectacular view of the coast and the mountains.
The walk back is a lot easier. The only form of flora is a small yellow desert flower. Standing there very lonely as if someone planted it there just a while ago.
An adult fox seems to leading us to the trail, until it disappears in its den.
Before we return to the hotel, we drive the car onto the beach and stop for a picnic At Playa Blanca, where several family camps are set up
The clouds start moving in and the temperature drops significantly. We’re dressed in short and have nothing warm with us, but we have the car, from which we can watch an unbelievable sunset.
No comments:
Post a Comment