BACK INTO CIVILIZATION

Friday, March 26, 2010

Goodbye Ovalle, we had a wonderful time here.
We take the inside road direction south hoping to find some interesting places along the way. The first village we stop at is Sotaqui, with its beautiful church. Unfortunately it has been destroyed by the most recent earthquake and is closed for further use.
Every year, on the Sunday closest to the 6th of January, the holiday of the Baby Jesus is being celebrated here. An image of baby Jesus is displayed behind glass.
One hand is extended,  the other hand holds a sphere of gold.
The most entertaining part of our visit to Sotaqui is the large number of parrots, making a whole bunch of noise around the church and the square.

The sky is covered with a blanket of fog again and when we reach the Paloma Dam, we dress warmly for a brisk walk to the dam. The wind is quite cold, but we need to get used to this cooler weather.
This is another important dam for the agriculture industry. Built in 1965, it is the second largest in South America.

We continue along the valley, through he mountains, following various rivers feeding the lake at the dams.
We’re in Pisco country; one vineyard after another fill the hills with green.

In the field we see areas where grapes are being dried on large strips of plastic. From there they are put into crates and transported for packaging.

We buy some fresh grapes, wash all the dust off them and enjoy while driving through the valley. By now, the fog has cleared and we start stripping layers of clothing and turn on the airconditioner. What a beautiful area, what a beautiful drive, although  tiring for Ramiro with all these curves.
The music on the radio is interrupted by an announcement that a 6.5 earthquake has struck the Copiapo and Vallenar area, which we left on Monday.

During the last months, we have visited many small villages, of which I have never heard. For Ramiro it is an opportunity to see places he has heard of, but never had the opportunity to visit, as is the case with Combarbala. What a cute little town and what a cozy square. I was ready to join the many people on the little terraces enjoying the warm fall weather and listening to the music on the square. But we must move on. We discuss our route for today and change our original plan to visit more inland towns and head straight for the coast where we can pick up the Panamerica Highway again, leading south.

Although we did not notice anything of the earthquake, the large number of rocks on the road, indicate that there has been some shaking going on here as well. With so many mountains and loose rocks it is not a surprise  to see them them tumble down.

As we reach the coast for the last time, the landscape changes again. Rolling hills, first with cactus trees, then low brushes, and finally large forests.
There is also a lot more activity here. Commercial signs and businesses, large service stations with restaurants. It seems like we are back into civilization again.
We can pick up speed with the double lanes and 120 km per hour.

The cabin we had in mind in Reñaca, just north of Viña del Mar we’ll have to forget about. The February 27 earthquake has done a lot more damage in this area than we realize. The road which runs along the upper level of the mountain along the coast has some major damage, making it difficult to reach the cabin, and looking at the walls and foundation, the next shake it may take the entire cabin and the hotel beside it down the hill. The view here would have been fantastic, but we don’t want prefer to enjoy it from above and not from down the bottom of the hill.

We continue to Viña and settle in the same hotel we were last time. Due to the large number of cancelations originally made for the easter week, many hotels in Viña have dropped their prices by $20.00 or more. Lucky us.

The girl at the reception tells us about they scare they had today. While we were traveling, not noticing the earthquake in Copiapo area, other than what we heard on the radio. A Tsunami warning was made in Viña. Everyone close to the coast was ordered to seek higher grounds, following the evacuation route. Nothing happened, so life is back to normal. Well, sort of.