La Serena - Isla Damas

La Serena - Isla Damas

Also, am Morge sind mir mit all üsem Gepäck und em Schild "Norte" mit de Ubahn richtig Busbahnhof. Dete acho hend mir den mit eusem schwache Spanisch müese usefinde welle Bus das richtig Norde fahrt und eus uf de Panamericana (Autobahn richtig Norde) useloht. Aber alli Buschauffeure hend nur de Chopf gschüttlet.. Am Infostand hends eus den gseit das mir am falsche Busbahnhof für das seget, mir sötet an en Micro Busbahnhof. Ca 20 min Fuessmarsch ischs gange bis det ane. Det hets den ganz viel chlini Büssli gha. Mir hend witer gfroget, ufsmol seit eine "jojo istige". Im Bus ine han ich den nomol de Chauffeur gfroget ob er in Norde fahrt. Den seit er "aaah in Norde? Neneii ich fahr in Süde"! gad nomol Schwein gha. Schnell wieder usgstige han ich den de dusse zemmegschisse wo eus zu dem Bus zuegwiese het. Er het den schnell uf en andere Bus zeiget. Deseb han ich den ca. 5 mol gfroget ob er in Norde fahrt, Panamaricana zum Hitchhike. Tipptopp het er gseit. Mir sind losgfahre, ich bi aso scho biz nervös gsi. Ide Stadt isch er nur ca 30 gfahre, ich ha no denkt das mir so nie achömet. Wo er aber ufd Autobahn igspuret het, het er mol ufs Gaspedal druckt. De Bus dörfti nur 100 km/h fahre. Er isch jedoch mit ca 130 km/h a de Autos verbi wie en Geisteskranke. Er hets den sowit brocht dass er eim de Spiegel abgfahre het. Nach 5-minütigem verhandle, während de Fahrt, er het eifach d' Türe ufgmacht und ca mit 30 km/h mit em Auto nebet dra diskutiert, den ischer witer blochet. Ja, mir hend na 2-3 Schrecksekunde gha bis er den gseit het mir söllet do use. Mir sind ame chline Rasthof gsi, wos ca 3-4 LKW’s gha het. Ufd Autobahn hesch nid chöne stoh wells kein Pannestreife gha het. Ich ha vo Ahfang a denkt das da kein ideale Platz isch, aber mir hends den probiert. Nach ca einere Stund isch d Bilanz nid gad erfreuend gsi. Sind nur ca 5 Lastwäge dure und alli hend irgend ine anderi Richtig müese. Ufsmol fahrt en Pickup ane wo zwei jungi Manne drin gsi sind. Sie hend glached und gseit "Ihr schowieder, mir hend eu scho z Santiago im Industriegebiet gseh ume irre mit eune Rucksäck und ez stönd ihr do, was mached ihr"? mir hend ihne vo eusem Plan verzellt und sie hend den gfroget obs eus anen guete Ort für Hitchhike sölled bringe. Mir sind igstige und sie hend eus erklärt das do nid viel ahaltet für eus. Nach ca 10 min hends eus den anere dütlich grössere Raststette use loh, die letzt bevors nurno Autobahn isch und us de Stadt use goht. Nach ca 15 min Schild usehebe het den scho de erst eus gwunke mir sölled cho.

A brand new Volvo truck. Inside it was so clean that we almost didn't dare to eat and drink. His name was Bastian, he was 28 years old and drove all the way from Santiago to La Serena and back. After about 10 minutes of driving, he told us that La Serena was his destination, and we were internally happy because that's exactly where we wanted to go. However we didn't tell him that it was our destination, in case he didn't like us, we would just say that where we were was good, and he should let us off. But we ended up riding with him all the way to La Serena. He was nice, but he didn't talk much. He preferred to play his 80s hits CD about 20 times in a row. But we didn't mind, as long as we arrived by the end of the day. We had to speak Spanish when we wanted to converse, and that was good because that's how you learn the language. After driving 600 km, he dropped us off at another bus stop in La Serena and we said goodbye. We had no idea where to go, so after waiting for about 1 minute, we got on a bus with "Centro" written on it. It stopped right in front of a hostel. We asked if they had availability, and then we checked into our room. It was one of the coolest hostels we had ever stayed in.

The next morning, we had breakfast and then went into the city. This is South America, street markets everywhere, Latino music playing on every corner, we loved it.

 It was a small town with a view of the Andes. Our hostel was essentially at the highest point of the town, so we had a great view and could enjoy a beautiful sunset from the rooftop terrace every evening.

 There was a park right in front of our hostel with many stray dogs. Three of them were basically the leaders of the park, and they came running towards us to greet us. 

One of them had such long hair that it was all tangled up. Muriel took the effort to cut off her biggest "dreads". 

We also quickly bought a brush to groom them. 

Once we were finished, she was so happy that she jumped on our backs and moved around wildly, without any pain. It was impressive to see her so energetic for about 1.5 hours. 

We decided that evening during dinner to stay a few more days than planned. Eventually, a week passed. The next day, we packed everything and took a bus to the observatory with our day packs. We rode the bus for about 1 hour to Valley Elqui - Vicuna.

 It was a small town between the desert, mountains, and lots of vineyards.

 We stayed there for one night. At 21:00, we took a bus to the desert. We drove on gravel roads for about 1 hour to the observatory. We left behind all light sources and proceeded on the last road up the mountain, pitch dark. Just a lot of small green lights indicating the way. The tour through it took 2.5 hours. The guide showed us the different constellations using a laser pointer.

We were able to see the different planets through a giant telescope. Among them was Saturn, and we even saw the ring around it. 

The guide knew EVERYTHING about the universe. No matter what we asked, he had an answer. He even knew which star was where, even if it wasn't visible in the sky but behind a mountain. You completely immersed yourself while he was explaining the universe to us. It was a very special atmosphere. Suddenly you felt tiny on this planet. Many things that we didn't know before. We returned at midnight.

The next day, we returned to our previous hostel in La Serena. A German guy from the observatory recommended an island that we should definitely visit. We briefly inquired about it at the hostel and then set off for Isla Damas the next day. A small, dirty, and somewhat broken bus was waiting on the side of the road with the sign "Isla Damas". We boarded at 9:59 am and luckily got the last seat. I was happy that we still had seats, but at 10:30 am, the bus still hadn't left, and more people kept coming. When there were no more seats, people just grabbed stools from the restaurant next door, and some people had to stand in the aisle for 2 hours.

Well, after about 10 minutes of driving, a woman with a baby got on the bus as well. Because we were sitting in the front, everyone who was behind us had to get out of the way. So, I stood for 1.5 hours. After 1 hour on the highway, the paved road ended. We turned onto a dirt road and drove on it for about 1 more hour.

 I thought the old man would fall apart soon, not the bus driver, who was already around 90 years old. I spent most of the time collecting things that fell off due to the vibrations. And EVERYTHING fell off, everything we had with us, incredible. 

We finally arrived. A sleepy fishing village. From there, we took a small, really small boat to Isla Damas. On the way, we followed a whale. It was impressive to see the water sprout and the fins. Unfortunately, Muriel didn't manage to take a good photo because it kept appearing in unpredictable places.

We circled one protected island and saw penguins, sea lions, seals, various birds, and otters.

Sea lions relaxing on the rocks, no idea how they got there. 

She kept watch. 

They were also funny. 

 Just amazing photos that Muriel took multiple times.

 It was an amazing experience. I had never seen these animals in their natural habitat before. On one of the islands, we were even allowed to go for 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, it was too cold to go swimming, but the view was fantastic.

 Well, in the evening, we returned to La Serena. On the way through the desert, we also saw wild alpacas.

 When we arrived there, I was shocked to see that I had a pretty bad sunburn on my forehead because I forgot to apply sunscreen. So, I stayed in the shade for the following days, and we stayed in the hostel. After 7 days, we continued hitchhiking to Caldera, a town recommended to us by a hostel worker. But more on that in the next blog post.

See you soon

Ernesto & Muriel

Next Stop: Caldera.