Time to Turn Around

I left my campsite this morning and checked in with the park ranger to get an overview of the hiking trails in the park. I found a beautiful 2.5-kilometer hike through the desert, that ended up on a clifftop overlooking the ocean and Isla Pan de Azucar. This was El Mirador, a classic view of this national park that appears on posters, postcards, and travel information.

At this point I was about 1,000 kilometers north of Santiago and this was the day I had to turn back. I had just three days before my return flight home. It was a sad feeling; I wanted more time to explore Chile. I sat on the cliff, feeling the cool breezes coming off the Pacific. I realized that when I leave here, it will be heading back south, in the direction of Santiago. This was the turn around point.

I left Pan de Azucar in the afternoon, retracing my route along the coast to Chañaral and Caldera. After Caldera, the highway turns inland, the construction eases up, and I had several hours of pure bliss driving through the wild desert. At one point, I looked out the window and spotted a lone guanaco standing guardian over the vast desert domain. Spring wildflowers lined the sides of the highway or popped out of the tops of towering cacti. Desert bliss.

But more than 160 kilometers of the drive was a slow slog through endless highway construction projects. The words Excavación Profunda have come to strike a sense of dread in me, my most hated words in the Spanish language.

It was almost sundown when I drove into La Serena, my nerves somewhat frazzled from the last hours of rough road. The stress of the urban congestion of La Serena was somewhat alleviated by the hippies in the intersections, juggling and drumming to entertain drivers stopped at the red lights. From the Ruta 5, I turned east onto Highway 41, the "Ruta de las Estrellas." This took me up the Valle de Elqui and after about 60 kilometers into the charming town of Vicuña.

It was completely dark by the time I drove into town, and I was tired and hungry. I made my way to the Plaza de Armas, where I knew I could find a hotel. Once checked in, I went out to the plaza looking for a restaurant. I found just what I needed in the Restaurante Halley, at one corner of the plaza. A filete a lo pobre and a couple of pisco sours soon calmed my nerves and helped me appreciate the comforts of Vicuña.