Coquimbo and La Serena

Thursday 20th January

Having left San Juan for La Serena at 20:30 the previous night with an expected arrival time of 12:00 on Thursday, the bus eventually arrived in Coquimbo at 16:30! Shattered tired when I arrived. I´m never travelling with Covalle buses again! I got no sleep whatsoever and some young fella from Argentina kept chatting to me all evening. (I just re-read that sentence and realise how old I sound!) I only decided to go to Coquimbo at the last minute ... I figured it would be easier to get accommodation and for a cheaper price. It´s a twin town with La Serena so you can get a ´collectivo´ (shared taxi) between the 2 towns. I had no accommodation booked and when I arrived the tourist office was closed so I didnt even have a map of the town. I met some security guys who really helped me out and told me where to go and what collectivos to take.

I arrived to ´Hostal Nomade´ about 17:30 with no reservation and was advised they had no free beds in any of the dorms.

http://www.hostalnomade.cl/
 

Melodie, Zorcha & Macarena

I have to say the staff here were very helpful .. I wasnt even staying in the hostel but they still helped me as much as they could and rang around to 4 other hostels and ´residencials´ but either there was no answer or they had no beds free.

Was really getting worried about where I was going to sleep so eventually had to bite the bullet and pay for a private room in the hostel (which was almost 3 times the amount of a dorm room).

Anyway ... I changed room the next day into a dorm and stayed for another 3 nights so I spent 4 nights in total in HI Hostel Nomade in Coquimbo.

Needless to say the first night was relaxing. Just took a walk down to Coquimbo centre (5 mins walk) and went for a bite to eat.

Friday 21st January

Checked out of the private room and into a dorm. I booked myself a tour to the Elqui Valley for tomorrow and decided to spend today getting to know Coquimbo and La Serena. Was about 13:00 by the time I left the hostel. Walked up to the ´Cross of the third millenium´ which towers of the town of Coquimbo. You can take a lift up the cross itself and get fantastic views over the city and port.

After I took a walk down to the port. Coquimbo/La Serena reminds me a lot of Valparaiso/Vina del Mar. Coquimbo (like Valparaiso) is a port town surrounded by steep hills and is alot less attractive (or rather less touristy) than La Serena.

After walking around the port, I took a walk along the beach all the way to La Serena (12kms) and through the town centre.

I had a lovely steak dinner in a restuarant here which I picked out of the lonely planet guide book. By the time I was finished eating it was about 21:00 and I was still walking around in shorts and its bloody cold here after the sun goes down ... I took a local bus back to Coquimbo and got back to the hostel about 22:00. A lot of walking today and I think I pulled a muscle in my leg! Spent the evening chatting with a nice couple from Buenos Aires.

Saturday 22nd January

Did not sleep well at all ... I think I maybe got about 2 hours sleep. Early start today (07:00) to do the tour of the Elqui Valley. There was 8 on the tour ... 2 Americans, 5 Chileanos and myself. The Americans spoke Spanish so again I was completely lost for alot of the tour as it was not in English but the guide translated when he could. Despite the fact that I was so sleepy for the day, it was a good day out. We had a minibus tour of the Elqui Valley stopping in some small towns on the way .. including Vicuna and Pisco Elqui.

We also stopped at vineyards and had tours of ´pisco´ distilleries (´Pisco´is a local Chilean & Peruvian drink) and some papaya farms.

For lunch we visited a solar powered restaurant and drank copao (cactus fruit juice).

I had planned to do a 2nd tour that evening to Mamalluca Observatory but the weather wasn´t suitable so the tour was cancelled. To be honest it was a long enough day and it was 20:00 before I got back to the hostel that evening ... if I had gone to the observatory it would have been 02:00 before getting back! I got chatting to some of the Chileanos during the tour (Carla, Karen and their mother) and they planned to go to the beach tomorrow so I arranged to meet up with them in the afternoon.

Sunday 23rd January

I´m convinced I´ve pulled a muscle in my leg! It was really sore last night and now I´m limping which is not good. I think maybe I just need to rest it for a few days as everyday I seem to be walking around sightseeing or going on tours. This afternoon I took a ´collectivo´out to ´Herradura´ beach on the other side of Coquimbo. I met up with Carla, Karen and their mother and we all spent the day on the beach. Despite the language difficulty it was great to hang out with them and have some company for the day. I was chatting to a few people in the hostel but hadn´t met anyone to go out with.

I met up with them again later that evening in the Casino on the waterfront between Coquimbo and La Serena and it was almost 02:00 before I got back to the hostel. I was dissapointed leaving as I really had a great time with them, but tomorrow I had an early bus to catch to Copiapo and they were all travelling back to Santiago.
I only started packing my backpack when I got back to the hostel. Thankfully all the people in the dorm were out!

Monday 24th January

Another early start ... 08:30 bus to Copiapo (345km). Wanted to get an early start and arrive reasonably early. I hadn´t booked accomodation in Copiapo and did not know how easy or difficult it was to find a room so I thought it better to go early and spend the afternoon looking around for a place to stay.