Hacienda Los Andes

Monday morning in Valparaíso I took a bus to Ovalle a couple of hundred km further north. There I changed to a local bus which rolled up the valley of Río Hurtado and which dropped me off at Hacienda Los Andes on 1100 metres above sea level.

This was a wonderful place to stay. You could sit in the garden to read a book. Or you could take a walk on some of the trails within the property of the hacienda. The hacienda arranges tours, both by 4x4 and by horse. They also have a small observatory where you can watch the stars, when the phase of the moon is appropriate. (Observatories are commonplace in northern Chile where skies are clear.) Having only been on horseback twice in my life, the riding tours were not for me, but I instead joined the car tours. (Well, joined is maybe not the right word, since I was alone on both, why it was not exactly cheap.)

One could argue that this is not really Chile. The Hacienda was originally started by some German expats. I was told that after trading of hands a few times, the current owners are from Belgium. However, the people in charge are still all Gernan, and when I want to their web site, I found that it spoke German to me!

To understand the pictures, we need to know something about the presumptions in this part of Chile. This is a dry area; a semi-desert. However, the soil is fertile, so once you add water things can grow, and along a river valley, it is very verdant.

First Impression 1. Just Checked In	2. Short Stroll
3. IMG_3315	4. IMG_3316
5. IMG_3317	6. Hurtado
7. Sunset	4x4 in the Andes 8. 4x4 in the Andes
9. IMG_3323	10. Hamlet
11. IMG_3327	12. IMG_3328
13. Observatory	14. Football Field
15. IMG_3331	16. IMG_3332
17. Copper	18. Abandoned Mines
19. Hiding Hens	20. Goats
21. Goat Cheese in the Making	22. Fresh Cheese
23. IMG_3343	24. IMG_3345
25. IMG_3348	26. IMG_3351
27. IMG_3352	28. Blossoming Cactus
29. IMG_3357	30. The Car
31. IMG_3363	32. IMG_3365
33. Flowers	34. IMG_3367
35. Cloud	36. Tree
37. Multi-coloured	38. IMG_3375
39. Río Hurtado Valley	40. Parrot Church
41. Alpacas	River Trail 42. River Trail
43. IMG_3385	44. IMG_3386
45. IMG_3387	46. IMG_3388
47. Dense Bamboo	48. IMG_3390
49. IMG_3392	50. Pepper
51. IMG_3395	52. IMG_3396
Sunset 53. IMG_3397	54. Cactus Fruits
55. By the River	56. IMG_3400
Going to Pichasca 57. Trailhead	58. IMG_3403
59. IMG_3404	60. Resting Place
61. IMG_3406	62. IMG_3407
63. IMG_3410	64. Huingán
65. Gatitos	66. IMG_3419
67. Unexpected Green	68. Petrified Wood
69. IMG_3422	70. Dinosaur
71. Lizard	72. Cave
73. Caveman	Farewell 74. Moonlight