I scoured the internet for places we could go. I narrowed it down to beach locations pretty quickly because this was the last chance we would probably have of getting to the beach without having to bring our parkas. But that still leaves a lot (LOT) of ground to cover as the entire country of Chile is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. That is 2600 miles of beaches. I narrowed it further by the fact that we wanted to drive and not fly. More manageable but that still leaves us with about 300 miles of beaches north of Santiago and 300 miles south. Still more small towns than I could research things to do and places to stay in such a short time.
And then I remembered a coworker of B's mentioned a place in the Bio-Bio region. That is in region VIII and about 300 miles south of us here in Santiago. He, and his now wife, stayed in this great little town on the coast, in a boutique hotel run by a couple from California. I found the email B had forwarded me when information came across his computer a couple of months ago. I quickly clicked the link and was transported to my next vacation. Simple as that; my search was over.
I made reservations (thankfully they had 1 spot left), looked up local sightseeing spots and packed the kids and I up for the 3 day "vacation". (B does his own packing).
Friday morning we ate a leisurely breakfast. MadHatter was a bit confused as to why we didn't wake her up and take her to the airport in her jammies to start our vacation. It is our usual M.O. so I can see how she was confused. I told her that this time we were driving and that we could leave any time we wanted. Her reply:
"You said we were going on vacation, Mama. If there is no airplane, there is no vacation". Boy do we have some work to do on taking her back to reality...
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| Heading down the hill so we can leave all of this city life behind...and the smog is so present already. The Andes are supposed to be behind all of those buildings. |
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| MadHatter was happy to be on our way...even if we didn't get to fly. |
The drive was slow and easy. I had packed a picnic lunch that we ate at a gas station rest stop on our way (not as bad as it sounds). We sat under an umbrella at a small table and just enjoyed stretching our legs after 3 hours in the car. After a whole bunch of Fluffernutter sandwiches, some fruit, some chips and a bit of postre (dessert) we were back in the car. Stinkerbell didn't make it 5 minutes until she was snoring soundly. MadHatter was back in her own LeapPad world as soon as the seat belt was buckled (don't judge...it was 6 hours in the car...) Add earphones and B and I had 3 hours of quiet driving, talking and just relaxing. Yep, B and I actually got to talk!
We finally pulled off of Ruta 5 and started winding our way through the small towns that would take us to the coast and our final destination. It took about an hour but no one seemed to mind. We were all awake, earphoneless and enjoying the drive. Even the kids were in awe of the scenery outside of their windows. We had somehow driven from country side into the forest. Literally. We were surrounded by trees and logging trucks. And that was just before we hit the valley on the other side and saw our first glimpses of the beach.
Chile sure can WOW you in the scenery department.
We arrived, did a quick look around the hotel and headed straight for the beach. It was almost dinner time so we didn't stay long. The beach was black sand (a first for the girls), windy and the water was cold and the sun was just about to set. So we stayed just long enough for MadHatter and B to prove they were crazy by putting their feet in the ocean. It couldn't have been more than about 55 degrees. Beautiful, but cold. 
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| She wasn't so sure once she got to the edge... |
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| But she did it! |
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| And then proceeded to scold her Papa for getting her jeans wet :) |
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| My Beach boy really wanted to get in. But it was too cold even for him. And that is saying something. |
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| Day one - success. And time for a pisco and time on the back patio before dinner. |
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| Our bedroom view |
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| Sitting room... |
We locked up and worked our way down the property to breakfast that was waiting. It is a fabulous layout. There are only three "rooms" which are actually separate small houses. Each has one or two bedrooms, a sitting room, a bathroom and at least one patio. We were situated at the very top which meant unobstructed views of the ocean and a lot of privacy. It was absolutely perfect.
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| Entering the main lobby/bar/restaurant/patios |
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| The restaurant. |
I loved that their liquor license was written on a piece of slate and posted on one of their patio's out front.
And I fell in love with this cactus! These "flowers" were blooming everywhere and made me smile each time I saw them. Finally, a flower I may not be able to kill in a week. It may take me a couple of months...
It just so happened that we had arrived just in time for the beach clean up. Since we were heading back to the beach for a stroll after breakfast the girls each grabbed a bag to hold their finds. It wasn't long before one became the trash bag and one became the shell bag but at least they let us have one for trash.
This time we all put our feet in the ocean (Stinkerbell and I very reluctantly)...I was right - it made my feet numb it was so cold. But it was a beautiful day and we all had fun cleaning up, throwing sand and running from the waves. Some of us even looked like we did some yoga...
Stinkerbell cleaned for a bit, collected shells and then did what looked like yoga for about 5 minutes...
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| A dried seaweed heart. |
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| A boat that is dry docked...until tonight. |
We found a lot more than just trash. There were crab claws, and oysters, and clams, Oh My!
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| And MadHatter even touched them! Which she has never done before. |
The waves in Buchupureo are world renowned. They are huge, crash close to the shore and come in sets that never seems to end. Surfers from all over the world come to play in these waters as they are arguably the best in Chile. I just loved listening to them crash while we slept.
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| The ledge on the left is about 12 feet high. And every once in awhile the waves would crash right up and over the berm. The girls were rightfully cautious. They got close but not too close. Which was great for me because those waves and that current were forceful. |
B kept staring at the waves wistfully. I think he really wanted to get in, but the water really was just too cold. Even with a wetsuit he would have been cold. But we did all get our feet wet again...
We were done playing for now. And the clean up was winding down so we took our trash and grabbed our thank you sandwich and headed to our next destination. The Lobería.
In Cobquecura, a town about a 5 minute drive from where we were staying, is a national treasure. It was declared a Natural Sanctuary in 1992 because the four rock formation is home to no less than 2000 sea lions at an given time. By giving it this status, the government officially ended the slaughter of these baby seals by hunters who sold their thin skins and fine fur. And at the pups meat. The four large rocks sit about 150 feet off shore and are covered on virtually every inch by the sea lions. The girls loved the sound of them and though they wished we could get closer, they understood why we could not.
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| A small, open air church on the beach in Cobquecura. Just out of the picture on the right is the sea lion rock. |
We had worked up an appetite on the beaches that morning so we headed of to lunch. At this beautiful little hole in the wall named La Esquina (the corner). Quaint, lovely and quite good food!
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| The swing in back was the girls favorite spot. |
Some ice cream for desert as we walk through town. The town of Cobquecura (and Buchupureo) were devastated by the 2010 earthquake and the resulting Tsunami. A lot of rebuilding has been done in the three years since, but you can still see damage on the streets. You can also see the fear in people's voices when they talk about that day. As a side note, this is also where the world's worst earthquake happened in 1960.
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| The streets were not earthquake damaged (they are paving them since they have always been dirt) but you can see some of the houses that crumbled during the earthquake on the left. |
We made it back to our hotel just in time to meet our horses coming up the beach for our afternoon ride. The girls are enamored with horses and we ride any time we can. This was their first beach ride and they loved it. MadHatter would have liked her own horse, but she loved Grillo (cricket in english). Stinkerbell and I rode Lluvia (rain) and our instructor was on Chocolate (do I need to translate?).
We rode to the end of the beach and climbed. High. And get a whole new view of the beach.
A long day. But so much fun. We went back to the hotel and the girls couldn't wait to tell the daughters of the owner's about their day. They sat and colored together - and MadHatter drew all that she saw that day...
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| Her interpretation of her sightseeing. |
And finally, we were on our way home. It was a weekend that we will never forget. And one that left us feeling peaceful...
And exhausted...
Exactly what I had been hoping for!
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