This morning I went on a little day trip by bus to the Elqui Valley about an hour away. The landscape has changed and now looks, I guess, like California. There are still dirt mountains but they are covered with patchy bits of cactus and various dried out shrubs. They look like the mountains that you see in the background of M*A*S*H but without the 1950s era helicopters. Like California, there is a lot of agriculture too. We passed papaya farms, flower farms, and lots of vineyards--this is where they grow grapes for pisco, Peru and CHile´s national beverage. Evidently there is argument over where it originated. I visited a nice little town where I went to the Gabriela Mistral museum. I´m sure you know her as the Chilean poet who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize. IT was a nice museum. On the way home I rode in a shared taxi (same price as bus) with among others, a nun, who kept falling asleep on my shoulder. I tried to take a picture but it was dodgy as to get my camera out of my pocket I had to jostle her and in turn wake her.
There are tons of dogs in Chile but unlike other places I´ve been with lots of dogs, these ones are pretty relaxed. They just lounge in the sun. THey don´t chase you, they don´t bark at you, they do not intimidate you. I like them. A lot of them are big dogs, like German Shepherds but they really leave you alone.
Tomorrow off to Valparaiso.
I applaud your efforts to keep up with the blog posts. The pictures are stunning. I love flamingos. I must try to visit whatever part of California you are referring to, as it sounds nice. Are you faring better with deciphering The Spanish? Travel safely and let sleeping dogs lie.
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