El Yeco and Tunquén (Plus Algarrobo)

Claudio and I spent two of the weekends in February with his family in a house near the beach in Algarrobo. It was really nice to get away from the stifling heat of Santiago, and spend some days walking, swimming in the ocean, and relaxing on the beach. I didn't actually expect to write a full blogpost about our time there, because I'd already blogged about two previous trips to Algarrobo (once during my Year Abroad in 2018, and another time with Claudio in 2019.) But we visited two new places during our second weekend there, and I feel that they definitely deserve their own post!

I also want to post some more pictures from Algarrobo itself too!

One of the best experiences from our time there was walking to El Canelillo beach and swimming there. In Claudio's opinion, it's the best beach in the whole of Chile, and while I would choose El Laucho in Arica as my favourite, I would probably put El Canelillo second. It's a really perfect little beach with turquoise water and a forest surrounding it.

We also enjoyed walking along the other beaches in the town.

And we met some interesting and cute animals along the way, like this amazingly brightly-coloured lizard on a garden wall and this inquisitive goose at a nature reserve.

On our final Saturday at the beach, the two of us took a trip to the village of El Yeco, which is known for its beautiful and almost deserted beaches. At the top of the cliffs, in the village itself, there's a nice viewpoint over the ocean.

Then you have to go on a bit of a downhill trek to get to the beaches themselves - there are some amazing views along the way.

There are two beaches in El Yeco - Playa Grande and Playa Chica. The waves are pretty big and there's no lifeguard, so you can't swim there, but we had a bit of a paddle at Playa Chica.

It was great to explore these beaches, which are very picturesque and still fairly undiscovered.

On the following day, we went with the whole family to Tunquén, which is another beach known for its natural beauty. It's a bit out of the way - you have to walk for about a kilometre to get to the beach from the car park, and then it's another kilometre from the start of the beach to the shoreline. But it's really a stunning place; it's by far the biggest beach I've ever been to. What makes it even more beautiful is that it has a big nature reserve with wild horses right on the sand.

Like in El Yeco, you can only paddle here rather than swim, but it's worth going just to enjoy the scenery.

In summary, it was really nice to spend these two weekends with the whole family, including Claudio's dog Jack, and his aunt and uncle's dog Coca!

Next I'll be writing about my trip to Mendoza in Argentina, where I've just got back from. This was a trip I needed to take in order to be allowed to stay in Chile for the next two or three months, but I made the most of it. Although I had a bit of a scary experience on my first evening there, I enjoyed the rest of the trip exploring the city and trying white water rafting for the first time! But first I'll be writing about the coach journey between Santiago and Mendoza, where I saw some incredible sights.

See you soon!

 

Back in Valpo!

My first trip to Valparaíso was in April 2018, back when I was living in Chile for the first time as part of my Year Abroad. It's hard to believe that it was almost five years ago! That trip was a very spontaneous one that I decided to take after my plans for that weekend didn't work out as expected, but it turned out to be one of the best travel experiences of the year. I took a bus there on my own and then joined a group walking tour once I'd arrived, and had a really amazing day seeing the sights of this iconic, Bohemian city. I remember telling myself that I would come back before the semester was over, but so much happened in the rest of the semester that I never found the time.

So, since I moved back to Chile last February, I've been saying to my partner Claudio that we should go to Valparaíso together, and on our way home from our great weekend in Papudo, we finally did!

I wanted to see the touristic highlights that I'd seen on my first visit, but I also wanted to explore some new areas. So we started out in the Playa Ancha part of the city, further west than I'd been previously. This isn't quite so obviously photogenic as Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción, but it has some colourful historic buildings, interesting street art, and great views over the ocean.

Afterwards we went over to Cerros Alegre and Concepción and saw the beautiful buildings and amazingly-decorated staircases this area is famous for. It was really fantastic to be back there again, and to see what's changed and what's stayed the same. Some of the street art is the same as it was five years ago, but some of it's gone now and there's been some new stuff added since then. 

I also like to think that my photography has improved since 2018, and that I've been able to get some nicer snaps this time!

It was a bit of a workout to walk up and down Valpo's many steep streets! But fortunately, in one place there's a handy slide you can use to get from one level to the other. It was very fun to whizz down it!

And finally, what trip would be complete without meeting a lovely cat? We were really happy to meet this gorgeous and extremely friendly ginger kitty while exploring the city!

In conclusion, I really enjoyed visiting Valparaíso for a second time, and it was made even more special by the fact that this time I was there with Claudio. Actually, Claudio wasn't that keen on the city before, because it has a bit of a reputation for being dangerous, but he also thoroughly enjoyed the trip. There's a Bohemian atmosphere in Valpo that is hard to show in photos or describe through writing - it's just something you have to experience in person, which really makes it a unmissable destination. We'll definitely be back in the future!