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!

 

Travel Tips: The Best Day Trips From Santiago

I felt inspired to write this particular post today, as it won't be long until I'll be moving back to Santiago again! I'm just waiting for one more document to arrive within the next couple of days, and then I'll be able to complete the visa application. After that it will just be a matter of days or weeks before I can collect my visa and finally go!

Of course, I'm still nervous that something will go wrong, and I'm not going to lie, the recent news about the new Covid variant has been stressing me out a bit. But after so many months of waiting, I want to remain positive that things are actually going to work out at last, and that I'll be back in Santiago with Claudio within weeks. (Fingers crossed!)

Santiago is a great place to visit and live in, and I've already written about some of the best attractions in the city itself. But another thing that makes it great is its location and its transport links to other fantastic destinations. It's located pretty much right in the centre of the country, and it's easy to take a coach from there to cities across the north and south of Chile. It also has a big international airport, which offers flights to many places in South America and beyond.

But today I'm going to focus on the places that are within a couple of hours' driving distance, and which are ideal for a day trip or weekend away. My list includes beaches, areas of natural beauty, and cities, so there's plenty of variety!

Cajón del Maipo

It doesn't take much longer than an hour to get to this canyon in the Andes (but beware that the journey there is slightly terrifying, due to the narrow mountain roads!). What I like about this place is that it's an area of completely unspoilt nature, featuring mountains, rivers, and the huge reservoir Embalse el Yeso (pictured above). It's also an ideal destination for outdoor sports like hiking, skiing and rafting.

Read more here!

Pomaire

If you want to experience an authentic, traditional Chilean town, Pomaire is the perfect place to visit. This little town is famous for its pottery, in particular its little clay piggy banks, which are sold on practically every corner. You can even find the world's largest piggy bank there!

Read more here!

Chicureo

Chicureo is a small town to the north of Santiago, best known for its artificial lagoon, Laguna Piedra Roja. The lagoon is very picturesque, and is located right next to a nice shopping mall, making it a great place for a day out. Similarly to other affluent areas in and around Santiago, it has a bit of a vibe of the United States about it.

Read more here!

Vineyards of Central Chile

Chile is famous for its wine, and most of it is produced in the centre of the country, meaning that there are plenty of vineyards within driving distance of Santiago. In fact, when I was living in Santiago, my first ever trip outside of the city was to Viña Undurraga (pictured above), a vineyard in the town of Talagante. It was a really beautiful place to visit, thanks to its trees and flowers from the south of Chile, and the wine was also very tasty! Another vineyard which looks worth a visit is Viña Indómita. I've never been there but I've been past it in the car on trips to the beach. I think it intrigues me because it's a big white house located in a town called Casablanca (white house)!

Read more here!

Viña del Mar & Nearby Towns

Known as Chile's garden city, Viña del Mar is one of the most popular beach destinations in the country, and is also the location of Festival de Viña (basically the Latin American equivalent of Eurovision!). It has various sandy beaches and interesting architecture, including a French-style castle and a German-style castle. I would also recommend checking out two nearby towns as well: Reñaca (which has a really nice beach) and Concón (which has amazing sand dunes).

Read more here and here!

Algarrobo & Nearby Towns

Algarrobo has some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever visited, and what makes it even better is that it's home to lots of interesting wildlife, such as pelicans. And if you take a boat trip around Isla Pájaros Niños, you can even see penguins! Other nearby places that are interesting to see are Isla Negra (one of Pablo Neruda's houses) and Santo Domingo, which has a beach with black volcanic sand.

Read more here and here!

Valparaíso

Valparaíso has to be the ultimate day trip from Santiago, and I'd say it's a must visit destination for anyone visiting Chile. This city has been designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it's easy to see why; it's full of colourful architecture in a variety of styles, its streets and staircases are decorated with creative street art, and the whole place has a very vibrant and Bohemian atmosphere.

Read more here!

I hope this article can provide some inspiration for anyone planning on spending some time in and around Santiago! It has been really fun to compile this list and to remember the great times I had in these different places. I can't wait to be back in Chile again, revisiting some of my favourite destinations, and discovering new ones!

Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!

An Unforgettable Trip to Algarrobo (Plus Isla Negra and Santo Domingo)

I had been to Algarrobo once before, a trip I wrote about on my Year Abroad blog. I thought it was a lovely place, and some parts of that weekend were fun. However, there were other moments that aren't so nice to remember.

But I wanted to go back. Firstly, because it's summer in Chile at the moment, and I wanted to go to the beach at some point during my trip. Originally, my boyfriend suggested Reñaca (which looks really nice actually; we'll have to go there too at some point in the future). However, there was one thing that made me want to go to Algarrobo in particular: penguins!!!

I read in my guide book that there's a small island there (Isla de los Pájaros Niños) where Humboldt penguins and other birds live between September and April, and that it's possible to go around the island on a little boat to see them more closely. My boyfriend was sceptical about the book's claim but also intrigued to see whether or not it was true!

So it was decided that we would go on a day trip to Algarrobo.

When we arrived, I was excited to see this palace-like building, which is actually a block of very expensive apartments!

We went for a walk along the beach, which was nice but surprisingly cold and windy given how hot the weather was in Santiago. My boyfriend explained that it never really gets that warm there, unfortunately!

We explored the town for a while after that. Then I saw a sight that took my breath away: pelicans! There's a group of them who live by a fish restaurant, and it's easy to get really close to them. They were so big! I was so impressed by them that I felt the journey to Algarrobo was already more than worth it, even if there were no penguins.

Then we went to the beach (Playa Pejerrey) where you can take the boat trip to see the penguins, or so I'd read online. We were really pleased to find out that it was actually true! The half-hour boat ride cost 3000 pesos per person, which is a good price. Before the boat set off, a photographer took a picture of us, which I bought afterwards for 2000 pesos.

I realise now that I'd seen the island before and even posted a picture of it on my blog after I first went to Algarrobo. I didn't know what it was at the time, as the birds are too small to see from a distance.

The boat ride was really fun! It was a small boat and the sea was choppy, so it felt like we were surfing. It was hard to keep balance, let alone take photos. But I made the effort to take some pictures, because there were indeed Humboldt penguins! There were also more pelicans, along with some smaller birds.

It was incredible to see them in the wild!

By the end of the boat trip, it was really cold in Algarrobo and neither of us could face swimming in the sea, as we'd planned to do earlier. So we got back into the car to go to Isla Negra (Black Island), one of the three houses of Pablo Neruda, Chile's most famous poet. His other two houses are in Santiago and Valparaíso.

I'm not sure why it's called Isla Negra, as it's not an island! But it's a very impressive house that was inspired by the sea, and the beach next to it is really nice too.

After that, my boyfriend drove me around some of the other seaside towns in the area, like Cartagena and San Antonio, which were interesting to see. Lastly, we made a stop in Santo Domingo, where there is a beach with volcanic black sand, to watch the sunset.

It was a brilliant day that I will never forget. Before I associated Algarrobo with quite negative emotions, but now I only associate it with happy feelings. It was brilliant to explore it again and see those amazing penguins and pelicans with my special someone.

We got back to Santiago late that night, and only had a few hours turnaround before heading off to the airport. The biggest adventure of my trip to Chile was about to begin!