We are now in Antafogasta, the second largest city in Chile. We leave tomorrow for Chañaral, a small town close to Parque National Pan de Azucar, where we hope to camp and hike for a few days (even the stadtfrau has had enough of the city for a while.) The climate is nice here, but we´ve about had it with sand and sun (no pity, please) and are ready to move on to the forrest. Our next stop is still in the desert, but more of a mediterranean climate (so says Lonely Planet) and soon after we´ll be in wine country. Hmmmm, wonder what we´ll do there....
The ride between Iquique and Antafogasta was particularly beautiful - the whole way along the coast. We have had fun visiting fishing ports and watching the sea lions and pelicans eat the fish guts thrown out by the fishermen. Yum.
Update: We didn't go to Pan de Azucar - it seemed too much of a hassle just to find a campsite in the desert. So, we have landed in in La Serena, where all the fresh seafood has started to catch up with Matthias (he has quite an upset stomach) I wonder if he's faking it so he doesn't have to go to the beach for the New Year's festivities or even stay up until midnight. Anyway, the nice people at our hostal are having a barbeque, so I won't be alone either way. La Serena is probably the nicest Chilean city we have seen so far; we haven't been to the beach yet, but the town has a lovely plaza and some great colonial architecture. And, it's not as run down as some of the cities we've seen - probably because it's a top tourist destination.
On the 1st or 2nd, we're heading to the Elqui Valley, where they are supposed to have some nice camping and hiking areas, so probably no internet updates for a while.
Hope everyone has a happy new year
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