Recharging our batteries in Bahia Inglesa...

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We took a bus from La Serena to Caldera and upon arrival in the little town, we decided that its sister city a few kilometres down the coast had more to offer. We hopped in a colectivo (shared taxi) and a few minutes later we were dropped on the beach walk of Bahia Inglesa.
Our wish-list was finally fulfilled when we reached this summer tourist hot spot. The sun was finally shining and there was a lovely little beach with turquoise water.

After our encounter with partying Chileans in Valparaiso, we decided that we wanted to be as far away from shared dormitories as possible for the upcoming Independence Day. After a quick walk around the small town, we spotted a sign for Cabanas and inquired within. The owner of the mini-mart showed us around the one bedroom, one bathroom, one kitchen apartment that was conveniently located above the only shop in town. Sorted. We'll take it!

He threw us the keys and didn't ask us how long we'd be staying. Despite the celebrations it is still the down season, so any occupants are clearly a plus for this man. With our own space and no tours on the agenda, we did what we've been looking forward to doing for ages - we vegged out! We unpacked all our bags, bought nice food and just enjoyed having our own little house for a few days. We haven't had a chance to go somewhere with the expressed intention of doing nothing since we left Sucre in mid-August.

It is for this reason that there isn't much to report from the sunny spot of Bahia Inglesa! Thanks to a chilly wind we didn't do any serious sunbathing but still managed to get attractive red noses. Bar the obligatory toe-dipping, we didn't swim either as the water was a bit nippy to say the least. We did however manage to get some exercise walking the length of the stunning beach. If we were looking for a sandy walk however, we need look no further than the outskirts of the town. There are fields and fields of sand and sand-dunes separating Bahia Inglesa from Caldera.

We spent Chilean Independence Day reading on the beach surrounded by crazy Chileans who were swimming in the cold water. We knew it was a special day though, because the otherwise usually deserted town came alive for an afternoon with people avoiding the official ceremony that was on every national station for what seemed like 10 hours solid.

Bahia Inglesa is a grand spot with nothing extraordinary about it in the off season, but it was ideal for what we were looking for - taking time out of our grand tour of the world.

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Comments

[Eileen]

Bahia Inglesa
It sounds like a nice leisurely way to end you tour of South America