Blogs from La Serena, Coquimbo Region, Chile, South America - page 2

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South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena May 17th 2013

Oh dear, not too much to say about La Serena. I think it might have been a better experience if we had of stayed at a better hostel, or if we were into surfing, but as it was just another beach town that turned out to be a little disappointing, much like Mar del Plata in Argentina. We did a day trip to the nearby town of Coquimbo which is a fairly small industrial town with an active fishing port and mining conveyor belt for shipping and an international world cup football stadium which kind of stands out! A real shame as the coast line that we passed on the bus getting there was absolutely stunning. We had high hopes for Iquique after La Serena and after spending 16 hours on a bus to get there ... read more
Humberston swimming pool
God loves a tryer!
Main square Iquique

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena April 4th 2013

Aujourd’hui repos, bien mérité ! J’ai laissé Delphine aller voir les pingouins moi je préfère garder le souvenir d’Ushuaia même si je sais que ce sont des pingouins différents, enfin, pardon, des manchotsdifférents. Donc ce sera juste une petite virée à la plage, à 30 minutes de marche du centre, les pieds dans le sable auprès du phare. La plage n’est pas très sauvage car La Serena est une station balnéaire très prisée des chiliens mais il fait bon se poser à cette saison, avec quelques courageux dans l’eau, mais pas beaucoup. Ce soir, bus de nuit pour Valparaiso où nous allons rejoindre Beata, fraichement débarquée de France pour la suite des aventures chiliennes. >PDJ : le détour par la région de La Serena aura été intéressant **** http://youtu.be/Z7sG1GM2TIg... read more
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South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena April 2nd 2013

d’embarquement squatter les sièges jusqu’à l’heure du vol. Je vais arriver à récupérer, si si. Finalement, arrivée à La Serena, à 1h30 de vol au nord de Santiago au bord de l’océan, à midi. C’est là que j’ai un choc : une vraie ville, avec des voitures (qui ne s’arrêtent pas pour te laisser passer), des feux, des magasins, que ça fait bizarre. La chance est avec nous pour trouver une auberge tranquille avec patio, en plus il fait beau, un ciel bleu sans nuage, hallucinant après la Patagonie. C’est quand même bien appréciable de remettre les tongs la journée, mes pieds m’en sont reconnaissants. Au fait, pourquoi la Serena ? Parce que c’est le point d’entrée pour visiter notamment la Vallée de l’Elqui, région du Pisco et zone réputée pour ses observatoires astronomiques, entre autres ... read more
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South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena March 11th 2013

We have all finally arrived here in Tongoy for two nights, which will give everyone a chance for some rest and a bit of moto maintenance. Howard has written up a Few words with his perspective of our adventure so far. I am having trouble with slow Internet to upload photos, so bear with me I will post more when I can. Cheers, Rosco. So from Howard....... In Valpairaso it is like Wellington and the colour of the houses are solid yellow and reds. Amazing. One of the guys on the Adventure, Terry, has been all around the world as a merchant sea engineer and is really impressed with both Latin America and Valparaiso, and is thinking of buying a place here. Just had a lovely dinner here in Corico after moving down here from Vina ... read more
Signs
Terry
Radar Bewildered

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena December 21st 2012

Today’s entry is a little long (Sorry Matt Knowles), but we think you will enjoy the story. FINALLY…. We hit Coquimbo Port and the ass beating is over! Man, the sea just continued to grow all day yesterday and throughout the night. Not a lot of sleep happening in our cabin, and we heard that from many other passengers as well. Probably more of that tonight when we hit the open sea, so welcome to the Southern Hemisphere and beginning of the lower latitudes. We hope this is not how the remainder of the trip is going to be. Captain came on and apologized for the sea being “a little rough” last night…. If that is his definition of “rough,” we cannot wait for “Heavy” or “Nasty” seas. NOT! Anyway, we got up and got out ... read more
An Historic Original from Rapanui
Beautiful but deadly to eat
Best Pose of the day award goes to him

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena December 2nd 2012

Most of the next day was spent on the bus to La Serena. As we mentioned before the buses in chile are lovely and comfortable, and although it was an 8 hour journey, it was not too traumatic! A far cry from our early morning experience on the local buses where we nearly got thrown through the doors with our backpacks on, trying to walk up the bus as the driver threw it round the corners! The only problem with the long distance bus was that despite the fancy headphone systems and tv's the films were not only dubbed in Spanish, but with Spanish subtitles, big problems hey! When we arrived in La Serena, we made the easy walk to the hostel. The hostel was another tiny little B&B style place, and we checked in with ... read more
ready to hit the waves
La serena beach

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena March 20th 2012

The bus ride to La Serena was packed with movies and entertainment for me as Sarah slept. We passed through a few wind farms (Vestas machines). Zookeeper, in spanish but with english subtitles. Muppets in english. It was great. But then they threw on this Bimbo Fico guy, a comedian who is shown on a number of buses. Sometimes people like him, other times no. I do not understand anything he says. He looks a bit creepy though and his style is very different than comedians I see on TV. He is decked out in this white suit with a white top hat. He look like an evil circus guy from a movie. Anyway, we arrived in La Serena with 2 hours before dark, so we set off quickly to find a hostal. And finally, there ... read more
Hostal Vergara
Hostal Vergara
San Domingo Inglecias

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena March 13th 2012

After I had left Herb & Ron I headed back into Copiapo, to the main plaza, Plaza Prat. I had decided I couldn't be bothered to ride up the Rio Copiapo valley to see some grapes. I would rather look round the museum. I pulled up in the space reserved for "motos" that Herb & I caught up with Ron earlier that morning. The museum was a short walk round the corner but it was closed. I wasn't too surprosed as it was nearly 3 pm and everywhere was still shut. The sign on the gate seemed to suggested it opened again at 3.30 so I headed back to the square. Opposite the bike was a pleasant little cafe that had out door seating and was open. I took Ron's advice. The best place is where ... read more
That grey blur is a humming bird!
The morning fog lying in the valleys south of Copiapo
Is that your bike mate?

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena January 8th 2012

A 6-hour bus journey does not sound like fun but the bus ride from Santiago to La Serena was actually pretty awesome. I parked myself right at the front of the bus so that I could get the best views and was definately not disappoined. My fellow passengers seemed less than excited and spent most of the journey asleep so in comparison I must have looked like an excited puppy whipping my head back and forth to check out the surroundings. I was in full-on tourist mode so I even got a couple of photos although sadly they never come out as good as you hope. One other passenger who was awake however, was an adorable little Chilean girl who I seemed to make friends with despite neither of us understanding anything that the other one ... read more
The Centre of La Serena
Statues in La Serena
La Luna

South America » Chile » Coquimbo Region » La Serena October 31st 2011

La Serena is one of Chile’s oldest cities, founded in 1544.It was the main staging post on the route north to Peru; many of the religious orders built churches and convents here providing accommodation for their members, and the city still has 29 churches. Some people went to Coquimbo to see the big cross, the Cruz del Tercer Milenio (Spanish for "Third Millennium Cross"). It is 83m tall and 40m wide and you can see it from La Serena. Some of us decided to walk to the beach where the lighthouse is. On the way there we walked by Parque Pedro de Valdivia where there was small zoo / aviary with llama, alpaca, some domestic fowl (chicken, ducks, geese), parrots, emu and ostrich. There was also a rink where some kids were playing roller hockey which ... read more
Lighthouse
Plaza de Armas




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