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Published: April 5th 2006
So excited to finally do some camping, even though it was only for one night! I was also really looking forward to some time with Emelina, Preston, and Rachel, some great NDers. Friday morning we met at the bus station with our bags ready to take the hour and a half or so hour ride south to Rancagua. ($3 ticket). Rancagua was chosen because it is the site of Chile's annual rodeo, which we planned on going to after camping. I ended up not going (don't regret missing the rodeo but i DO regret missing rellenos, this dessert like Chilean food that is filled with manjar, a carmely substance... there are no words.. must bring back to the states it's one of my favorite things here).
After stopping at the supermarket to get some staples- bread, ham, cheese, and my favorite "fiber cookies," we took an hour cab to Coya ($5 each) to the national park. Being fall now, tourist season has passed and we were the only ones in the park, it was great. We started our 15 kilometer / 4hour-ish hike around 2:30pm. We were expecting cold weather, only to find ourselves essentially in a desert- so hot!!
Hiking away
I'm glad I packed my winter jacket and warm clothing... it was so hot!!The terrain was comparable to the the southern States, cactus and all, except with the Andes. It was a good hike though, and with a great view of a meandering river (río). Four people was really a great number, for both hiking and setting up camp. My 3 camping companions were great too- all have a great sense of humor, even though Rachel was a bit sick. Preston is a huge camper, the "jefe" (boss) of the group, but Emilina was the organized one and I got to know her better through our talks on those long hikes!
We found a really great site down by the río and at the base of the mountains, so we had the wonderful sound of the river all evening/night. Cooked up raviolitas (the smallest raviolis you'll ever see), and relaxed under stars we hadn't seen so bright since we were living with our host families in the campo (country) a month ago. It was also nice to finally get some sleep 😊
Saturday was a fairly relaxed morning (I learned that plain oatmeal is just not the way to go), and the hike back seemed to go by a lot faster.
I thought about the Grand Canyon a bit, how Katherine and I had decided to go back after college with certain stipulations. Can't wait to do that! I'll have to get back in shape. Anyway, it was nice to get back to Santiago Saturday night with all of Sunday ahead of me. Hopefully there will be more camping ahead!
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