The ISLAND I WAS ON!!!!!
Me holding a clam on the beach! I had to take a pic because I didn't think anyone would believe that I would touch this!!!
Me on the beach after burning the crap out of my face!!
Me in the desert chasing after random animals! Look at that cactus!!
The seals that we boated by!! So cute but smelt so rank
I am officially back from my miniature vacation! I went to La Serena for the weekend with 3 friends... it was amazing!! I left Vina del Mar at 8 on Thursday morning and had to walk to the bus station with all my luggage (as per usual I over packed). We caught the bus and it was a good 7 hour bus ride.. then when we got to La Serena we didn't really know where to go... so we found our hostel and it was quaint. It was really cheap but nice at the same time... except for the bathroom.. we shared bathrooms with the other guests. I had never been in a hostel before so this was a good experience! After checking in we went to the beach and looked around the city for a bit for a few hours because that night we went to the observatory which is in the Andes mountains. We got to see Mars and Saturn and the Moon from a telescope and see and learn about tonnes of different constellations that you can't see in North America; only in South America. We then left at 2 in the morning and drove back to our hostel where I passed right out because I was not feeling very good. In the morning we didn't have much to do but walk around the city and the sister city (Coquitlam) and take in the sights and drink mucho CAFE from different stores around the city. It was awesome. We also went to the fish market (SICK!) and to different markets where I bought a very unique jewelery box for $20... I may have overpaid but that is OK. Also I ran into some gypsies (the first ones i have seen!) they are like the actual ones you see in movies!! haha... bright colored clothing and they touch u a lot but u just have to watch your stuff and keep walking... I have heard stories where they throw children at you and then steal your money.. like actually!! This didn't happen to us this time!
On Friday night we bought some wine and snacks and stayed at the hostel and just chilled all night because we decided to go on an excursion on Saturday morning which started at 8 so we didn't want to stay out to late... it was fun! Chilean wine is so good and oh, so cheap!!!
On Saturday it was the hi-lite of my trip! We booked an excursion to Isla Dama... it is an island off the coast of northern Chile! We got picked up at our hostel at 8 and then had to drive for 2 hours through the desert... where our bus stopped and our tour guide demanded that we get off the bus (IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT!) to chase after these wild animals that were deer! It was crazyness because I was in flip flops and ill-equipped to be doing this!! haha. But it was fun.. the cactuses were like 10 feet tall!! We then got back on the bus and drove some more and finally made it to the site where we had to sail.. we got life jackets and then boarded these fishing boats and sailed for an hour to the island! As we were sailing I saw wild dolphins and seals and different types of fish and pelicans! It was awesome! We sailed around the rocky areas of the island where we saw even more seals (and the driver of the boat got us so close that we were seriously 5 feet away from them.. it was actually really scary!!) then we saw PENGUINS (PENGUINOS EN ESPANOL)!! My question was... how are there penguins in a Mediterranean climate? Beats me but it was amazing! We went into caves and random beaches where we got off the boat and could tan ... the water was turquoise blue and the beaches were white and so hot and it was awesome... unfortunately we had to sail back an hour later because we had to drive to the restaurant where we were served lunch! My friends and I made some friends on the bus... with some students from Mexico.. and we ate lunch with them and talked about the country! Then we got dropped off at home at 7 and chilled at the hostel for a bit... went to a pub and got some drinks then came back and had to go to bed somewhat early because we had to get up at 5 to catch our 6:15 bus out the next morning!
This morning we got up and went to the bus terminal at 5:45 to catch our bus back to Vina and to make sure that we got there on time... however... time kept rolling by and sooner rather than later it was 6:30 and we had not seen our bus come yet... this was kind of odd but not really because this is typical of Chileans! So we went to go ask the people at the kiosk and they said "oh ya.. the bus left 15 mins ago.. 12 ppl got on how did you not see them?" and we were like "WHAT! we asked every bus driver if this was our bus!!" even now its a mystery... but long story short we had no way to get back home.. we had no place to stay for the night... so finally we found a round-a-bout way to get back.. we had to take the bus to Santiago and then from Santiago to Vina.. which added on an extra 3 hours but that is ok! We are now back safe and sound and I had a wonderful weekend! I will put up pics so you guys can see!!
Chau Chau... besitos y abrazos!!
Ashley.
2 comments:
I'm glad you enjoy my comments!!! Ha ha, school is kicking my butt a little bit, but I've discovered that they're correct that "you get what you put in", and I've been putting in a lot more and getting a lot more out of it. I'm just so excited to most likely be done by December! I love your pictures and it sounds like you're having SO MUCH FUN!!!
Looks like you are having fun. Penguinos. Haha. I thought you were backtracking in this entry when you said you were in Coquitlam. I was like "what? Ashley is in Vancouver?" Keep having lots o fun!
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