La Serena and Elqui Valley Photos

Yes! Photos! This weekend I went to La Serena with another volunteer. I left Santa Cruz Thursday and we took the fist bus on Friday monring to La Serena....only because we missed the night bus on Thursday night...a miscommunication. La Serena is about a 7-8 hour bus ride from Santiago. La Serena is north of Santiago. The northern part of Chile is the Atacama desert...the worlds driest and harshest desert. This desert was still another 8 hours, at least from La Serena...so I will save that trip for when I return some day.

This is the San Fernando Bus Terminal. It is the first stop on my way to Santiago. Just thought that maybe you would like to see what a bus terminal might look like. It actually looks cleaner in this picture than I remember...

La Serena is located on the coast of Chile. It is the second oldest city in Chile. The oldest city in Chile is Valdivia. The lighthouse is a notable landmark in Chile, which can be seen from great distances. The weather was rather cloudy over the weekend...which I guess is normal for the change of seasons. Usually in the summer, La Serena is crowded with tourists. The coast line is littered with hotels. The city itself is very clean and very nice. I realise now that I didn´t download city pictures...but I will include them later.

Along the beach in La Serena is the Tsunami ¨Zone of Risk Sign¨. I have to laugh because I don´t know what I would do if there was a Tsunami...even though it tells me to go to a safety zone or take yourself to higher groud...hopefully I ´won´t have to worry about the giant wave. Chile is a country of much siesmic activity. There are earthquakes, volcanoes, and Tsunamis....also there are many hot springs. There have been tremors since I have lived here, but I have not felt them...evn the day everyone was talking about the tremor...Ihadn´t felt it. Hopefully I won´t have to experience a terremoto...earthquake. The last BIG ONE was in 1985.

This here is a little church in a town located in the Elqui Valley I think this is my favorite church I have seen in Chile. There are many churches in Chile, especially in La Serena.
This is the Elqui Valley. It is well known for the production of the famous Pisco. It is also known to grow avocadoes, papayas (however different papayas than the ones I had in Costa Rica), artichokes, oranges...and I am sure other things as well.
This is a cactus that is seen through the valley. Watch out!

Here you can see how they use the land for crops. Alot of the crops have covers to protcet from wind and harsh sun.

Here is an avocado patch...the triangle.

There is a huge dam located in the valley along the Elqui and one other river which has escaped my mind. It is a beautiful lake as you can see...

A better shot of the lake....

So, there are some photos...I will have to write more about the trip later, along with the BBQ I had yesterday...It has been a very busy week!

Hope you are all well!! Jami