I was hesitant to visit a desert after living in Nevada my entire life, but the Elqui Valley is unmatched with its surprisingly fertile soil. We took a (very) full day tour that winded through several of the valley’s tiny towns to an observatory where the sky sparkled like I’ve never seen before.
Without fail, Chile’s local buses lack any semblance of an announcement or signal as to where the vehicle is stopping. So I finally asked the bus driver if we were in Coquimbo and he rushed us off at the next stop, saying we were about to pass the downtown’s center. The bus drove away to expose a poor, run-down residential neighborhood where we were standing on a random corner.
My mom arrived in Santiago after traveling overnight for nearly 20 hours. Wanting to waste no time, she eagerly agreed to take an overnight bus the same day to visit the northern coast of Chile. (You can see where I get my adventurous spirit!) So after sleeping on planes, buses and in terminals for two consecutive nights, Mom joined me for a long — luckily, relaxing — weekend in La Serena.
