My inner cowgirl

When I was a little girl growing up in Wickenburg, Arizona, on the weekends I was either trailing after my dad to hunt for gold nuggets, practicing my gold panning skills, or riding a horse. We didn't own any horses as my parents liked to gypsy back and forth between our Minnesota farm and the Sonoran Desert too often to keep large long-lived animals around. But my friends in this cowboy town had horses, and I learned to ride young. I remember when I was about eight years old, my friend and I would take off on her horses, just the two of us, no adults. We'd wander in the desert for hours, until the horses decided it was time to return for supper.

With a desire to revive my inner cowgirl, and for Audie to summon the inner cowboy he never knew he had, we decided to spend some time at Hacienda los Andes, to become real Chilean huasos (or guachos if you're in Argentina)!

Most places to stay look better on the internet, than they do in person, but not Hacienda los Andes. A stunning paradise is what greeted us in the morning:

A Mexican-style hacienda, with the fountain in the courtyard, the parrots in the trees, the sun in the sky, and nary a cloud: just what the doctor ordered for these winter weary Alaskans. If I didn't live in Alaska, I'd want to live here. Lucky is what the owners are, and blessed is how I felt to spend just a few days in this very special spot.

The Hacienda is a small, intimate lodging; there were never more than ten guests there during our stay. Most, like us, had come to meet, and ride, the horses.

And these were new horses for me. Not Mustangs, not Thoroughbreds, Palominos, Paints, or Arabians. These were Criollo horses, direct descendants of the horses the Spainards brought with them. They are very muscular and hardy, powerful, sweet and affectionate. It was instant love. 

The Hacienda comprises about 1,000 acres, which includes the beautiful Mexican ranch style buildings, stables, and extensive gardens; the pastures and alfalfa fields for the horses; surrounding hills of desert; and a fantastic riparian environment - a small, swift stream with accompanying lush vegetation flowing through the property, with a trail that follows its flow, complete with swimming holes (swimsuits optional), camping sites, and hidden coves.

The Hacienda is, it can't be stated enough times, a veritable Paradise. We ended up spending more nights here than we had planned, for a total of five, because we couldn't tear ourselves away from the place.

We took many hikes in the desert. We enjoyed the plethora of fruit and nut trees: apricot, fig, apple, cherry, lime, orange, pomegrante, avocado, walnut, and pecan, most of which were overflowing with their produce. We'd walk around the property, plucking an apricot here, a fig there, constantly snacking on the abundant offerings. We went skinny dipping on Noodie Island in the river. Napped in hammocks. Enjoyed wonderful breakfasts of homebaked bread and locally made goat cheese, and dinners of good food followed by hours and hours of stories and conversation, with candles, stars, and the Zorba the Greek-ish owner, a German who sailed around the world for decades. He has traveled to nearly every spot on the globe, and finally chose this spot in Chile as the most perfect place to live.

We took midnight hikes, with wine, to view the stars: and what a magnificent sky it is! With some of the clearest skies on the planet (many of the world's largest telescopes are in this valley), and not atmospheric disturbances, the stars are out by the millions and they don't twinkle like we're used to. They just shine, bright and strong.

Following are some photos of our stay: 

These horses live an ideal life: beautiful, extensive pastures with fruit trees to nibble on, and a flowing spring to drink from.

The dining room of the Hacienda, although we usually ate outside as the weather there is perfect year-round.

Wrangler getting ready for a trail ride, and resting saddles.

On one of our trail rides, we visited a goat farmer, Don Camilo, who lives high in the desert hills. The above two pictures show his farm, and sitting at the table is himself on the left, and our German host on the right. He invited us in to share some precious water. 

Cheers to a great trail ride!

And finally: a mom, with her newborn, and our host, in an act of ultimate trust.

On our way to the Hacienda

After three great days in Valparaiso, we traveled north by bus to the beach resort town of La Serena. Traveling along the coast, the scenery is quite spectacular, and it would have been an extremely relaxing and enjoyable experience if we had been spared the nine hours of Spanish-dubbed Chinese action flicks that were played on the small TV screens at eardrum bursting volume. Not that there was much dialogue to dub as the soundtrack consisted mostly of grunts, screams, and wails.

When we reserved the bus, we were told it would take six hours from Valpo to La Serena. Actual travel time was nine hours, so we arrived in La Serena in the late afternoon. Our final destination for the day was not this pretty city, however, but a horse ranch high in the Andes that was 3 or 4 hours from La Serena. We got ourselves to a rental car agency and out of town by 6:00. 

The drive from La Serena to the village of Vicuna (there is supposed to a squiggle over the n. I can't figure out how to do these marks and other accent marks on this blogger program. Sorry!) was very pretty, passing by pisco vineyards. We were entering the Elqui Valley, an enchanting expanse of green nestled within the very brown expanse of the Andes. We would have liked to linger on this drive, but the Hacienda was many kilometers away, at the end of a rough, dirt road, and we didn't want to arrive there at midnight. Soon after we reached Vicuna, we found the right dirt road that leads south to the Hacienda. And we soon started to climb.

And climb some more, with an endless horizon of brown, dry mountains. The Andes here are very different from the Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, and most of Peru. No glaciers here, no green terraced hillsides, no cloud forests or mist-shrouded peaks. Here, there's no rain. The green valleys are fed by snow melt, while the surrounding hills and peaks are covered with almost dead cacti. It's a surreal landscape!

Our little Peugeot struggled a bit on this very windy, rutty, dusty road and worries that maybe we should have rented the 4x4 cropped up. But with Audie's expert handling, we crossed the highest passes of these quiet, arid mountains and arrived at the quaint village of Hurtado before dark. Hacienda los Andes was just outside the village, and we arrived about 9:30. Our hosts had been waiting for us, and greeted us with a hearty dinner, and some nice conversation, before we quickly retired after our long day of travel. The next day we'd meet the horses!