Zelma’s Trip

So, after a good night´s sleep we had breakfast at the Cabana where the owner gave Mum a keyring with a horse brass and a plastic Chilean flag.  After, somewhat cleverly, admiring the flag I was given one too.  We carried on North towards the Parque Nationale de Chinchillas along a road with yet more outstanding views.  We drove through mountains with cowboy-like landscape, dry and filled with the most amazing cacti.  Mum and Dad had discovered the park when they were reading up on Chile in England and, as I bred and loved Chinchillas at school, it was a must see destination.

When we arrived at the park we were greeted by a friendly ranger.  He showed us around the centre where there was a range of nocturnal Chilean small mammals on show including a native Chilean marsupial, aswell as the legendary Chinchillas.  Chinchillas were hunted for their pelts but are now protected.  They have seventy hairs per follicle where humans have only one.  If you haven´t ever touched one you really should, there is no fur like it.  It´s best on the Chinchilla though.  They also, somewhat surprisingly for a small rodent, have a gestation period of one hundred and eleven days and give birth to young which are not only fully formed but are born with fur and with their eyes open.  Okay, so enough Chinchilla facts now me finks.  After the centre we were taken on a walk around part of the park by the ranger who told us about the flora and fauna.  He showed us a parasite which attacked the cacti which was transmitted by birds, amongst other things.

After the National Park we continued North and headed to the Valle del Encanto, a site with Inca stone paintings and bore holes in the rocks.  When we drove up to the entrance we saw a herd of goats which was being herded by proper cowboys on horseback!  We arrived at the gates and met two guides who described what there was to see and gave us a leaflet.  One of them told us that there were, “Maaaace”, and as we couldn´t figure out what he meant I took it upon myself to squeak like a mouse.  He agreed and his friend made cat noises.  We later discovered, much to our amusement, that what he was talking about were indentations in the rock where Incans had ground Maize!  The petroglifos were fascinating and the walk around them was lovely, even if I did nearly walk into a large area of stagnant water cleverly disguised as ground by abundant pond weed!

After the stones, we headed to Termos de Socos and en route saw a sign for canaries.  Mum and I decided that we would rather like to see the exotic birds but Dad was less convinced.  It transpired that he had the right inkling as, when we arrived, it was not some magnificent aviary but a pet breeding centre.  We drove around the car park and headed on.

When we got to the entrance for Termos de Socos we were pleased we had a four wheel drive, although in hindsight it was not difficult terrain!  We arrived at the place and decided to spend the night in the hotel.  Mum and I had a lovely thermal bath and we had the most amazing meal in the hotel restaurant.  The pebre (sauce which is served with bread) was great and we had awesome Chilean wine.