Norte Chico or "Little North" as it is translated in the Discovery Channel Guide into Chile, is the area between Central Chile and the Atacama dessert in the very North. It is a dry, mostly flat region with wide beaches, deserted mining settlements and some of the clearest skies in the world with spectacular starry nights.
The "Norte Chico" is a beautiful scenario to travel in. The dryness of the area has a big contrast with the many river valleys that run from the Andes Mountains to the Pacific. GRADOSUR has 2 different trips through the Hurtado River Valley and the Elqui River Valley. The later famous for its plantations of “moscatel” grape to produce Chile's most traditional liqueur, “pisco”.
Here it rains only 10 -14 days a year. The rest of the year the sky is clear and the nights bright. So it is not strange to have four observatories here including Mamalluca, considered one of the biggest in South America.
Driving north from Santiago into Norte Chico, the vegetation soon disappears, which are replaced by thorny trees. There are fewer signs of inhabited areas located by the beach. We also find communities in the fertile areas of the valleys by the small rivers.
Gradosur offers two different trips to this are:
a) Valle de Elqui Espress: (Descritpion day by day - 3 days)
It is a trip that can be done in 2 (ideally 3) days. We travel directly to the small town of Vicuña, birthplace of Nobel Prize winer in Literature Gabriela Mistral. We explore this little interesting town on bikes and foot and then cycle to Pisco Elqui, one of the many town in the heart of the Elqui valley. We can either camp or stay in nice hostals exploring 2 other beautiful valleys: Alcohuaz y Cochiguaz.
b) From Hurtado to Elqui Valley: (Description day by day - 3 days)
From Santiago we travel directly to the city of Ovale. We cycle east following the Hurtado River. We reach the Town of Hurtado where we stay overnight. There are interesting places in between that we visit, being the Petrified Forrest of Pichascas, the most interesting attraction on the way. We can either camp or stay at a nice local inn. The next day we cross from Hurtado Valley to Elqui valley through an interesting road. We arrive in the small town of Vicuña. We also explore Elqui valley. You will need 3 days for this trip.
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