New Years in Los Vilos

Just getting caught up on blog posts…

On Boxing Day we packed up 4 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog, 1 cat and 1 bunny, plus all our related necessities, and headed out to Los Vilos on the coast for 7 nights of vacation. Given the large group of us we decided to take both the Kombi bus (driven by Jeremy, who had to leave over an hour earlier since it only goes a maximum of 85 km/hr) and the Subaru.

Los Vilos is located about 280 km from Santiago, on the coast about half way between Valparaiso and La Serena. The house we rented was in Bahia Azul, a small community of beautiful homes perched on the ragged coastal cliffs, just South of the city of Los Vilos.

Los Vilos itself is a blue-collar town – fairly poor and non-descript, with a lovely beach that is overshadowed by a large industrial conveyor from a nearby chemical processing plant. The best thing about Los Vilos is the seafood. Near the Northern most end of the town along the water’s edge there is a street lined with small restaurants, where enthusiastic waitresses run out and try to wave cars full of people down and convince them to come to their restaurant. During our stay in Los Vilos, Jeremy and I were privileged to go out for dinner at two of these restaurants (with grandparents babysitting the boys) and enjoy the freshest, most delicious seafood we’ve ever tasted. Locos, rieneta, jieva and muscles were our favorite treats, and of course they were paired with delicious home made pisco sours and lots of fresh avocado and tomato.

The house we rented in Los Vilos was spectacular. The house was located on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean, with gorgeous mature gardens filled with flowers and cactus, and a winding path that leads down the rock to the sea, where there was an abundance of tidal pools filled with sea anemones, star fish, crabs and other interesting finds. William and Jackson enjoyed many walks down to the water’s edge, with Nana and Grandpa as well as us, to explore tidal pools, watch for seals and herons, throw rocks (every boy’s favorite past time) and collect various treasures. On New Years Eve, despite the skepticism of my parents, Jeremy and I collected sea salt from the rock faces below and used it as a rub on a wonderful roast destined for the charcoal barbeque – the results were delicious! New Years Eve was spent sipping champagne on the deck overlooking the ocean and watching red lanterns float up into the sky, with the thunder of fireworks in red, white and blue (colours of Chile) bursting over Los Vilos in the distance.

The house was mostly glass and every room boasted a spectacular view, and contained beautiful art objects and collectables, along with all the cultured amenities of home. The couple who owns the house are French (retired from the UN and spending time between Chile and France) and invested so much attention to detail in designing and building their home – it was the first time we really felt comfortable and at home since moving to Chile.

The week in Los Vilos was spent enjoying the views and local walks around Bahia Azul, but also visiting a different beach almost every day in the Kombi, to eat picnic lunches, build sand castles, enjoy long walks and take the occasional wade in the chilly Pacific. One day we ventured northward to Parque Nacional de Fray George, which boasts the only cloud forest North of Valdivia – which is remarkable since it is surrounded by near desert. Unfortunately we sprang a leak in one of our tires on the Subaru while driving the dusty roads of Fray George, but Jeremy impressed us all by changing the tire and getting us all safely to La Serena (about 2.5 hours North of Los Vilos at this point) to get the tire fixed and reinstalled for the equivalent of $6. La Serena is a lovely city with a beautiful historical center filled with squares, cobblestone streets and quaint cafes and restaurants. We enjoyed a seafood dinner there before heading back to Los Vilos and promising ourselves that we’d rent a house in La Serena at some point the near future (especially because there is a Humboldt penguin colony about 1 hour North of La Serena, which would be spectacular to visit). Speaking of wild life, one day we commandeered a fishing boat out of Los Vilos to visit Isla de Lobos to see a healthy colony of 1,400 sea lions. The trip was an adventure in the rough water, but it was worth it seeing the sea lions cuddling, fighting, and jumping in and out of the water as the waves hammered their rocky home. It amazed us how large the male sea lions become and we decided that it was best to keep our distance – although cute from afar, we were not disillusioned. Both William and Jackson loved the visit to the sea lions – the excitement wore Jackson out so much that he took a long yet awkward nap on the way back to port.

It was wonderful to have my parents visiting us over Christmas and New Years. They stayed with us in Santiago until Jan. 19 (last week), so it was lots of fun touring around the surrounding areas and showing them our favorite spots. They toured pretty much every possible destination in Santiago (and now know the city better than we do)… always making it home in time for the kids to wake up from their naps and enjoy a swim with their grandparents. Swimming every day with grandparents has resulted in both William and Jackson growing hugely confident in the water. William can now swim the full length of the pool without water wings and jumps in confidently, always finding his way to the side to hold on when he’s tired. Jackson is the water baby extraordinaire doing summersaults into the water (with water wings), floating on his back and cruising around at top speed with vigorous kicks. William has also mastered riding his bike in the last few weeks and races around the yard without a problem. Jackson is not yet coordinated enough to pedal his bike, but he’s starting to figure it out, as he eagerly wants to keep up with his big brother!