I'm back home after an amazing 12 days in Chile. The country with a 4,000-km-long coastline and the 2nd-largest mountain range in the world has once again blown me away.
This time, I was there with 7 clients - all Canadians - and boy did we have a blast. We started in Santiago with a sweet little ride just outside of town, then headed up into the mountains for some spectacular views of Mt. Aconcagua (the continent's highest peak) and the ocean.
Valparaiso - the town of Pablo Neruda, the country's famous poet - entertained us with some epic urban riding, funiculars (streetcars that go up steep hillsides), and really cool restaurants and bars. Along for the ride was Felipe from 24/7 TV - check out the episode on Valparaiso (the riding segment sandwiches a skating segment).
From there, we headed north along the coast to Maitencillo Surf Camp, where Roberto and his crew showed us the surfing ropes. Surfing is a lot harder - way harder - than mountain biking. Respect to those who can rip the waves. I managed to stand up for about 3 seconds - once. We followed our surfing with an amazing ride through the Chilean jungle, with spectacular views of the ocean interspersed with thick jungle.I don't think there can be many things more awe-inspiring than a sunrise surf. Sitting on your board at 7 am, watching the some come up while waves crash over the beach and birds divebomb the water is an unexplicably amazing thing. Do it if you ever get the chance.
After Maitencillo we headed north to the Atacama desert, home to the driest desert in the world and some really unique riding. Surrounded by 6,000 m volcanoes, the town of San Pedro is an adventure hotspot. It's also a Pisco sour hotspot, and we managed to knock back more
than a few bottles at the post-riding fiestas. One of the highlights was floating practically on top of the water, at the salt water lagoons of Laguna de Cejar. If you tried, you could practically do a sit-up in the water.All in all, an amazing time on our inaugural Surf and Singletrack trip!
4 comments:
THE LAND OF PISCO SOUR IS PERU!!
Pisco Sour is from PERU!
That is a matter of some debate. Both countries claim Pisco as their own. Perhaps I shall have to do a separate blog post about it?
no, what you have to do is to correct it! Pisco is from Peru, there is a town called Pisco in Peru,if you are OFFERING CHILEAN PISCO,is NOT REAL PISCO! is that the way you advertise your tours? with false information?
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