Elqui Valley
Today, was very foggy and cold in La Serena, so Steve and I decided to go on a road trip to the Elqui Valley. That’s one of the nice things about living here, you can drive a half hour out of town, and be in the sun. Once we got into the Andes, otherwise known as the Cordillera, to non gringos, it was a perfect day- sunny, blue skies and in the 70s. We drove through Vicuna, and up to Pisco Elqui. Pisco Elqui is 1,247 meters above sea level, on the steep southern slope of the Rio Claro canyon. The picturesque hillside village of Pisco Elqui boasts the best tourist infrastructure of any village in the area and a variety of activities varying from souvenir hunting in the artisans’ market to pisco tasting and horseback riding (per my moon handbook). Steve and I opted to walk around, shop and we went out to lunch. We went to this fabulous german run restaurant/hotel, El Tesoro de Elqui. We each got the chicken special- which was a chicken breast in a creamy orange, mango and tomato sauce. It was delicious. I looked for a recipe to post, but I haven’t been able to find one. The picture below with the pink flowers was the view from our table. I look forward to going back and spending the night in town, and going to a pisco tasting.
