It's Andes Day!
The bus tour came to pick us up at the hotel at 5:30am. We bought a 10 hour tour that takes us to the town of San Jose de Maipo, through the Andes mountains and to the hot springs for a 3 hour visit. The tour includes a stop for lunch and then a small picnic in the end of the day. There are different daily tours to the Andes available, but I think you can't go wrong because the view is amazing anyway.
The bus tour came to pick us up at the hotel at 5:30am. We bought a 10 hour tour that takes us to the town of San Jose de Maipo, through the Andes mountains and to the hot springs for a 3 hour visit. The tour includes a stop for lunch and then a small picnic in the end of the day. There are different daily tours to the Andes available, but I think you can't go wrong because the view is amazing anyway.
FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jos%C3%A9_de_Maipo
San José de Maipo is the name of a commune in Chile and the city within it, located in Cordillera Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region, some 48 kilometers south-east of capital Santiago, bordered on the east by Argentina, across the Andes.
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, San José de Maipo spans an area of 4,994.8 km2 (1,929 sq mi)and has 13,376 inhabitants (6,947 men and 6,429 women). Of these, 9,311 (69.6%) lived in urban areas and 4,065 (30.4%) in rural areas. The population grew by 14.9% (1,730 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. Its population density was then 6.9/km2 (18/sq mi), making it the most sparsely populated commune in the region.
Among the present economic activities stand out nonmetallic mining, including stone quarries, production of almonds and stone fruits, and crafts based on laja rock and alabaster, among others. Regional tourism is very important in this zone; there are a great number of food and lodging establishments. In 2001 the commune was declared Zona de Interés Turístico Nacional (ZOIT), by the National Service of Tourism (SERNATUR).
FROM: https://www.viator.com/tours/Santiago/Small-Group-Tour-Cajon-del-Maipo-El-yeso-Dam-included-Hotsprings-plus-Picnic/d713-32917P71
Cajon del Maipo Cajón del Maipo is a canyon located in the Andean southeastern portion of the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It encompasses the upper Maipo River basin, where the river has entrenched itself in a narrow valley. The zone features a series of confluent rivers such as El Volcán River, Yeso River and Colorado River, as well as other minor streams, including San Gabriel, Manzanito, Coyanco, El Sauce, El Manzano and San José. The main locality is San José de Maipo, capital of the commune that includes all of the Andean sector of the Metropolitan Region.
That's the San José Volcano.
FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jos%C3%A9_(volcano)
San José Volcano is the stratovolcano that gives its name to a massive volcanic group, at about 90 km (56 mi) from Santiago de Chile at the end of the Cajón del Maipo on the Chile-Argentina border. It lies on the south end of an approximately 10 km (6 mi) x 5 km (3 mi) complex that includes the La Engorda, Espiritu Santo, Plantat and Marmolejo volcanoes, the latter of which is located on the Northern end of the group.
Last eruption happened in 1960.
FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Chile#:~:text=The%20mining%20sector%20in%20Chile,most%20of%20the%20Atacama%20Desert.
Mining in Chile
The mining sector in Chile is one of the pillars of Chilean economy and copper exports alone stands for more than one third of government income. Most mining in Chile is concentrated to the Norte Grande region spanning most of the Atacama Desert. Mining products of Chile includes copper, gold, silver, molybdenum, iron and coal. Chile was, in 2019, the world's largest producer of copper, iodine and rhenium, the second largest producer of lithium and molybdenum, the sixth largest producer of silver, the seventh largest producer of salt, the eighth largest producer of potash, the thirteenth producer of sulfur and the thirteenth producer of iron ore in the world. In the production of gold, between 2006 and 2017, the country produced annual quantities ranging from 35.9 tons in 2017 to 51.3 tons in 2013.
Definitely the most fun part of the tour was the Cajon Del Maipo Hot Springs.
There are 7 pools with different volcano temperature water, from 28 degrees celsius to 55 degrees celsius.
We could try up to the sixth pool, since we started with the lowest temperature.
That's the hottest we could handle.
We had no idea if the mud on the bottom of the pools do anything for you, but the girls though it was worth a try.
Suddenly, I feel 20 years younger (NOT!)
The facilities are very rustic here, with a simple change room with cold water showers.
Make sure you bring your own towel, soap, and shampoo if you prefer, and sandals.
Super hot volcano water.
FROM: https://www.viator.com/tours/Santiago/Small-Group-Tour-Cajon-del-Maipo-El-yeso-Dam-included-Hotsprings-plus-Picnic/d713-32917P71
Termas Valle de Colina Termas Colinas, also known as Baños Colina has 7 natural thermal pools, is located in the heart of the Andes mountain range and offers vacationers a unique opportunity to get in touch with nature in its purest form. Warning, if you are one of those people who cannot survive without internet connection for more than 2 minutes, an important piece of advice: There is no Wi-Fi signal in Termas Colina! But we know this won´t be a factor that will stop you from experiencing this gem, located only two hours from Santiago.
Mike relaxing.
The tour gave us about 3 hours to enjoy the springs.
Us and the glacier on the back.
The next couple of hours were just an amazing natural spectacle through the Andes.
The mountains are so high and majestic, that the pictures don't really show it's fullest beauty.
The mountains are so high and majestic, that the pictures don't really show it's fullest beauty.
The scenery is beyond description.
We didn't see too many animals around, but the odd group of lambs, horses and goats.
Some rare vegetation.
We stopped for 10 minutes to appreciate the Maipo River and the sculptures carved by the lava through the mountains thousands of years ago, when the volcano had a major eruption.
Those bridges are so unsafe that I could not even get closer to take a picture.
Still, it looked from a movie set!
Lunch was late, at about 4pm, but it was delicious.
I regretted not getting the name of the place, because I would totally recommend it.
I regretted not getting the name of the place, because I would totally recommend it.
We did a buffet, that included barbecue with different meet types an dessert.
I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but it's the one with the mini zoo. It's a nice area with local animals on display for people to feed and pet them. Super cute.
The llamas were a big hit!
Horses and lambs.
Smile!
Periquitas.
The next stop, and second last, was the Chocolate House, which it's a chocolate store.
I think the girls thought the different flavoured chocolate looked better than tasted.
Still, we tried.
Finally, the last stop was where the started early in the morning, with a small picnic: cheese, cold meats, crackers, chips, juice and of course, Chilean wine.
I am not a wine person, but while in Chile...
Practically a Chilean man!
The tour lasted 11 hours, so needless to say we were exhausted by the end of it, but we had the warmth welcome back to the hotel from Giggio and Mary, of course!
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