We left Santiago and began our journey north. We drove for 3 hours before stopping for the best seafood empanadas we have ever eaten in a town called Los Vilos. They were incredible. We drove another 2 hours and stopped at a national park called Fray Jorge. We arrived at 8 pm to locked gates so we began to make camp just outside the park. About 2o minutes into our setup a truck pulled up and the rangers allowed us to enter the park to camp. Andres cooked mushroom, pepper sandwiches while I worked on our bed. We ate, made a fire, relaxed and went to bed. The next day we recuperated from our time in the city and spent the day reading, walking and cooking. We saw only 2 people the entire day. Around 3pm that day we were visited by the rangers who informed us that as of 2 years ago there is no camping in the park. None of their tourist information has been updated with this and we got the feeling that we were the first people to ask since it closed. They said it was no problem for us to stay another night. We enjoyed the peace and solitude.
This morning we got back on the highway heading north. Just minutes into our trip we were pulled over by Chilean police. It was our first stop and everything went great. We were very grateful to have the international license (thanks Dad). Hopefully all the police we meet on our journey will be this nice.
Today we will spend some time in La Serena and then head a little north for some more camping and hopefully a fire. I am sure we smell like campfire.
