After Pichilemu, we drove south along the coast towards the town of Constitución for a few more days. We really enjoy these days – after all, we hadn’t been to the sea for a while. But as always after a certain amount of time in a similar landscape, we look for a change rather sooner than later. Today it’s the Siete Tazas National Park. For this visit, we head back inland to the other side of Chile.

Rio Claro and the seven cups

The names in this region are very simple and speak for themselves. The Rio Claro, the clear river, flows through the Siete Tazas National Park. We can confirm this so far: Wonderfully clear water in a crystalline turquoise blue color flows through the national park. The park also revolves around this water. The Siete Tazas National Park translates as the National Park of the Seven Cups. The seven cups are natural water basins in the course of the river that are arranged one behind the other and connected by smaller and larger waterfalls. The very well-maintained hiking trail takes us leisurely to the various viewpoints, where we can capture wonderful views of this special natural spot. There are also much longer hikes, but somehow, we are not in a hiking mood here in the national park. That will certainly come! It may also have something to do with the fact that we want to go on the next hike on a Monday without knowing that the national parks in Chile are closed on Mondays – with guards preventing us from entering. Another thing that annoys us a little is the fact that you have to pay for entry to the national parks again, and for each day individually via a rather cumbersome online tool in which you have to enter all your personal details, the only thing they didn’t want to know was our shoe size. Well, Chile is far more advanced than most of the countries we traveled to last year, but also a lot more bureaucratic.
It also reminded us a little of our home in Switzerland. Clear water, green forests and a mountainous landscape – very beautiful and also very familiar.

If everything goes according to plan, we will spend the next few days in such a lush green landscape. Every now and then, clear mountain streams or beautiful mountain lakes will add a touch of blue to the green expanse.