Chile - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 404

Okasama Av O'Higgins 799. This intimate, multi-roomed
restaurant serves surprisingly good sushi and offers excel-
lent lunchtime discounts. Six California rolls CH$4800.

Francisco has beds and kitchen facilities;
make reservations with Copiapó's Conaf
office (CH$8000 per person).

Laguna Verde and Volcán Ojos
de Salado
The magnificent spectacle of the
misnamed Laguna Verde lies 65km
beyond Laguna Santa Rosa, at a
whopping altitude of 4325m. The first
flash of its brilliant turquoise waters,
around a bend in the road, is
breathtaking. On the lake's salty white
shore are some rustic and relaxing hot
springs inside a little wooden shack. It's
possible to camp here: you must bring all
necessary supplies with you, including
water, and remember that night-time
temperatures drop well below freezing.
Beyond the lake loom three volcanoes,
including the second-highest peak in
Latin America - Ojos de Salado . At an
elevation of 6887m, it trails just behind
Argentina's 6962m Aconcagua as the
tallest mountain in the Americas. It is
also the world's highest active volcano,
with recent eruptions in 1937 and 1956.

AROUND COPIAPÓ
The landscape surrounding Copiapó is
astonishingly varied, with the salt flats of
the Parque Nacional Nevado de Tres Cruces ,
mesmerizing Laguna Verde , active volcano
Ojos de Salado and, to the west, the fine
white sands of Bahía Inglesa and Caldera .

Parque Nacional Nevado de
Tres Cruces
Remote and ruggedly beautiful Parque
Nacional Nevado de Tres Cruces is located
east of Copiapó via Ruta 31, which winds
through the mercilessly desolate desert
landscape. The road climbs steeply
before reaching the Salar de Maricunga
- a great field of white crystals on the
edge of the park, dotted with emerald-
coloured salt pools - and continuing
on towards Paso San Francisco on the
Argentine border.
The park consists of two separate parts.
The larger is the 490-square-kilometre
Laguna Santa Rosa sector, 146km east of
Copiapó at an altitude of 3700m, which
comprises half of the salt flat and the
namesake lake, with roaming herds of
vicuñas and guanacos feeding on the
abundant grasslands. The pale blue
lagoon, dotted with flamingos and giant
coots, is set against a backdrop of
snow-streaked volcanoes, including the
grand Nevado Tres Cruces (6749m). On
the west side of the lake is a small and
very rustic Conaf-run refugio , consisting
of bare floorspace, basic cooking facilities
and a privy out back.
Cutting across a vast expanse of parched
brown land, dotted with hardy yellow
altiplano plants, you reach the
120-square-kilometre Laguna del Negro
Francisco sector, around 85km south.
In summer it becomes a sea of pink and
beige, thanks to the presence of eight
thousand or so Andean, Chilean and
James flamingos that migrate here from
neighbouring Argentina, Bolivia and
Peru. On the west side of the lake,
Conaf 's Refugio Laguna del Negro

4

Caldera and Bahía Inglesa
The towns of Caldera and Bahía Inglesa,
7km apart and 75km west of Copiapó,
are both popular beach resorts famous
for their large, delicious scallops . Caldera
itself is an unremarkable little town,
though the Gothic Iglesia San Vicente
(1862) on the pretty Plaza Condell is
worth a look. Pedestrianized Gana , lined
with craft stalls in the summer, makes for
a nice stroll between the square and the
waterfront Costanera (pier) - home to the
oldest railway station in Chile, dating
back to 1850, and now a museum and
events centre. The pier is the best place to
sample inexpensive seafood empanadas
and other fishy delights.
Caldera's main beach, small seaweed-
tinted Copiapina, is not the best in the
area; for crystal-clear turquoise waters
and long stretches of fine white sand,
head to nearby Bahía Inglesa , either by
colectivo or along the cycle path parallel
to the road. Bahía Inglesa is immensely
popular with locals in the summer,
and it's easy to see why: the laidback