Las Dunas de Concón

Saturday was an invented excursion day to the dunes of Concón.  A large group of gringa students (myself included) took a bus to Concón for a day of exploration.  The bus ride wasn´t too long, only about thirty or forty minutes, and it was cheap.  Then, we merely meandered our way up the big sandy dunes and spent the day there.

 
There was so much sand, it looked like the pictures I´ve seen of Egypt.  Only, it was chilly, windy, and there was an ocean past the dunes.  Once we clambored to the top of the highest peak, the view was breathtaking.  I plan to come back at least once, when it´s warmer.  I want to have a picnic there.  I even want to camp there, but I don´t know if that´s legal.

There´s a man who rents out boards for a half hour for only 500 pesos - about a dollar.  You wax the bottom of the board and coast down the dune on it, like sled-riding.  Or, you can rent a board with footholes and use it like a snowboard.  No one had much success with those kinds.  But by the end of the trip, everyone was covered in sand.  When I got home to shower, I took off my clothes and the bathroom floor was suddenly covered with sand.  Oops!

This was an amazing first-hand experience with the absolute variety of Chile´s landscapes.  There we were, half an hour from the middle of the city, past the beach, up a dune, next to the ocean.  I can´t wait to explore more - the mountains, desert, Patagonia...  What country so small has so much natural wonder to offer, besides Chile?