I headed back to Santiago go meet Patty so we could head to La Boca where her uncle had a house. It’s a small seaside town situated on the Pacific coast with sandy beaches and close to the mouth of a river. I was excited to get away from the tourist circuit and see where Chileans go to escape the city for the weekend.

I met Patty at the bus station and we headed out of Santiago for 2 1/2 bus ride to La Boca. Upon arriving we had to go and locate some firewood to keep us warm. There was a log fire in the house, as there seems to be in many of the buildings here. Following her uncles instructions we met a man who sold us a lot of very cheap logs. By this time it was dark so we headed back to the house, getting food and beer supplies on the way, and I started making fire. To my credit I had a roaring fire going very quickly but I think a lot of it was down to be very dry wood I was burning.

The next day we decided to visit the beach.

I was memorised by the waves in the ocean as they were much bigger than I would usually see. I took far too many photos but I liked the way they curled and crashed into the beach.

As we walked along the shore rocks appeared and I was then equally mesmerised by the waves crashing into the rocks and making spray. At this point Patty went to stand close to where the waves were coming in and quickly ran away as the water closed in on her.

There was an abundance of wildlife, especially birds flying over head. This little chap perched on some rocks but soon found out that wasn’t the best idea. I managed to snap a photo before he flew and I ran away from the incoming water.

As usual I did my closeup shots. Crab claw, crab remains, sand and sea shell. There was also an abandoned rusting container so I included that in the shots.

There were lots of birds flying overhead but the most spectacular were Jote Cabrza Colorada’s. A paid flew close overhead and I was able to photograph.

After the beach we took a path up the cliff to see the river from high up. We tried to work our way down but realising the trail was headed in a different direction climbed back up to the top. I had great fun running and jumping up steep banks. Patty had less fun but after a few attempts she made it up.

And then rewarded myself after a short hike with a very similar dish to fish and chips. There was so much that we took the remaining for dinner and it was just as delicious heated up.

I’ve not mentioned this before but in Chile there is a salas called Pebre that is served before any meal. It delicious and served with bread so you can imagine I always eat a tonne and then I’m not really hungry when dinner arrives. We decided to make some more at the house so brought the ingredients.

The second night was very relaxed. I lit another fire and then spent several hours sat in bed researching where I would go next. It was luxury just to sit in a house with no strangers around and relax.

Afterwards we went outside to see the stars but a thick fog had rolled in from the sea which prevented that from happening.

The next day we went down to the river and jumped on the tourist boat. It’s the same boat that takes the fisherman, who catch fish in the river, to their spots and at one point we delivered coke and cigarettes to one of the fisherman.

I was very excited to see the mouth of the river. It’s something I’ve never seen before and you can see the waves crashing into the water from the river in the distance.

We had one final trip back to the beach where I posed for photos before we caught the bus back to Santiago.