Chile Chico, the Small North -also called the 4th region- is situated only 500km north of Santiago. Aircrafts from Santiago arrive three times a day in La Serena, the well known spa and resort on the Pacific, with a flight time of 55 minutes. The 4th region is roughly as big as Holland with 280 000 people living here. It has got a coastline of roughly 450km and an endless strip of the Andes, the summits of which have an altitude of almost 5000m.
The valleys are enormously fertile, which is why this area is Chile's main producer of grapes, citrus fruits, figs, nuts and avocados – these products are exported worldwide.
Concerning safety, everything is alright here, as the statistic of guests shows: more than 65% of guests are female, many of them travelling alone. The northern Chile's "pisco" is famous all over the world. It is a clear, natural brandy which is destilled from grapes of the local sunny wine gardens. When it is autumn and winter on the northern hemisphere, the main travelling time begins here in a mild, dry climate from September to May. The blue Pacific with its secluded fishing villages or small towns in the Andes is as much part of the region as remote valleys, endless walking paths and the silence of the Andes, above which condors are circling. Pisco de Elqui is a well known resort in the valley of the same name. Just "next to it", only 15km as the crow flies are the valley Rio Hutardo and the Lodge.
In this green valley, only 120 minutes away from the Lodge Los Andes by horse, on the historical Inca-Trail, there is one of the best preserved American-Indian ceremonial places in the north of Chile. More than 40 rock paintings are the last witnesses of the ancient Indian culture of the Diaguitas. They owned gold mines which later also lured the Incas into the Hurtado valley here in the north of Chile. They introduced an irrigation system, a labyrinth of canals, which also the Spanish used for their purposes in the 16th century and from which the farmers still profit today.
The Spanish followed the Incas' old trade path, known as Inca-Trail, upstream the Rio Hurtado and further across the Andes. They called the pass "Linia Santa Rosa" and even today, like hundreds of years ago, thousands of animals move with their herdsmen on this trail from Chile to the summer meadows in Argentina. The community of Hurtado has only got 250km / 400 miles of car tracks but animal trails that are thousands of kilometres long and on which the locals – just like the guests – travel on horseback.
Of course, and that is nice, a lot has changed beside the traditional life. Hospitals, schools, community centres, renovations of the villages and the democratic development reflect "new Chile".
Thus visitors find in Chile's 4th region a mixture of old Chilenean culture and ideas of life in the new millennium. The hospitable people who one can encounter here are small farmers, herdsmen, craftsmen and animal breeders. They live in small villages surrounded by huge, colourful massifs, the semi-deserts, the wide Sierra and the steppes. The blue sky shines more than 310 days per year. The crystalclear and absolutely clean air works like a magnet on astronomers – that is why the best known observatories of the European Union, the USA and Canada are situated here. Under this fascinating starry firmament of the Andes, one can go on an impressive discovery tour into the universe on one's holiday.
The northern Chile's "pisco" is famous all over the world. It is a clear, natural brandy which is destilled from grapes of the local sunny wine gardens. When it is autumn and winter on the northern hemisphere, the main travelling time begins here in a mild, dry climate from September to May. The blue Pacific with its secluded fishing villages or small towns in the Andes is as much part of the region as remote valleys, endless walking paths and the silence of the Andes, above which condors are circling. Pisco de Elqui is a well known resort in the valley of the same name. Just "next to it", only 15km as the crow flies are the valley Rio Hutardo and the Lodge.
The Spanish followed the Incas' old trade path, known as Inca-Trail, upstream the Rio Hurtado and further across the Andes. They called the pass "Linia Santa Rosa" and even today, like hundreds of years ago, thousands of animals move with their herdsmen on this trail from Chile to the summer meadows in Argentina. The community of Hurtado has only got 250km / 400 miles of car tracks but animal trails that are thousands of kilometres long and on which the locals – just like the guests – travel on horseback.
