The plan for La Serena was to either drive out to Elqui Valley and visit the pisco boutiques
and wineries or go out on an observatory tour and check out the stars. After choking on the price for the pisco tours and having already had seen the Peruvian pisco distilleries I thought I would save the wineries until we got further south around Santiago and Valparaiso. The weather was also not in our favour for the observatory tours with grey clouds and mist rolling in from over the Pacific.
is a bit strange in that it is not built right on the coastline. Instead Jake and I walked a good couple of km's to reach the ocean. A few families were taking photos and some crazy boys were playing soccer on the beach with their tops off
(it's still the middle of winter here) otherwise it was deserted. Tall hotels and apartment buildings seemed to line the coast for miles so it must be a hot summertime destination and fill up fast.
We were hoping for some good seafood for lunch like the ceviche we had in Barranco, Peru, but the only places open on the beach seemed to be selling pizza and burgers so we gave it a miss hoping for better luck when we get to our next seaside destination Valparaiso.