We slept fairly well – or my son and I did, at least. We have been revisited by our old archnemesis – the rooster – who has been joined by a new sidekick, the barking dog. All those are faint, though – the real problem here is that my back gets done in by plane trips and long car rides, and yesterday had both. Some time in either Explora’s jacuzzis or steam rooms should set things right soon enough.
But first – breakfast.
My wife and daughter were off on a horseback ride this morning, so it’s just my son and I for breakfast today. The hot breakfast menu runs from 7:30 to 9:30 am, but there’s a buffet breakfast put on for those with earlier excursions – this includes scrambled and hard boiled eggs, sausage or bacon, toast, pastries, fruit, sandwich supplies, and more.
I completely forgot to take a picture of the breakfast menu, but I’ll have it tomorrow.
I do know that they have eggs-made-to-order, because I had a pair of fried eggs:
While my son had the French toast:
Very, very tasty. Explora’s restaurant continues to impress.
Even the cappucino deserves its own photo:
My son had a bit of homework to do, so I took some time to tour around and photograph the resort:
There’s never a shortage of seating – indoors or out
Plenty of reading material, too
The initial briefing area, for recent arrivals
Even the stairwells are stylish
As is the expedition departures area – with the really big map
Shortly thereafter, my wife and daughter returned from their horseback ride:
My wife and daughter said the horses were incredibly well cared for – different ones do the morning and afternoon excursions to prevent overwork. Explora also breeds thier own horses in the central region of Chile.
This was an easy ride called Dunas de la Chula and was about two hours long. It left directly from the hotel and went through a dry riverbed and then up some sand dunes in the Salt Mountain Range. The views were spectacular, although left unphotographed as they were walking along a ridge and cameras were to be left in pockets.
It should be noted – because many guests struggled to comply – that there are no saddlebags for this ride and you are not allowed a backpack or fannypack. So if it doesn’t fit in your pocket, you can’t bring it. If you need to take off a layer you can tie around your waist. There is a brief water break where Explora provides the water and compostable cups – which they collect and return to the hotel.
Unfortunately, it does not look as though our daughter will be able to partake in the advanced rides – these have a minimum age of 13. It’s a bit frustrating, as this information is not readily available on the website – and it would have been nice if there was an intermediate level between beginner and advanced. But we do understand that safety comes first, and there’s limits to what can be done when rides either take part on hard ground or on soft, shifting sand.
Anyway, we’ve asked that Explora consider letter her attempt the advanced riding test – we’ll see what happens next.
Off to the pool for a bit:
Lots of seating here too:
The main pool is a bit cool – even in the desert heat – but the jacuzzis are lovely:
There are additional pools, but they tend to be even cooler:
There’s a bar here too!
But be forewarned that you need to provide the staff roughly a half hour notice if you want to use either the steam room or the sauna – they are generally not run during the day except on request.
Regardless, it was a lovely way to spend a morning – we’ll have to ensure we leave enough time to return here a few times during our stay.
Time for lunch. And I remembered the menu this time!
As with breakfast, there is also a modest buffet in addition to the menu.
My wife had some cauliflower soup and a salad:
And we both had the scallops:
Very tasty! Particularly with some extra toast with which to soak up the sauce.
Our daughter had the mac and cheese:
She liked it well enough, but I think she’ll try something else next time.
On to lunch dessert:
My wife had the tres leches:
There was a layer of raspberries in there, which added a nice, sweet taste.
My daughter and I had the cacao textures:
Very tasty – I think my son will have that next time.
Back to the room to get a bit more reading / writing / homework done – and to attempt a brief nap. I wasn’t out for long, but I did manage a bit of shuteye prior to our eBike excursion.
We were a bit leery about attempting this – while our son has done quite a bit of cycling and mountain biking, this is his first time in the eBike. But we decided to go ahead, with the understanding that we could always ride back in the safety vehicle if necessary.
We elected to go on the Ckuta exploration – which is one of the easier ones available, and which is done at a relatively low altitude.
We met with our Guide Chris at 4 pm – along with our four fellow guests who will be joining us on this exploration – and then went over to the eBike area to try a loop around, and to check the sizing of our bikes.
The eBikes they use are heavily geared toward offroad use. They have a massive shock absorber in the middle to handle large bumps, as well as huge knobby tires. But they were still easy to ride on relatively smooth surfaces, too.
We then had a roughly 40 minute drive out to the starting location in the Salt Mountain Range – and we were on our way!
It was quite the ride – we thoroughly enjoyed it:
It started out hot and windy, but there was just the hint of coolness creeping into the air – hence why Explora’s explorations take place either in the morning or later in the afternoon.
Roughly a third of the way in, we stopped to take in the views:
Licancabur volcano in the distance
Amazing to think that all of this was part of the Pacific Ocean millions of years ago – hence the salt flats.
We carried on a while longer and the air continued to cool down, while the moon rose in the sky:
It felt almost close enough to touch.
We didn’t get back til 7:20 pm, having covered close to 30 km by eBike. While I wished the bikes had gel seats, we all managed well enough – I still had roughly 75% of my eBike battery left, while our son had closer to 80%!
Off to dinner:
My wife, daughter and I started with the shrimp:
Our daughter had the pizza:
While our son had the burger again (not pictured).
My wife had the aji de gallina for her main:
It’s a combination of chicken, potatoes and rice. She really enjoyed it.
While I had the shortribs:
Again, quite delicious – we’re really impressed by the variety here, as well as the ways in which the food is prepared.
At this point we were absolutely wrecked, so it was time to head off to bed. Busy day tomorrow, as we are hiking to the hot springs while in search of mysterious desert animals…