Pichilemu, Chile

After visiting wine country, we headed back to the coast to a town called Pichilemu, which is known for its surfing. Charlie and Adeline have each tried surfing once before, when we were in Hawaii, but they were very gentle waves compared to what you can find in Pichilemu.

We found a place on Airbnb and the host was so kind to arrange surfing lessons for us the next day….kind of. He picked us up from the house and took us to town where he did some negotiating with a local surf shop. In the end, we paid him and he gave us some snacks, so perhaps he was making his own business deal with the surf shop.

The Humboldt Current, which runs along the coast of Chile, is very cold and it wasn’t summer yet, so we were unsure how the kids would do in the cold water, but David and the kids were given wetsuits and everyone did fine in the water. I didn’t surf and decided to be the photographer instead.

After a little bit of instruction, a little bit of practice on land, and some stretching, everyone got into the water to catch some waves! I even waded out (without a wetsuit - brr). After snapping a few shots, and when I lost feeling in my legs, I headed back to shore. The black sand beaches helped warm me up quickly! After about an hour of fun in the waves, everyone headed in.

We were staying outside of town, which meant that there wasn’t a lot going on around us. There weren’t many restaurants or many stores, but there was a beach! This wasn’t a very good beach for surfing or swimming, but it was a great beach for exploring! Another black sand beach was hot on the feet, so it was important to stay very close to the water to cool down, but this is also where treasures are found! The kids were excited to collect shells and play in the water that was trapped in the rocks. One time Charlie found a giant pearl...or so he thought! Turns out it was a marble, but it was exciting all the same! We hardly saw anyone else on the beach, so it felt like we had our very own paradise.

We visited the beach at dusk also. At first, we were planning just to go down to watch the sunset, but when we arrived, we found something even better! The once empty beach now contained several people standing patiently by the sea. Upon closer observation, we noticed that they were hunting for crabs! We watched as the people would wait by the side of the water with gloves and a bucket or a bag. Some had special contraptions of picking up the crabs without using their hand. So they would stand by the water, waited for a wave to come in and then scour the sand as the wave was pulled back into the ocean. The hunters would be looking for a small bump or moving legs. It was extremely difficult to see, but these people have trained themselves well. If they noticed the small bump in the sand, they sprinted in, grabbed the crab and run back with their prize! They had to be quick because if another wave came before they picked up the crab, it would be washed back into the ocean.

After a while of watching and cheering on the crab hunters, we remembered that earlier that day, while exploring, we had seen a leather glove on a log, and after a short search we found it again. Now was our chance to give it a try. Charlie and David took turns trying while Adeline and Amanda cheered them on and helped try to spot crabs. We waited and watched and waited and watched, then we spotted it! David dashed in, scooped up the crab and threw it back at us before it could pinch his fingers. It was a cute little crab, about the size of a hand, and he did his best to look intimidating with his claws. We played around with him for a bit then decided to give it to one of the other hunters (because we were leaving the next day). Unfortunately this was probably the first time we forgot to bring a phone or our cameras! But the crab hunting will definitely be one of the most memorable adventures from this trip!