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The astonishing Enchanted Valley, with its 4000 year old petroglyphs and pictographs brings ancient cultures to life. Discovered in 1946 and declared a National Historic Monument of Chile in 1972, the site holds great historical and cultural importance with beautifully-preserved stone carvings that depic lofty personages with curious antenna and sparkling tiarras. See pictographs of sun, snake and fishlike forms and peer into hollowed out mortar stones used to grind grains and prepare paints. This strenuous full day tour also takes you to the Tololowinery for a guided tour and wine sampling with time to shop for your favorite vintage. And you'll savor a tantalizing lunch at a restaurant located at the foot of the Andes. Dine on traditional dishes and sip a Pisco Sour. Sipping the national drink, local grape brandy plus lemon or lime juice and bitters, will round out your Chilean experience.
I find it interesting that every shore excursion that we have gone on for this entire cruise has made a note that the bus might not be air conditioned, as though we were going to be riding in some sort of 3rd world transportation. Every bus on every shore excrusion so far has been a luxury coach with air conditioning, comfortable semi-reclining seats, curtains, seat belts (some with shoulder straps), and even some with cup holders. Some were even equipped with a television and WiFi though not used during our tours.
We were given a tour of the vineyard and winery and a quick introduction of the "cups" carved into the rocks by ancient native peoples. Unfortunately we were not served and white or red wines for tasting as they had just sold out of all of them. We were give some Rose to taste and also each given a can of Rose wine to take back to our cabin on the ship. We were also given two types of Pisco to taste, sort of a brandy. One was the Blue Bottle and a stronger one was the Black Bottle. My wife and I liked the Black Bottle better and we purchased a bottle for US $30 to bring back to the ship. So far there has not been any problem or charge buying wine or spirits and bringing them back on board the ship. Up to now we have brought 2 bottles of wine, the bottle of Pisco, and the 2 cans of Rose from various shore excursions back to our cabin.
Argentine Pisco supposedly has a different taste than Peruvian Pisco. Our next port stop is going to be Pisco in Peru where we will sample some Pisco in Pisco and be able to compare the difference.
Click on each of the above images for larger and clearer images. You should see in both above photos what looks like an etching of a stick figure man that some say looks like he has antennae coming out of his head. This has led some to conclude that native encountered ancient space aliens. Personally I think it represents a type of headdress they wore at rituals, or maybe a headdress that represented or were the horns of an animal which was not uncommon among ancient peoples.
Another rock sketching by ancient peoples that some say looks like a space helmet. Again, I think it just looks like a fancy headdress worn at rituals.
For more information about the theories of Chile's Valle del Encanto (Enchanted Valley) being related to visits by ancient aliens, visit: https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/valle-del-encanto-0017105. For a less exotic explanation and more photos and information about Valle del Encanto (Enchanted Valley), visit: https://www.albomadventures.com/valle-del-encanto/.
This restaurant had a beautiful panoramic view of the valley with the Andes mountains in the background. We were served a Pisco cocktail as we entered and then full glasses of both white and red wines. The servers kept coming around refilling our glasses with whichever wine we wanted. The food was delicious, actually better than any food we've had on this entire trip, either on or off the ship. The beef that we were served was very tender and juicy.
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