Isolated

We were driving up the coast – on our way back to Santiago – when we saw a hand-painted sign with ‘camping’ scribbled on it. We weren’t sure exactly where we were, but not terribly far from where we had started. We decided to take and look and pulled down the long steep driveway down to the beach.  It was a beautiful spot with beach access and manicured gardens.

We met the owners who were clowns – literally. They used to travel and perform, but for the last 4 years they’ve put tons of time and money into building their own dream resort. The entire time, they have been living in a giant Mercedes truck, while building a spa, cabanas, and lushly landscaped gardens.

Two years ago, business was picking up and they were starting to become successful. Then, the huge earthquakes and tsunami hit the Chilean coast. They haven’t had much business since. In fact, we were the first campers to pull down the driveway ever since the tsunami.

The owners were really nice and quite talkative – there’s literally no one to talk to out and here and it was clear they were excited to have some company. They mentioned they were trying to sell the place and inquired whether we were interested. Or, if we knew someone that was. We’re not – and we were reminded how even though being out in the middle of nowhere may have its rewards, it just isn’t that appealing to us.

But, if you are interested in buying beautiful hill-side and beach-front resort in mid-Chile…they are asking $450,000 USD. Compared to California, that seems like a pretty good deal.