We had spent 9 out of 11 days in South America (Argentina and Chile), and it was our 5th out of 6 days in Chile. When planning this trip, I accidentally found this beautiful lagoon in google map. After more researches done, I found out that it was actually a dam (manmade), and located in Andes. So I thought, why not getting out from Santiago and visit this beautiful Embalse El Yeso (El Yeso Dam)?
Instead of renting car, we opted to find tours that cater to our needs. Turned out, there were several travel operators that offered day tour (from/going back Santiago) to Embalse El Yeso, and even combined wine tasting from the local wineries in the area in the activity. Some tours also offered visit to Cajon del Maipo, a canyon in Southeastern Andean. We booked through AndoAndes Tour for 80 USD (9 hours day tour from Santiago).
The Tour
San Jose de Maipo City
We were picked up at around 7 am in the morning straight to the City of San Jose de Maipo in Maipo Canyon. This small city has inhabitant around 18,000. This city plays important role for the city of Santiago, since the first hydroelectric power station of the zone was constructed there (Maitenes), as well as an aqueduct that supplies potable water to the city from Andean glaciers. (source: Wikipedia)
We stopped by the Plaza de Armas for a while for a quick look-around. There’s this old Church call Parroquia San Jose de Maipo. In 1792, the governor Ambrosio O’Higgins founded the Villa de San José de Maipo, assigning a site for a church and the parish priest in front of the parade. The construction of the temple ended in the year 1800.
Embalse El Yeso (El Yeso Dam)
After few minutes walking around the City of San Jose, we finally continued our journey to El Yeso Dam. El Yeso is a reservoir in the Andes. It was formed by the damming of the Yeso River, part of the Maipo river basin. The reservoir has a capacity of 250,000,000 m3 and the construction completed in 1964.
El Yeso reservoir, along with the nearby Laguna Negra, is a major source of drinking water for Santiago. The reservoir was probably the most beautiful turquoise colour I had ever seen. The road to the dam was very narrow, and so many cars stopped on the road to allow passenger took picture of the dam.
When we arrived, it was already noon and lunch time. Our guide brought us lunch and we ate in the dam’s side and taste the local wine as well.
Undoubtedly it was one of those perfect day in Chile.