People often come to La Serena  to visit Elqui Valley which is a very pleasant experience you should not   miss. We know that we might come across a certain subspecies of Copiapoa coquimbata in the valley which is Copiapoa coquimbata ssp. wagenknechtii. This subspecies makes bigger plants and have much stronger spination. Halfway up the valley we make a turn and drive towards the 2 observatories. But a few hundred meters up the road we are stopped by a military gard who will not allow us to go further up the road to look for plants. The military building only has windows on the roadside so we park  a little out of the way and  sneek  behind the post and there we find nice plants on the hills. We take some slides and sneek the same way back without problems. Eriosyce senilis also grow in Elqui Valley.