I had no expectations for the Atacama desert. Other than it being hot, dry, and probably like deserts I had been to in the U.S.
However I was completely charmed by gorgeous and varying landscape and breath taking views.
On our first full day in Atacama we got up at 5 am to drive out, with our guide that we booked through the group Cosmo Andino, to the geyser fields to watch the sun rise. It was well below freezing and dark when we arrived, and at first you can't really see anything, as your eyes adjust you being to make out the steam wafting up from the ground, the pre sunrise light makes everything look like another planet. It feels like another planet. I couldn't feel my toes or fingers after five minutes of walking around the geysers, but seeing the sun rise over the ridge line and turn the landscape from grey to purple to orangey red made it all worth it.
After we had some breakfast, we hopped back in the van and drove into the valley to go for a hike in Cactus Valley.
A brief stop back in town for lunch and then we hopped back into the van with our new favorite guide Francisco to venture into Death Valley.
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| Snaps of lunch (zucchini ribbons rolled around queso fresco and sundried tomatos. Dinner- swordfish with yucca puree and mint & camu camu sorbet. |
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| Looking across Death Valley (also called Mars Valley) |
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| Peering down into the valley... soon we'd be walking down along the valley floor. |
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| Bakasana (crow pose) on the precipice |
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| Sand dunes that we ran down, you can also rent snowboards and go 'sand boarding' down the dunes, but that didn't seem like much fun to me. |
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| Salt flats in Death Valley |
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| Waiting for the sun to set in Death Valley |
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| We hiked up and along a ridge line to get the best views of the sunset. |
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| Watching as the landscape slowly changes while the sun sets behind the Andes. |
That evening we hopped back in a bus and headed out into the desert to an astronomy lab run by a Canadian expat to take a 'tour' of the night sky. We got to look through 10 different telescopes trained on different locations in the sky. And we learned quite a bit about astronomy in the process.
The next day Francisco took us to Antofagasta up in the mountains and Laguna Miscanti. But first we stopped at Salar del Carmen to see some flamingos!
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| Flamingos! |
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| More flamingos! |
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| A volcano in the distance, and las piedras rojas in the foreground |
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| More piedras rojas |
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| Another salt lake, but this one also contains large amounts of lithium too. |
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| Just two goofs being goofy by the lake |
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| Sean posting by Laguna Miscanti |
We hiked around Laguna Miscanti for a while, at points it was hard because there was quite a bit of snow on the ground. There are active volcanoes in the area so we could see them smoking slightly in the distance which was both really cool and really eerie.
That night we collapsed into bed in our cute little yurt/hut hotel room and passed out fully satisfied that we had properly explored and experience the Atacama Desert. I, for one, can't wait to go back in the future.
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| Our private hotel room/yurt/ hut |
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| A few friends I made while staying in San Pedro |
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| The only photo I took of the town of San Pedro... We tried to go visit the church, but it's being renovated. |
The next morning we hopped on a flight back down to Santiago. I was pleasantly surprised at how modern and (dare I say it) American-ish the city it. Coming from Lima, it was kind of refreshing, to be honest.
We got very luck as it had rained the day before we arrived washing away most of the notorious smog that plagues Santiago.
The next morning we headed to the Bellavista neighborhood to explore Pablo Neruda's house and the Museo de Bellas Artes. As we strolled around I felt as though we were in an old European city.
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| View of the courtyard in Pablo Neruda's house |
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| One of the many charming and mismatched buildings. |
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| Yes! LUSH!!! |
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| Snapshots from walking around the historic center of Santiago for the day. The cathedral, a fruit tart from lunch, the government building, and the Plaza des Armas. |
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| Gondola selfie |
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| At the summit |
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| Everyone was taking photos of each other at this point. |
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| It was such a great day because hardly anyone was on the slopes, so it was like having the place to yourself. |
Next stop, Argentina!
