We arrived in Santiago at 0950 hours having left, a cool wet Cambridge on the 1115 train yesterday. Our journey had taken us via London and Madrid where we boarded the 0020 flight to Santiago. Immigration and customs were thankfully a breeze and we checked in quickly for our flight north to Calama and our first experience - the Atacama desert - the driest desert in the world and situated plum on the Tropic of Capricorn.
Enroute I had been thinking about famous Chileans and apart from the infamous Augusto Pinochet I couldn't think of any......so while waiting for our flight I googled ' famous Chileans' and in the top 10 recognised only two others I had heard of - Manuel Pellegrini, the manager of Manchester City, who truth be told I thought was Italian and Alexis Sanchez, the new striker for Arsenal who has just transferred from Barcelona.
We boarded the flight around midday and landed in Calama at 2pm ish to be met by our guide from Awasi - Santiago - yes the same name as the capital - Santiago was 'James' one of the apostles.
He told us that the newish but unattractive town of Calama was the focus of the copper mining industry and had the largest open cast mine in the world. It now also had an underground mine as, after 100 years of mining at the surface that ore was low grade. On the outskirts was a new large wind farm and the beginnings of a solar farm to supply the voracious electricity needs of the mine and copper extraction process.
The drive to San Pedro de Atacama was on good but straight and boring roads - at the side there were often small memorials testament to those who lost concentration or went too fast to relieve the boredom.
That said the Andes to our left and the desert landscapes around us we were interested in and captivated by our hour and a half journey......not least the long drive across Patience Valley, the wind and water eroded mountains and finally turning a corner to reveal the green oasis of San Pedro and our home for the next 5 nights.
On arrival we were shown around, went to our room, only one of 8, before returning for a salad lunch and a meet with Santiago to plan our next four full days of exploration.
We decided -day one: bike trip to salt lakes and hike through Moon Valley; day two: hike through cactus canyon and drive to see Petroglyphs; day three: trip to see the big salt flats and national park together with flamingos and day four: early rise to see the highest and biggest field of geysers --- as these were at 4300metres we needed to acclimatise first. San Pedro was at 2300 metres and where you could start to feel the effects of altitude. The altitude was less of an issue but the dryness meant lip balm and cream were necessities.
After our planning I took the option to swim in the pool - a small but cold pool great for refreshing and exercising - I set off as I meant to go on - 100 lengths - or 35 minutes of swimming.
Dinner was at 8pm - it noticeably cooled in the evening and the outside and inside fires were lit - which made our evening warm dining warm and cosy even though the restaurant was open fronted. The meal,and all subsequent meals were fantastic quality, small, well balanced and cooked using unusual local ingredients to make delicious healthy, memorable eating moments - some of the best food we have ever had.
Needless to say we slept well!