We are off to Puerto Montt today which involves flying to Santiago and then getting a second plane to Puerto Montt. Calama airport is new and funded by the mining industry, Chile produces over half of the world's supply of lithium being consumed in ever greater amounts as batteries increase in importance for phones, computers and cars. One of the interesting things about traveling is the fellow travellers you meet along the way. On this trip we met a South Afric...

Up at 4am this morning to be picked up and driven for an hour and a half in a bus up to Tatia geyser in the dark to capture the sun rise and see the geysers at their best. The highest point was 14,025 feet. At this height walking around is hard work due to the lack of oxygen. It was -5 degrees C so we had on our thermal underwear which we have been dragging around for the last month in temperatures which reached 47 degrees C! After the geysers we went to a therm...

An early start again, in the morning we went to see the ruins of an ancient village built over 2,000 years ago and abandoned 1,200 years ago when climate change caused the area to dry up. It was a set of interconnecting adobe huts. After that we visited the museum in San Pedro. A lot of the best uncovering of the past was due to a Belgian priest who found the ancient village visited in the morning, finally we visited the remains of a fort on the edge of town. Thi...

We had an early start flying to Calama which is 900 miles north of Santiago. There were spectacular views of the snow covered Andes all the way. There was absolutely no people or animals all the way and almost no plants. We were met at the airport and driven a 100 kilometres north to San Pedro de Atacama. This area is mining and there were signs of mines visible from the road. The road climbed steadily without many twists and bends to over 3000 metres before desc...

After a long but uneventful flight we have arrived in Santiago. After flying for 12 hours it is strange to arrive before you left! Santiago is only 3 hours behind UK time in the summer here and five hours in the winter. The guide who met us at the airport told us it has not rained for 3 months and is not expected to rain until April. Less than 30 minutes later as I write this it is poring and thunder is echoing!