Due to the distances we again had a number of flights ahead of us to get to our next destination, San Pedro de Atacama. From Cusco, we flew via Lima to Santiago. Our plan was that after a night's stay in Santiago we would then catch an afternoon flight to San Pedro. However, what we hadn't anticipated was that the airport hotel across from the terminal would be completely full. Apparently lots of people were travelling due to Independence Day celebrations in Chile. So there we were at Santiago airport at 23:30. Should we just sleep at the airport as some people seemed to do? Lonely planet to the rescue. After phoning one of the hostels we took a taxi into Santiago and still managed to get a good night's sleep. The hostel, Hostal Rio Amazonas, actually turned out to be really nice and helpful. They even managed to secure us accommodation in San Pedro where we had failed. Due to the national holidays the whole of Chile seemed to have taken the week off and travelled up to the Atacama desert.
Our flight arrived in Calama at sunset. On the ride to San Pedro it became dark and the stars came out in force. The southern cross accompanied us all the way.
Our hostel, Hostal Sonchek, was a collection of rooms constructed of traditional adobe walls. It was ridiculously overpriced but at least had a kitchen so that we could cook our own meals.
San Pedro is a collection of low-rise adobe buildings catering fully to the tourist. Each building along the dusty high street is either an agency arranging tours, a restaurant, a shop or some form of accommodation. It becomes busy during the day as everyone waits or arrives back from tours. Little flags had been strung up all along the streets which fluttered happily in the wind.
We arranged a few tours over the next couple of days starting that afternoon. The landscape kept reminding me of Namibia except for the snowcapped volcanoes in the background. We were driven to the salt flats and offered a swim in the 'Ojos' (the Eyes) followed by a float in Laguna Cejar, the water being so salty that you don't sink. Even if you could sink, it's more than 1,500 meters deep! The afternoon was rounded off with a pisco sour sun-downer.
We had to be ready again by 21:00 for a stargazing tour in the desert. We were driven to a location outside San Pedro. Luckily the moon was only a thin sliver and set not long after we got there. With the help of various telescopes we were shown old and new stars, clusters, even galaxies and given explanations of the constellations we could see.
The next day started with a trip to the salt flats. The salt sculptures looked amazing. Sadly there were only a few flamingos present but they did present very pink plumage. From the flats we were driven up to the volcano crater lakes (Lagunas Miscanti and Miñiques) . The water had the most startling blue colour which contrasted beautifully with the stark mountains and the yellow tufts of grass. We even saw a few vicuñas, a protected species similar to llamas and alpacas.
The following morning meant a very early start at 04:00 in order to get to the Tatio geysers in time for sunrise. We had been told to wear something warm but nothing prepared us for the freezing temperatures both on the bus (the condensation froze on the inside of the windows) and at the geysers. Apparently it was -12 degrees. Hopping around from geyser to geyser with increasingly frozen feet the landscape didn't fail to impress nonetheless with the plumes of steam rising from the earth. The brave ones even went for a swim in a purpose-built open air pool. We only opted for dangling in our frozen feet for some thawing. On the way back to San Pedro we passed a beautiful frozen wetland containing a few Giant Coots and Andean Geese. Sadly as it was an organised tour, stopping for photos wasn't possible.
After a siesta we embarked on the last tour to the Valle de la Muerte, Las Tres Marias and the Valle de la Luna for a spectacular colour display on the surrounding hills at sunset - a fitting end to our stay in San Pedro.
The following day we had our first Chilean bus experience with a 17 hour trip to La Serena. Despite the semi-cama (which is an indication of how far the seat can be reclined), the experience was not quite so pleasant. Chris was sick for some of the journey after probably having eaten something that didn't agree with him.
At least we had La Serena to recuperate at.
*Steph