Red Hot Chile Llamas

We crossed the Chilean border on Friday 10th April which also marked the finish line to our incredible 3 day Salt Flat tour. We embraced our little jeep family for the last time and slyly handed amigo some of the last of our Bolivian money (non-earning graduates, with the biggest hearts) and loaded our backpacks into a surprisingly empty bus. Having been at a little under 5,000 metres above sea level, the journey to San Pedro de Atacama was a smooth all down hill job with frequent ear pops. We hopped out to get our passports stamped and bags searched and fortunately the whole process was a quick one. San Pedro de Atacama is an adorable little desert town with dusty dirt roads, rustic restaurants a plenty, local shops exploding with local artefacts and 'La Plaza' to mark the centre. That goes without mentioning the absolutely beautiful backdrop of snow covered volcanoes, ones we'd been in touching distance of only a few hours earlier. We stayed in a very cute hostel called Aji Verde. It offered outdoor space with a hammock, colourful rooms, a hot shower and a communal kitchen. Now almost half way through our llama journey, the kitchen was a blessing as we could finally cook and begin to reign in the constant meals/coffees out, though I must admit I am a sucker for a little hot drink and cake in the afternoon. San Pedro delivered my favourite meal so far- smoked salmon, wok noodles and stir fried vegetables, all glazed in a delicious teriyaki sauce and not to mention the bottle of red to wash it all down (so the cooking went well). We hired bikes on one of the afternoons, however poor Dais suffered a seriously unfit, dying on the floor moment shortly after powering up our first incline (little funny), so our epic tour de San Pedro was over before it all began and we cycled back down into the centre for a coffee (obviously). Daisy's 'fitness' actually worked in our favour as our 15 minute walk to and from the hostel turned into a 5 minute cycle ride. San Pedro is supposedly one of, if not 'the', best place in the world to star gaze, so we were obviously very keen to book! Unfortunately, luck wasn't on our side and a storm was forecast, so we were advised to not waste our money. This news would decide our next llama migration as La Serena, also located on the west coast of Chile, we were told was (is) the next best star gazing city and desperately wanting to fulfil our desire to star gaze, La Serena would greet us on the other side of an overnight 'Tour Bus' journey.
Having liked Aji Verde so much during our 2 night stay in San Pedro de Atacama, we booked into the Aji Verde in La Serena and once again it didn't disappoint. It was definitely one of the quieter hostels we've stayed so far, sharing the facilities with only one other lady and an older man. The moment we stepped our llama toes (I found out they don't have hooves, but in fact 2 very special toes) over the hostel entrance, as not to be disappointed once again, we booked star gazing for that evening. We were to be collected at 7pm, so with some time to kill, we wandered about an hour to the beach that replicated Edinburgh's finest- Portobello. It was a relaxing stroll, although a little cooler than we'd hoped. We came across an enormous washed up Sea Lion or Walrus, it was hard to tell and judging from the stench, it had passed into aquamarine heaven for some time. I found it so amazing seeing a wild Sea Lion/Walrus up close like that, I couldn't get over the size of it!
The private bus journey to the Mamalluca Observatory took an hour and a half and once at the top, even to the naked eye, the stars and Milky Way were absolutely magical. We had a lovely English speaking guide and in our group we danced amongst the stars and Milky Way, doing the salsa from one constellation to the next. Through the telescope we saw Jupiter and on that particular night, it's 4 moons, and furthermore, star signs and important constellations that in the past, sailors would depend on for a compass. Our guide pointed out a snake and a llama that form in the sky beside the Milky Way and become more prominent as the night advanves and it was absolutely breathtaking. Once inside the observatory, our guide talked through some slides on the projector to reaffirm what we'd been looking at in the nights sky- one of which displayed all the pictures that the constellations form, such as the star signs- eg. my star sign constellation creates the picture of scales. However, I couldn't help finding it a little amusing as the pictures that some of the constellations create are very questionable- for example there was one with three simple lines that formed a bear (obviously)...it could have been anything! I imagine a group of astronomers sat with pints getting pissed pointing to the constellations reeling off images, "ah yes Tony that's definitely a lion (points) and that one is absolutely a mermaid." I found it mind boggling to think that the stars we were looking at were from thousands
of years ago, and 2 stars in the sky that were a deep red colour were dying and in fact could have already
exploded but it hadn't reached us yet. Star gazing was definitely another highlight and something I felt was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was very special to see the 'best nights sky'. Chasing the sun, Valparaiso on the
coast was next. The following day we had a leisurely morning, taking our sweet time to get to the bus station in the late afternoon, thinking it would be no problem to get a bus at 4pm and arrive around 11pm. However, we arrived and had just missed the afternoon buses which therefore meant waiting until midnight to depart and an arrival time of 6am. Not the most ideal, but we caught the last couple hours of sun and had a cosy hot choccie with only one token marshmallow...who only puts ONE marshmallow in their hot chocolate!? Definitely not the most satisfying. A local lady came over to me inside the bus station and said to me: "Enjoy life, you have your youth, you are educated and friendly and friendship- hold onto that its very important." It really melted my heart and reminded me of warm words my Grandmo would pour out to me. We did eventually get on the bus and Valparaiso awaited!