It’s hard to believe it, but Laura and I have finally arrived in the sixth and final continent on our year-long adventure! (Sorry Jayson, no trip to Antarctica for us this time.) We still can’t quite wrap our heads around the fact that we’ll be home in a couple of months, but I have to admit it’s been fun making plans to see our family and friends at home in late January. We’re not quite ready to think about the practical realities we’ll have to deal with when we get back back – getting resettled at home (including re-introducing Nutmeg to chilly San Francisco), buying (or borrowing… hint, hint) a car, updating billing addresses and dealing with the piles of mail our parents have held for us, collecting and unpacking all the crap we’ve shipped home this year (scattered across three states), finding jobs (yikes!) – but I think we’ll be ready for real life again once January 19th rolls around.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! Our new new NEW itinerary for South America – re-planned at least half a dozen times due to my nearly exploding appendix in Spain, the resulting need to postpone our Galapagos trip with Geographic Expeditions (we’re just glad we’re still able to go!), and numerous changes to our Patagonia plans based on advice from friends and tour operators – had us landing in Santiago, Chile a couple of weeks ago after a long overnight flight from Madrid. Mainly because we spent a little extra time in Spain letting my surgery wounds heal, our time in Chile was somewhat abbreviated. We decided to spend the few days we had exploring the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, reportedly the driest place on the planet. Even though it was a short visit, we were blown away (almost literally) by the stark, arid, dramatic scenery this place had to offer.
San Pedro de Atacama
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The tiny little church in the tiny little town of San Pedro de AtacamaOur home base was the small but touristy town of San Pedro de Atacama. With only three or four main streets (none of them paved) but over 1,000 beds for tourists, San Pedro has become a desert mecca for photographers, hikers, mountain bikers, and crazy sandboarders (think snowboarding, but on sand dunes). It’s situated in the midst of the Atacama Desert and rests at a surprising 8,000 feet above sea level – we definitely noticed the elevation on our first day there! The town still has quite a bit of charm and feels very rustic, but there are literally dozens of tour operators on every corner offering trips to the popular sites nearby. We’d heard that it was hard to figure out which operators were trustworthy and which ones weren’t; I guess it’s not uncommon to be picked up by a different company than the one you booked with (with no idea how legit they are) or to get coerced into paying your guide extra money once you’re far from town (translation: being held for ransom).
After spending so much time planning and re-planning the final two months of our trip (another huge shout out to Laura for taking on the brunt of that work), we weren’t quite ready to do our usual drop-in approach to exploring a new place (i.e. showing up with only one night of lodging booked), especially with so little local knowledge going in. Instead, we swung (hard) in the other direction and opted to spend a few nights at an all-inclusive resort on the southern edge of San Pedro. Tierra Atacama is a gorgeous hotel that offers a complete package for adventurous travelers – beautiful, modern rooms, full board (including alcohol) with some truly gourmet meals, a full-service spa (which unfortunately we didn’t get to take advantage of), and two half-day or one full-day guided desert excursions for each day that you’re there. We weren’t sure if we’d made the right decision when we booked our stay, but we had no doubt once we arrived and experienced their insane level of service and world-class accommodations. It’s a good thing Tierra came near the end of our trip… it may have ruined us for life. :)
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One of the stunning views of the Licancabur volcano from Tierra AtacamaWe actually spent five nights in the desert, but given our late arrival on the first day and our early departure on the last day, we opted to bookend our three nights at Tierra Atacama with two nights at a modest but adequate motel just around the corner (another brilliant bit of travel planning by Laura… can you tell that I’m grateful for all her hard work?). Casa de Don Tomás was a cute little motel with a very friendly and helpful staff, and we would definitely recommend it to anyone who’s ready to explore Atacama and plan your own excursions. There are literally dozens of other decent hotels and hostels in San Pedro, so you really can’t go wrong.
Las Excursiones
We did spend a few hours exploring the town of Atacama (check out the photos of town and a few from our fancy hotel in our San Pedro de Atacama photo gallery), but the most memorable parts of our short time in northern Chile were the excursions we made with Tierra Atacama. We met some really interesting and friendly people (all fellow guests at the hotel), and our guides were fantastic – most had spent years living and guiding in the Atacama area (and other parts of Chile, Argentina, Patagonia, etc.), and their professionalism and language skills were top notch. Because Tierra Atacama is a pretty small resort, it was also nice to see the same people for a few days. Seeing everyone on the excursions and running into them at the hotel created a nice sense of community while we were there.
A few highlights from our excursions:
Toconao and the Salar de Atacama: On our first evening at Tierra, we drove south to the salt flats of Atacama, making a short stop in the little village of Toconao on the way (photos of both are in our Toconao & Salar de Atacama photo gallery). We took a brief walking tour of town, including the quaint church near the town square, then drove down to the salt flats. The Salar de Atacama is home to numerous species of flamingos and other birds, and we spent the rest of the evening taking in the crazy, salty scenery, snapping about 200 pictures of the flamingos, and watching the beautiful sunset (to the west, of course) and moonrise over the volcanic mountains to the east. We also spent the evening trying to keep our hats on, since the winds were WHIPPING across the flats. Oh, and Laura split her pants doing some fancy acrobatics. Be sure to ask her about that when we get home. :)
Puritama Hot Springs: The next morning, we drove north to some natural hot springs that feed into the Puritama River. A few years ago, one of the other local resorts (Explora) built some walkways, bathrooms, and changing rooms near the springs so guests could enjoy their warm, therapeutic waters. The hot springs are now also open to other guests. We weren’t blown away by the experience – the water wasn’t all that hot actually, only around 33°C (92°F), barely warm enough for a bath – but it was crystal clear and we had fun hanging out there for a while. It was COLD getting out, though, because of the wind (are you sensing a theme yet?). Our guide Nora fixed some tasty treats for us and had sodas, wine, and cervesas on ice when we got warm and dry… it seems that it’s not uncommon to drink beer and wine well before noon in Chile. Gotta love it!
Mountain Biking in Salar de Atacama: That afternoon, we braved the sandy winds again and rode about ten miles from our hotel into the salt flats again. The ride started pretty easy with mostly paved or hard-packed roads under our wheels. Once we entered the salt flats, though, we had to make our way through quite a bit of soft sand and dirt. Even though I was only three weeks post-op, I decided I felt good enough for some flat, easy mountain biking, and it was no trouble at all for me. It felt really good to be moving after a few weeks of inactivity. We finished our short biking tour at a small lake in the middle of the salt flats, and once again our Tierra Atacama guides were there with chairs, towels, and refreshments. Have a look at our photos from this and our soak in the hot springs in our Puritama Hot Springs & Salar Biking photo gallery. We definitely weren’t roughing it!
El Tatio Geysers: The geysers are a must-see for most visitors to Atacama. The typical excursion has you leaving San Pedro at oh-dark-thirty (5:30AM for us) and driving for close to an hour and a half to catch sunrise at the geysers. There are over 80 active guyers at El Tatio, and they’re very cool to see up close. The geyser field is way up there, too: almost 4,300 meters (14,000 feet) above sea level, which is crazy since you don’t feel like you’re really in the mountains when you’re there. The elevation affects you, though… Laura got some serious altitude sickness while we were walking around the geyser field, probably because she didn’t have any breakfast (she doesn’t do much of anything before 9AM). After spending a couple of hours seeing the geysers, we made our way back to San Pedro, but we made a few stops along the way to take more photos of llamas, vacuña, birds, and crazy arid desert scenery. We put just a few of our best pictures in the El Tatio Geysers photo gallery.
Hiking in Quebrada del Diablo: For our last excursion, we spent the morning hiking in nearby Devil’s Canyon with a very nice couple from Brazil. Our guide Cristobal was incredibly knowledgeable about the geology of the rock formations and surrounding mountain ranges, and he was happy to share his knowledge. We didn’t realize that the Andes are so young (30 million years) in geological time, while the mountain range to the west of Atacama (towards the Pacific Ocean) are older (100 million years) but still very new compared to the Rockies or the Sierras. The other crazy thing we learned is that Cristobal went to high school and a bit of college in Madison, Wisconsin! Laura finished middle school and high school there and went to UW for college. She and Cristobal had fun swapping stories about favorite haunts in Madison and of course their mutual affection for the Badgers. Small world! And yes, in case you couldn’t guess, you can see photos of our hike in the Quebrada del Diablo photo gallery.
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All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to South America. We barely scratched the surface of what there is to see and do in the deserts of northern Chile (sandboarding will have to wait until our next visit, when my appendectomy is hopefully just a faint memory), but we won’t soon forget the dramatic scenery and natural beauty that Atacama has to offer. It’s definitely worth the trip if you’re planning a visit to Chile.