A quick hour bus ride from Calama and we knew we were increasing in altitude as our ears were popping. San Pedro is at a higher altitude so we knew we needed a few days to get used to this before trying any physical activities. Too bad, we got much more of a work out right as we got off the bus. I have to take the blame for this one.
Finding a place to sleep:
-I normally book all my hostels/hotels in advance and have a confirmation as I hate walking around town looking for a place to stay with all my stuff. This time, of the eight places I emailed, they all had availability (as it´s low season) so I wasn`t worried. So I emailed the one we wanted and said we would be there at after 6pm.
-First problem was once we got off the bus, we had no idea where we were and even when we asked the bus people, they couldn´t tell us where we were. So we started walking and found someone to ask for the main street. Once we found the main street, I guess I got the street name wrong and we walked down the wrong street before I realized it and we had to back track. Then when we found it, we found out the place was full and the owner never got my email as it was his day off. So we were off to find another place (with all our bags). After about 45 minutes of walking around town (which are all dirt and rocks), we settled into a great little place and were thrilled.
-It was my fault for not booking a place and playing the game and all the extra walking around with our bags really did suck. I learned my lesson! Our only question was how long would we stay and what we were going to do as there was so much we wanted to see and do in the San Pedro area. It looked like 6 nights as there was so much great stuff to see.
Salt Lake at Atacama Salt Lak:
-For our first adventure, we headed out in the desert (at 3pm and it was so hot!). We wandered around the Jerre Valley through a beautiful valley of fruit orchards and it was fun to see the figs, prickly pear and others. When the guide was asking if we use prickly pears in the USA, I started laughing and said they are really only used in margaritas and are quite tasty! We got to see some of the old stone homes that locals lived in and how the large stones were used to keep the homes cold in the desert. Our guide also said those stones sell for $4 each, which seems quite expensive for stones especially as the locals here do not make much money.
-From there we got to visit the Toconao village with a population of 500 people. It felt small, but we got to see some alpaca lammas, see how locals weave clothing and explore the little town. Like all small towns, of course there was a church, but this church had a really cool ceiling made completely from dried cactus plant and in the front of the church, we got to see Jesus, God and The Holy Spirit all together. So quite an unusual church.
-Final stop on this tour was the salt lake at Chaxas lagoon where there are normally many flamingos. Of course, when we got there, only a dozen flamingos were in the lake, but we were able to see more fly over from the nesting area to another part of the lake. If was great to see these wild flamingos
Valley of the Moon:
– This was one of the most talked about tours. We started by going to a high viewpoint over the desert at Cordillera de la Sal. The area looked like the moon terrain and the pictures really do a better job at describing it. There was one large rock that was jetting out over the cliff, and I had to go out there for a better view. We saw the large crack…but it looked stable enough and others were doing it…so I did too.
– Then we headed out to Death Valley or Valle de la Muerte. We were told it was called this as so many people have been too close to the edge and died…so we made sure to stay away from the edge. It was so windy there, I didn´t want to get blown over.
– Off to the Three Mary´s which is a famous rock formation. There was supposed to be three different stone that looked like the virgin Mary. From left to right, the first was her crouching, the next with her hands reaching up in prayer and the third was her kneeling. Too bad a Chilean tourist climbed on the third one and knocked the head off. Once this was explained to us, we could see the three Mary´s. I also enjoyed the rock on the far left that looked like a rabbit. Why would a rabbit be near Mary….not sure, but that´s what I saw.
-We had a little time before sunset and our guide too us for a walk through a tall gorge of sand and salt statues. It reminded me of Petra a little as we kept coming up to tall gorges and then around the corner was something else that was great too. Colin and I just kept running and taking photos and looking at all the salt formations and rock formation up close.
-Final stop for this day was at the Moon Valley for sunset. We got to climb a steep hill, in deep and loose sand to reach the top. Right when we got to the peak, there was an awesome sand dune peak. Too bad we couldn`t walk across it as there are frequent earthquakes and its not safe, but I had to sit for a photo. Loved it and would have loved to sand board down this one! We stayed at the top to watch the sunset for half an hour and watch the moon valley below change to pinks and then all the mountains behind us followed in pinks and oranges. It was beautiful colors. This day had to be one of the highlights for San Pedro!
-On this tour, we also met a couple from Liverpool (Andy and Sophie) and another guy from England (Edgar). We got along well and decided to meet for a drink after the tour and maybe dinner. Well one drink turned to 3 bottles of wine and a fun dinner. Edgar had to wake up at 4am the next morning so he left at 10pm and Andy, Sophie, Colin and I went to another pub for a pitcher and then another bar for more beers until we closed the bar down. So many times we have closed bars down. A really fun night with new friends. Too two of the four of us didn`t feel well. I was and at em…but the other two nameless were suffering.
Salt Lagoon:
– I was excited to go to the Salt Lagoon as this was 30% salt and was supposed to be enough to make us float without treading water. We went to Cejas Lagoon for the afternoon of swimming, relaxing (and that was relaxing on hard salt formations). I was picturing my experience in the Dead Sea in Israel, but this was quite different. To start, we had to walk into the lagoon on sharp salt crystals…to the point it was so painful, we went back for our flip flops to walk in. Once we made it to the water, it was so cold on the top, but once we got in, the lower part of our legs were in hot water. Guess the hot water from a nearby volcano heats from the bottom up, but the top is freezing. The lagoon was so salty, we could only stay in for 30 minutes or it wasn´t good for our skin. Once out of the water, the salt dried in my skin and left a residual that was funny.
Puritama Thermal Hot Springs:
– Since this area is known for over 70 active volcanoes, there has to be warm water around. We decided to treat ourselves with a trip to the thermal hot springs to relax and I´m so glad we did. The setting was beautiful with almost a river running through a huge gorge and within this river, there were about 7 separate pools. Some had strong currents, or waterfalls and one even had some small fish. The best part was the thermal water was warm, but not too hot, so we were able to enjoy the pools for 2 hours. Colin and I made sure visit most of the pools as they were different. Such a great morning and relaxing at the same time.
– We planned to meet up with Andy and Sophie again, but we bumped into them in town and I ended up going for a drink to chat more of places they want to go and they were sharing info with me to help in our next leg. We invited them to our hostel for homemade guacamole and drinks (as there are so many avocados here I just want to eat Guac all the time…plus we finally found tortilla chips!). So a fun night with them and we still made it to be by 10:30pm (as now we had the 4am wake up call)
Geyser del Tatio:
– This was supposed to be the highlight for the stay in San Pedro. But since the Geysers are at 4,200 meters (13,000 feet), we waited to our last day to get used to the altitude. These are the world`s highest geysers and worth the climb. We were picked up at 4am and that wasn`t fun and we tried to sleep in the van, but the roads were really bumpy. It was worth it as 2 hours later, we arrived at 6:30 and it was still dark out and the geysers were in full steam. The early morning is the best time to see them as the volcanic thermal activity is strongest in the early morning. We were told the weather was negative 10 Celsius. (which is about 13 Fahrenheit). So really cold and I`m glad I still had my warm clothes from Antarctica (and think Colin was too as I gave him an extra wool hat and gloves). Finally I can say I was CHILLY IN CHILE!!!
– First stop at the Geysers was one that just started to blow water. Our guide said he could hear it and in about 30 seconds, it started to bubble and then blow pretty high. As it was so cold, you could see so much steam and it was so amazing. I haven`t been to Yellowstone before, but we were told these Geysers are third largest in the world (Iceland has the first and Yellowstone is the second with El Tatio in Chile third). We also got to see just pure steam geysers that were so powerful it was hard to see me behind all the steam. Next was a mud/lava one, but this one only spurts mud/lava in the winter.
-Our guide made us breakfast there, including hard boiled eggs that he boiled in the geyser water. So the water was that hot. As soon as the sun came up at 8am, it got much nicer…still cold, but we weren`t shaking anymore.
– We also got the opportunity to swim in more thermal pools. Colin and I took this and did our deck change into our swimsuits (using our towels like I did during my swimming years). It was strange taking off thermal underwear, 3 shirts, a sweater, fleece, wool socks and and hat to then jump into lukewarm water. It reminded me of the Polar Bear Swim in Antarctica, but this time the water was warm and we stayed in for 20 minutes. My pile of clothes was funny though.
-Last stop on our tour was a small or tiny village of only 15 people. Here they raise lama and we had the opportunity for lama kabobs and they were really good! I was brave and tried it, but Colin really ate most of it. Not sure what this little town does way out in the middle of nowhere, but they raise a nice lama and we saw some wild ones along the road as we drove.
So after six days in San Pedro de Atacama…I LOVED IT here and would so recommend others to come. From the Adobe buildings, small town, amazing places to eat, and I say every meal we had was so tasty. This week was one of the highlights to the month in Chile. Actually….I really loved everything in Chile and I guess that{s why the last four weeks have been so wonderful. Off to Bolivia in the morning for a 4X4 land cruiser trip to the Largest Salt Flat in the WORLD. Should be amazing.
Logistics
-First hostel was Hostel Lickana. Really nice place with 5 private rooms for 34,000 pesos (or $58 a night). We liked it, but wanted a kitchen to do some cooking to save money, so we moved halfway through
-Second hostel was Eden de Atacama. This had more of a young crowd and we were able to get a private room for 30,000 ($50) and there was a kitchen so lunch and dinner was now much cheaper as we could make ourselves.
– We used Desert Atacama for all our tours and they were great. Highly recommended this tour company.