Chilling out in Chile

Or not as the case may be. We have been in the Atacama Desert for a few days now (arguably the driest place on the planet). Days have been hot and sunny but pretty cold overnight. Set out from Santiago last Sunday, once again after a heavy night out in town the night before. With a beach town stop and three drive days ahead of us there would be plenty of time to recover, and to get to know the 7 newbies on the truck. We also have an alcohol ban in place from the end of the week as we head up into the Andes and altitudes of over 5000m.

First overnight stop was in the town of La Serena on the Pacific coast. This could have been a wonderful place to chill out: campsite just over the road from the beach, which had good sand and wonderful surf. However, the weather played tricks on us. Having not seen much cloud for a while, it decided that the time to introduce colder weather and cloud into the mix was an hour or two before we arrived in town. Then it kept it up until we left two mornings later. Did go for a run on the beach and a quick paddle but water was just a tad too cold to go for a swim. Change of plan meant having a look around the town instead. This involved one very good museum, the outside of a few churches and the cathedral, and a sneaky look inside the cathedral but only by gate crashing a lunchtime service (the doors were locked for the rest of the day). Did get a bit of a chance to chill in the Japanese Gardens and had a nice if long stroll back to camp from there with three of the new girls and a local who decided to join us (see photo). As far as I know, the dog is still at the campsite - he was still in residence when we left the following morning.

Then back on the truck for 3 days drive to San Pedro de Atacama. First overnight stop was on a beach in the Pan de Azucar NP. Beautiful sunsets, lovely and peaceful, but waves very fierce and bay surrounded by rocks (so no swimming again). Still had a lovely evening sitting around a camp fire until the small hours of the morning. Also learnt not to upset Yorkshire girls: ended up being beaten around the head with a flip flop until I gave back the one I had just pinched off Rosie´s other foot. A quick visit to the hand in the desert and then night 2 was spent in a mining area and right by a railway line.

Fortunately I had just got up for an early morning pee break when a train came rattling through at 4am.

Finally we arrived in San Pedro, our base for a few varied activities and a busy schedule. First afternoon saw the sun back out again, so I fished the hammock bought for the Amazon ferry out of the back of the truck. Had a lovely couple of hours dozing in the sun. Then on the first evening we set off to a local observatory to have a look at the stars. Guide Alain was really enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Think we all learnt a lot about the night sky. Comic moment came when he said that if we got up at 4am tomorrow morning, such and such a star would have moved across the night sky to be over there. Unfortunately we are all getting up at that ridiculous time to go on a trip up to a geyser field! Got to view stars and constellations with the naked eye, and then with five different outdoor telescopes we were shown stars, constellations, nebulae, and other galaxies. Highlight was seeing Saturn with its rings and getting (blurry) photos of another planet.

So, back to camp for a few hours sleep before being up early for our geyser tour. Sleepy mood wasn´t helped by the fact that the bus and guide turned up 45 minutes late, but eventually we did set off. Drive was quite a distance, so at least we got to catch up on a bit of the sleep we had missed. Geyser field was good to see. Depending upon which guidebook you read, it may or may not be the highest geyser field in the world. It was even better when the sun came out and the gloves and woolly hat could be taken off. Met up with an old friend: Jen, who was on the trip with us between Ushuaia and Santiago but is now travelling independently. Think we may see her a few times more - her schedule is quite similar to ours. Final part of geyser tour was a chance for a dip in a thermal pool. Lovely and relaxing, despite the mud fights. Then, on the way back to camp, we got to see various flora and fauna: vicunas, vixachacas, llamas, andes moss; and a tribal village.

A quick chance to grab lunch and check internet, then back on our truck for a trip out to Valle de la Luna. Spectacular rock formations, dunes, and a good sunset rounded off the day nicely. Then back to camp for a lovely veggie curry courtesy of yours truly (shame the rice was crap).
And that was it for Chile. Tomorrow we head into Bolivia and the Altiplano, and a test of how well we can survive altitude.