Since the last post four weeks ago, we have been travelling through Chile, Bolivia and Peru. We decided to do it on a tour, mainly because of the limited time we had. Here is the first of the rundowns - Chile.
Ears: The Salvadors
After leaving Santiago on a 10hour bus trip north we found ourselves in La Serena, it is pretty much a shithole and there is no real reason to go here other than to break up the trip going north.
Our time in La Serena also coincided with Colo-Colo winning the Chilean Primera Clausura. being a team that is heavily supported here, there were groups of fans all over town celebrating the win. One group played there drums in the middle of the street in front of us whilst we were having lunch, the riot squad soon turned up and dealt with them.
An hour east however, is the Valle del Elqui, also known as the Valley of the Stars, one of the best places in the world for astronomy. Somehow we timed our visit to this valley with the Lunar Eclipse that happened in April. Or in other words, the absolute worst time to go somewhere for stargazing.
Our trip through Chile quickly became a Dog Appreciation trip.
And sometimes Cat Appreciation.
The Pisco Capal Brewery - Pisco is a pretty famous drink in South America, so we took a few hours to check out one of the breweries. With our very own Spanish speaking guide - for a group of non-spanish speakers!
Valle Del Elqui
A photo I took while "Stargazing" with a moon the size of the sun.
After leaving La Serena, it was a 17hour bus journey north and inland a little to San Pedro de Atacama. At 2410m above sea level it pips Australia's Mt. Kosciusko by almost 200m and was our last point of refuge before going into the oxygen-thief-like conditions of Bolivia. As the name suggests, San Pedro is in the Atacama desert, the world's driest desert where the last time it rained here was when Captain James Cook was still in nappies. This was one of the things I was looking forward to most on this tour and I don't think I was too disappointed.
Taking time out, pre-dawn at 4300m above sea level.
An hours drive from San Pedro is a huge Geyser Field, in fact the Altiplano desert is to geysers, what a teenagers face is to pimples. However the El Tatio is one of the better known ones and at 4300m is quite a shock to the body, especially at below freezing temperatures at 5am.
Looks like a close encounter
Our magic school bus.
Vicuna's - like llama's but smaller.
There is a hot spring at the geysers that you can swim in, it was quite nice, however getting in and out in single digit temps was not ideal. Here is Nick leaving after his dip.
Trekking through some caves in the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon)
San Pedro is also right next-door to Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), and Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley). These places are spectacular - except for the gringo's . As you can see from the photos.
See the bus in the bottom right?
Tour Group L-R: Nick, Heerey, Me, Hannah, Alberto, Donna, Jacqui, Dan and Lorraine.
Chilled out at Coyote Rock for Sunset.
Sunset over the Atacama Desert - Chile.
San Pedro was definitely a highlight, along with all the natural stuff, we also did a pretty boozy cooking class one afternoon. A lot of fun even if we don't remember the recipes!
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