... inSan Pedro de Atacama war es nicht wesentlich kuehler, so das wir unsere koerperlichen Aktivitaeten auf ein Minimum beschraenkt hielten. Es ist eine der heissesten Wuesten der Erde und man wurde recht haufig darauf hingewiesen sparsam mit dem Wasser umzugehen... duschen 3 min... das ist quasi unmoeglich mit Beine rasieren... Am ersten tag haben wir uns die kleine Stadt angeschaut, was ich wuerde sagen 30min in Anspruch genommen hat.Es gab eine Hauptstrasse, man kam sich ein bissi vor wie im wilden Westen...alles staubig und [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well the Atacama has proved a bit of a disappointment. The trips seem a bit lightweight based around lacklustre ruins that have been reconstructed, and the scenery is just much less spectacular than Bolivia. Lagoons with half a dozen flamingos and a thousand tourists, while in Bolivia (oops sorry the Pluricultural Republic of Bolivia) there were four of us looking at a thousand flamingos. They point out a few vicuña (smallest of the llama family, wild and rather deer like) but we saw big flocks of them - you know where! It feels like they are trying to create a tourist [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello my loves, Well last time I wrote we were in Peru I believe, since then we have done Bolivia and moved on to Chile!!! Of course it is no longer called Bolivia but The Pluricultural Republic of Bolivia - don't it just trip off the tongue? - whoever came up with it really should consider a career in advertising! Although we went to La Paz, we didn't get to see any of it. We were exhausted having travelled all day and had to be up at 5.30 to set off to Oruro. We did this part of the trip by [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hier sind wir wieder, mit updates... hmmmmm... wo anfangen? Haben wieder mal eine elendslange Busfahrt hinter uns (ueber Nacht und diesmal gleich in die richtige Richtung) und sind heil in San Pedro de Atacama (also mitten in der Wueste!!!) angekommen. Haben zum Glueck auch gleich ein nettes Hostel (sogar mit Fruehstueck - eine echte Raritaet dort) um dem ueblichen Preis gefunden! Der nette Besitzer Pancho hat uns auch gleich auf eine private Tour in die Hot Springs Pools mitgenommen (ohne Eintritt und andere Touris), allerdings war der Aufstieg von 10 min sehr beschwerlich und wir haben glei [View Full Entry]

---

---

Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar This was a long weekend in Chile. They were celebrating el día de la madre cristiana, the day of the Christian mother or Saint Mary's Day. Ben, Nick, and I decided to spend a day at Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar which is only about an hour and a half from Caldera near the port town of Chañaral. We arrived in Chañaral at about 10:00am on Saturday. From the bus station we took a colectivo to the park which is about 30 minutes away. On the way we planned our day and decided to go to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well... Just our luck! We got stuck in San pedro de atacama. Porque? We arrived on a Saturday and wanted to take the bus to Argentina on Sunday, but it was sold out and the next bus didn´t leave until Tuesday. Good thing we had our "travelling family" (the group from salar de uyuni) to keep us company. So we ended up staying in a dorm with the family. 8 beds for 6 people! Hooray we got the whole room to ourselves... So we thought. Halfway through the day, we had a new roomie, Sketchy Francois. Lets just say he enjoyed [View Full Entry]

---

---

I've tried writing this 2 times before this and both times something happened. The first time my battery ran out before I had a chance to save it and the second time the window went back to the previous screen on its own without me hitting the Back button. So here goes again: It's been a busy few weeks here. I've been feeling the rapid approach of my return to the US. This pressure has encouraged me to really start making a plan for the following months and years. So over the past month or so I've been spending as much [View Full Entry]

---

---

Chile's tremendous length covers a hugely diverse array of landscapes, from the desolate moonscape of Chile's Atacama Desert, to the fertile vineyards of the Central Valley, to the lush rainforests of the Lake District, down to the magnificent glaciers and peaks of Patagonia -- not to mention more than 4,830km (3,000 miles) of coastline and Easter Island. It's truly mind-boggling to think of how many different experiences a traveler can have in just 2 or 3 weeks in this South American country. The Atacama Desert in the north of Chile is one of the most spectacular and unique areas on the [View Full Entry]

---

---

We took a bus from La Serena to Caldera and upon arrival in the little town, we decided that its sister city a few kilometres down the coast had more to offer. We hopped in a colectivo (shared taxi) and a few minutes later we were dropped on the beach walk of Bahia Inglesa. Our wish-list was finally fulfilled when we reached this summer tourist hot spot. The sun was finally shining and there was a lovely little beach with turquoise water. After our encounter with partying Chileans in Valparaiso, we decided that we wanted to be as far away from [View Full Entry]

---

---

San Pedro de Atacama, what a place!!! I had intended putting this blog entry in with the last one to make one big Chile entry but San Pedro really deserves it´s own spot. It´s in the north of Chile at an altitude of 2,500m in the Atacama desert, the driest desert on the planet. The town is like something out of an old western movie and the scenery fits too, the place is amazing. The only problem is that the town now exists only for tourists and its right bang in the middle of a desert so everything is expensive, but [View Full Entry]

---

---