Blogs from Atacama, Chile, South America - page 14

... 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 links und rechts Kneipen. Die Hauser waren meist Flachbauten aus Lehm und wirklich sehr einfach, wie man sich eine kleine Wuestenstadt eben so vorstellt-allerdings gerammelt voll mit Touristen. Wir haben uns fuer zwei Touren in die Wueste e... read more

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 public bus which was fine. They put on a video of Gladiator (seen it) but it was quite fun to see it again in Spanish - though they didn't put it on till a third ... read more

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 gleich wieder mal erwogen, zum Rauchen aufzuhoeren (sind dann aber draufgekommen, der Grund waren Hitze, Hoehe und trockene Luft) :) Pancho hat uns danach auch gleich unsere weitern 3 Touren zu einem spezial Preis gebucht... sehr gemuetlich! Also, am naechsten ... read more

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 el mirador, the lookout, first. Unfortunately, the sky was covered in clouds and the mirador was up at cloud-level. Needless to say, we didn't see much but it was actually kind of peaceful being surrounded ... read more

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 shared dormitories as possible for the upcoming Independence Day. After a quick walk around the small town, we spotted a sign for Cabanas and inquired within. The owner of the mini-mart showed us around the ... read more