In the desert on a horse with no name

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We arrived in San Pedro de Atacama in the Atacama Desert, Northern Chile, after another epic bus journey and set up shop here for 3 days. When we got off the bus, we welcomed the warm weather the desert offered, but quickly learned as the sun sets that temperature drops below freezing!

San Pedro is one of my highlights of the trip so far, a pretty little desert town, with lots of activities on offer. Another bonus being that our hostel had hammocks, which made our stay there very relaxing, chilling out in the desert sun. We decided to go sandsurfing one afternoon. A minibus took our tour out to high sand dunes near the village. Neither myself, nor Simon have been snowboarding or skiing before so it was new to us. Simon had surfing on his side, but it’s not quite the same! We practiced on a gentle slope of sand first of all and then onto the steep slope. Even though our instructor showed us how to stop, I used the graceful method of falling flat on my ass as my brakes! Our tour bus then whisked us away from the dunes to Valle de la Luna, where we enjoyed a Pisco Sour (a famous Chilean drink) while watching the sun set. Valle de la Luna is so called as its various stone and sand formations look somewhat similar to the surface of the moon.

The following day we went horse riding! Horse riding has been a lifelong passion of mine. Myself and one of my friends used to work in a stable for free, over several years, for nothing more than to be near horses all day long! Since my teenage years, I haven’t gone horse riding as much, but try to get out once in a while, despite the hefty expense these days. So, to go horse riding in the desert was a big deal for me and one of the best things I have done on the trip so far. We got up early and went for a two hour trek with our guide Roberto, who was friendly and excellent with the horses. As he guided us out of the village, we looked down on the oasis of San Pedro on one side and Valle de la Luna on the other and I realized this guy has the best job in the world. No wonder he was so happy! The view was incredible and to see it by horseback made it even more exhilarating, as we cantered along the dirt path overlooking the valley.

That night we went star gazing. A tour bus picked us up and took us out into the middle of the Atacama Desert where we were greeted by the guide and his wife. The French guide was excellent, he explained the constellations and the differences between the stars in the Northern and Southern hemisphere very well but also added humour to the explanations, which made it easier for us amateurs to pay attention. It was particularly interesting for us, as being from the Northern Hemisphere, we never get to see the stars of the Southern hemisphere and so he pointed out constellations such as the Southern Cross, the Crow, Leo etc. We can also see the Milky Way in the Southern hemisphere which is not visible to us when at home. He had several telescopes set up so we could have a closer look at some of the stars and planets. The most interesting of these was Saturn, when I looked through the telescope I could distinctly make out the rings of Saturn; it looked exactly how it would look in a Science book. It was as if, he had stuck a cartoon picture of at the top of the telescope! After looking at Mars and a few other constellations, he took us back to his house for some hot chocolate and questions. This is where things got a bit heavy, one person asked about dark matter and the explanation for this went over my head, a mere amateur astronomer! The tour was very well organized and to be out in the desert looking at the vast sky of stars was absolutely magical.

Next stop: Bolivia!

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Comments

[Heather]

I loved your post and photos from the desert! They reminded me of my time there. I really miss that sand boarding! It was the best! My blog has some South America reviews, etc, if you're looking for any info. We're also always looking for travel photos, stories, etc, to share. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email us at [e-mail]. Continued fun on your travels! Heather :)