(Star)Dust and Galaxies

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A short stint in Chile´s Atacama Desert was all we had time for before heading across the Andes into Argentina. We have dubbed Argentina the Land of the Mullet. Every guy here, young or old seems to have a mullet - did they get stuck in another era?

But to rewind a little. Our time in San Pedro was good. We downgraded to a camp site after one night in a hostel due to the high prices. We enjoyed a hike through the Valley of Death, accompanied by two dogs (once again), where we watched some sandboarders and enjoyed the sunset atop a ridge. We also decided (against the advice of tour operators) that we would cycle through the driest desert in the world to see the sights, rather than go with an expensive organised tour. We left early to beat the heat and arrived at Laguna Piedra, a deep, clear salt lagoon where we floated in solitude, joined only by a few flamingoes nearby. After a yummy cheese and tomato sarmie, we cycled on to the Ojos de Salar (eyes of the desert). These are literally two big holes in the ground in the middle of nowhere filled with brackish, mildly salty water. Here we had a second swim and sarmie before making the long trip back home in the heat of the day, along seriously corrugated dirt roads.

As we were in the Atacama desert, stargazing is some of the best in the world, so we signed up for a stargazing tour. The tour was excellent, led by a French astronomer/comedian. We looked at the night sky with a naked eye, then at particular constellations, planets, nebulae and galaxies with his array of telescopes and finally had a cuppa hot chocolate and a chat in his house.

An expensive bus trip and two long border crossings later we were in Argentina. Our first stop was the friendly, neat town of Salta. Here we relaxed, went for dinner with new friends, and did some job searching on the internet (because, unfortunately for us, we have to return to reality in 3 months time!). We then headed on another 12 hour bus trip to Cordoba, where we are now. We happen to be staying in an all-Israeli hostel, so are feeling a little sparse.

We are enjoying the more civilised countries of Argentina and Chile: countries where traffic lights are obeyed, toilet paper can be thrown into the toilet, streets are relatively clean and buses are luxurious. We have just finished a healthy salad for supper to try and counter all the grease we have been ingesting of late!

Hope you are all enjoying the shut down period, aren´t too stressed about the festive time that lies ahead, and that you´ll all be able to relax these holidays!

Love the Holtzs

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Photos

Death Valley
Perro (our canine companion) running into the valley

Death Valley
Where sandstone and sand meet

Death Valley
Valley view with the volcano looming behind

Death Valley
Enjoying the sunset, the companions and us

Laguna de Piedra
Clear waters of the salty lake

Laguna de Piedra
Marco´s first real flotation experiance

Atacama desert
Cycling in the middle of nowhere

Atacama desert
Ojos de Salar

Atacama desert
The two ojos

Comments

[Hans]

Hi
Hi Guys. Cool to see you are doing well and still enjoying it. I wish I could take off and do something similar. Keep the blogs running. will you stay long enough to watch the Dakar? h

[Derek]

Note from JHB
Hi P and M, been catching up on your stories...very interesting. Looks like you have been rooting around properly. And I'm glad you have had some exposure to mining :) Certainly beats sitting in JHB planning holes in the ground. Enjoy the smooth roads and toilet paper, and maybe Marco can trade his beard in for a mullet. Just FYI make sure to book a spot for the Carnival if you are in Rio at the time. All is well in SA, sun is shining, my veggie patch is kicking off, the politicians are sometimes doing good things, housemates in order (dishwasher generally not stacked - the training continues). D