The Atacama part 1 (La Serena - Antofagasta)

---

After leaving La Serena we reached the Atacama desert region where the vegetation dissapears altogether and there's just sand and rock for hundreds of kilometers. The first 3 days from La Serena took us to Copiapo and were still pretty well populated so we didn't have to carry too much food and water. After leaving Copiapo we began the proper desert part, which was a 570km ride to Antofagasta. The ride from Copiapo follows the coast for a while before heading inland and slowly climbing to 2200m before coming back down to sea level at Antofagasta. The climb was really gradual, sometimes the road barely looks like it's going uphill, but being in our second lowest gear told us it definately was! The first 3 days were tough going because of the heat and having to carry 4-5 days worth of food plus water. We could carry around 9 litres each on our bikes which was enough for a day and a half of riding plus cooking in the evening etc. Luckily there are trucker stops called Posadas fairly regularly on the road, with usually no more than around 50km between them so we could stop for water and a hot meal if we wanted. The longest stretch with nowhere to get any water was 105km which is about a days ride so our 9 litres were plenty. We managed the 570km in 5 days thanks to a 160km last day where we were desperate to get to Antofagasta for a shower! We got a lot of support while we were cycling through the desert, with trucks and cars hooting their horns and giving us thumbs up which was nice. A bit different from cycling in England!

One of the sights on this stretch is a sculpture called Mano de Desierto, which is about 70km south of Antofagasta. It's a sculpture of a giant hand reaching out of the desert and looks really cool with the desert backdrop.

Our plan now is to get the bus to San Pedro de Atacama for a few days, leaving our bikes in a bike shop, before coming back to Antofagasta and starting the second desert leg to Iquique where we'll head East into Bolivia.

---

Photos

Posada San Francisco
Truckers stop where we had lunch and refilled our bottles

Mano del Desierto
70km south of Antofagasta

5000km done!
Passing the 5000km mark on arrival in Antofagasta