san pedro de atacama


Advertisement
Published: July 25th 2008
Edit Blog Post

Total Distance: 0 miles / 0 kmMouse: 0,0


Hi everybody,
I arrived in San Pedro de Atacama on 7/17. San Pedro is a quaint little town with a population of 2500, which doubles when you add all the tourists. The architecture reminds me of Santa Fe 200 years ago, narrow streets, adobe buildings. Everything is priced like Santa Fe too! A drink in a restaurant is $7, a beer is $4, a meal runs about $10. The locals are very friendly and seem happy. So needless to say, I am cooking at the house we are renting, and shopping at the local market for food. The house we are renting is mostly complete, however my skill at fixing things has come in handy. I had to route gas lines and hook them up to the hot water heater to get hot water to the house. I lowered the shower curtain 3” so water wouldn’t run all over the floor. The electrical system in this town is a nightmare, they use lamp cords for the power lines, this gauge of wire limits the amount of power one can draw to the house. The power goes to a breaker box, where extension cords with one end cut off are wired to the box and run to the house. We have to get drinking water from the little store across the street every day. Using the toilet is fun, apparently the toilets can’t handle toilet paper, so the TP goes in a trash can and then we burn the TP everyday.

The Atacama Desert is beautiful! San Pedro is located at the base of the Andes Mountains. Looking to the east there are several 16,000 ft volcanoes with snow on top. The desert is starkly beautiful, the rock formations, salt landscapes, and caves are so incredible, my words do no justice. See pictures! The night sky is so clear, it seem that you can see every star in the universe. We have two astronomers on the expedition, which is very informative.

The work I am doing here is going along well, but very slow. Next week will be better. I have seven large salt caves to map, and lead a four person mapping team.

My next blog will have more info and pictures! This first week was spent getting up early and getting to bed late, getting the house up to snuff and ridge walking, looking for caves, we found 7! Next week I will have more time to write.



Additional photos below
Photos: 20, Displayed: 20


Advertisement



25th July 2008

A desert's beauty
Excellent pictures my love! A desert’s beauty is unique and captivating. A shame that NASA would not budget for the superfluous company of your endearing wife. Even so, my chi is with you always, wherever your adventures may take you. . . . . . Les
28th July 2008

Nice!
The pictures are awesome. Looks like you guys are having a good time. I am jealous.
30th July 2008

Ah.... my father the explorer. Love you da. Be well! Kisses and hugs.... missing you.

Tot: 0.083s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 11; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0402s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb