San Pedro de Atacama

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San Pedro is located at 2436m above sea level, near the north side of the salt deposit of Atacama (the biggest in Chile). It is located in one of the many oases in the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world as it hasn’t rained for over 250 years. San Pedro is situated at the foothills of the Andean Cordillera which reaches 6100m high in this area. The volcano Licancabur (5916m – higher than Kilimanjaro!) can be seen from San Pedro as it’s only about 40km away. The name means “village hill”, and it was venerated by the Incas who carried out ceremonies and left offerings in the crater top. There is a lagoon at the top and a French high altitude diving expedition went up there in 1984!

Some of us walked around town in the morning, including to the edge of the desert. The town is very compact, with a church and a museum by the main square that has free WIFI, but very slow. There used to be mummies in the museum but they have been removed. Lots of tour operators and restaurants vie for business and there is a lot of construction at the edge of the town, clearly a sign that San Pedro is growing, largely because of the increased tourism. Hopefully it can be developed in a sustainable way but I have a feeling that it may not.

We had to get some Bolivianos because we would be in Bolivia the next day. All the casa de cambios were rip offs, giving rates of $5.4 – 5.5 Bs / $1 USD (official exchange rate at that time was 6.9), but Gambarte (Toconao N 492B) gave the best rate of 6.1.

At 4 pm we went to see some lagoons in the salt flat. First stop of Laguna Cejar and Piedra, with waters as salty as those of the Dead Sea and hence very buoyant. We all went in to float around. I am not a good swimmer but even I floated in the lagoon. After we got out we were rinsed off with some fresh water. The salt from the lagoon quickly formed a layer on the unwashed skin although it didn’t really bother me otherwise. Then it’s off for a quick stop by the 'Ojos del Salar' (Eyes of the Salt Pan), two freshwater holes very close together, before heading to Laguna Tebenquinche for the sunset while having some pisco sour and snacks. It was incredible as the colour of the mountains slowly changed from yellow to pink as the sun set. Our guide Daniel was informative and entertaining, including a Freddy Mercury joke.

I had a vegetarian quiche for dinner, not the tastiest but enough to keep my stomach happy.

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Photos

Volcan Licancabur
Edge of town

Laguna Tebenquinche
Volcan Licancabur in the background