Blogs from Antofagasta Region, Chile, South America - page 5

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I have had a somewhat adventurous day today. This morning I rented a mountain bike, the only kind of bicycle they have here, apparently, and set out to explore some of the sightseeing possibilities I have missed so far. First, a bit about the bicycle. I also got a helmet, lock, spare inner tube, tire changing tools, and a little bag to put it all in. It only cost 4,000 CLP (about $7) for a half day which is six hours. I rarely rode a bike in college and only a handful of times since then, but as they say, it is one of those things you never forget. I did not find this one particularly comfortable. For one thing it was a little beat up. I have a feeling that most renters are younger, more ... read more
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Today was a daylong tour up into the Andes to see the high plains salt lagoons. There is a series of them and some have the right conditions for flamingoes to thrive. (See photo.) We didn't see many other animals, partly because there are not many who live at these altitudes, but one species that does is the vicuña. It is a relative of the llama, but runs wild in herds in the Andes and we saw quite a few of them today. (See photo.) One of the lakes we visited is Lake Miscanti which is located at 14,270 feet above sea level. That is as high as I have been without a pressurized airplane cabin around me. I think I experienced some altitude sickness - intermittent shortness of breath, mild headache, slightly queasy stomach. I ... read more
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As I mentioned yesterday, I flew north to the Atacama desert. Along the way I took some photos out the window, including this one of a portion of the snow-capped Andes mountains. I left off writing this blog as I was heading out the door for the star tour, so I will tell you a little about that. We climbed on a bus that drove a short way out into the desert where there were nine telescopes set up for viewing. The genial host, an expatriate Canadian, used his laser pointer to indicate the pertinent sights in the night sky. And then he pointed the telescopes toward interesting objects like stars, star clusters, and, my favorite, Jupiter and four of its moons. We could see Orion, but we also saw the Southern Cross and that is ... read more
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South America » Chile » Antofagasta Region » Antofagasta March 10th 2014

Are we in Harley Heaven or what? Over the years I have made many dumb decisions and also a few bright ones, but the decision to ship our Harley over to Chile was one of the brightest, these motorcycles are just made for the long wide winding highways that run the length of Chile. Leaving Tongoy after three days was hard, but we needed to ride, so we said our farewells to Marcella and Jamie and headed North to Copiapo. The usual challenge of the truck traffic, north of La Serena, was not there, and then I realised it was Saturday. It was a good run our lunch stop and a refuel at Vallenar. After lunch we were able to travel relatively trouble free with virtually no on coming traffic until we reached a long hill, ... read more
Tongoy for lunch
Liquer Shop in Tongoy
A Bloody huge oyster

South America » Chile » Antofagasta Region » Antofagasta March 10th 2014

7 March 2014 – Friday – Iquique to Antofagasta, Chile On the smooth, long bus ride from Iquique to Antofagasta I finished reading Isable Allende’s Of Love and Shadows, a novel set during the Pinochet years in Chile. It is a bit melodramatic and the writing about sex is embarrassingly over-the-top, but the storyline holds together well and the characters are interesting even if they are sometimes mouthpieces for political points of view. The historical and fictional elements blend well. Very enjoyable and Highly Recommended. The 300 kilometre coach journey consisted nearly entirely of dusty brown desert mountains to the left and the sparking blue Pacific Ocean to the right. There were small mining villages about every 60 kilometres or so that consisted of a few dozen temporary shack dwellings and a dirt road into the ... read more
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There is not much to say about today...yet. I traveled by airplane from Puerto Varas to Calama, Chile and then took a transfer van to San Pedro de Atacama. I arrived in time shower, eat a quick bite and head off for an evening Star Tour. That is where I am going now. The Atacama Desert is one of the best places on earth to view the night sky, so will report tomorrow about the tour.... read more


Geo: -22.9058, -68.1951That morning as I have left Iquique, I did not know how extreme that leg will turn...A nice early morning ride up onto the Ruta 5,, from Iquique on sea-level up to 2,600 metres within a very short distance...being part of the Pan-American Higway system that comes from Alaska all the way down to the deep south of Chile.First I did make the turn towards Arica, the border town to Peru...My initial plan was to go to Peru and cross over the mountains towards Cusco and into the Amazon region onto Ruta interoceánica Brasil-Perú but for some reason not entirely clear to me, I decided after 50 km driving, to simply turn round and cross into the high altitude border crossing between Chile and Argentina...not sure if I missed anything, I can only say ... read more
Let's get started...Paso Jama...the unexpected...
Up on the plateau in 4000+ meters...Chile
Up on the plateau in 4000+ meters...Chile

South America » Chile » Antofagasta Region » Antofagasta January 16th 2014

Geo: -23.6413, -70.3994or did I catch up with it?...Hmmh...not sure who got their first...The only thing I know is that right about 100km before Antofagasta I met a group of Germans with German registered cross bikes (huh...that must have been expensive to bring those all the way from Germany to Chile and back...why not just spend that money and buy a brand new one?)... Those Germans told me that they are here only for the purpose of following the Rally Dakar from stop to stop...Cool idea, why not...As I was driving into Antofagasta I was welcomed by big ads on the roadside...Rallye Dakar Chile 2014...Holy crap...The major stop of the Rally was in Antofagasta just one day after my arrival...Interesting indeed to watch it in reality... As I arrived in Antofagasta, Met up with the Germans ... read more
On my first evening in Antofagasta
Yes...I did miss that..hopala
The corner where my hostel was located


We arrived quite early in the morning to Chile and San Pedro de Atacama, a quiet desert town 45 km from the border to Bolivia. Our Salar de Uyuni tour left us at the border where we also got our exit stamps from Bolivia, then we took a bus to San Pedro where we went through Chilean immigration. The border to Chile was probably the most strict we had passed this far in South America, here our luggage was x-rayed while no one seemed to care what we were carrying on the other border crossings we have passed through on this continent. As it had been a quite exhausting stay in Bolivia with lots of activities, we decided to take it easy. During the first three days in San Pedro we mostly sat in the shade ... read more
San Pedro de Atacama - Star gazing
San Pedro de Atacama - the hot spring in Puritama
San Pedro de Atacama - Biking in the desert


Après une après midi d'attente dans la disgracieuse ville d'Uyuni, nous embarquons dans notre dernier bus Bolivien, heureusement. Piste toute la nuit, vibrations et bruit insupportables, nous ne fermons pas l’œil de la nuit, encore une fois. Arrivés à Villazon, dans l'extrême sud Bolivien, nous apprenons sur place qu'il n'y a pas de bus direction San Pedro de Atacama, notre prochaine destination. En revanche, un bus peut nous amener à Salta en Argentine, d'où il est à priori possible de ralier San Pedro. Arrivés au terminal pour prendre notre bus, on nous apprend qu'il faut en fait traverser la frontière car celui-ci part côté Argentin. Grosse course contre la montre, avec en bonus une fouille de nos sacs à la frontière, heureusement peu approfondie. Notre premier trajet Argentin est de bonne augure : c'est le retour ... read more
 ça flotte sec !




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