Atacama

---

As we flew north from Valparaiso the Andes were on our right and the Pacific was on our left. As the Andes turned inland we did too and followed the mountains north for about 200 miles. On our left the green disappeared and was replaced by red/brown and red/orange, the color of the desert. Every so often there was a small village and square ponds of fluorescent green looking liquid, looking incredibly out of place. These were the copper and Lithium mines which are the most important industries for all of Chile. Aside from that, the scenery was spectacular. A small strip of grey green trees, scrubby and thorny appeared on the left side of the plane and we landed nearby. The town is called San Pedro de Atacama and it lies pretty much in the middle of the Atacama desert, the driest place on earth. We are only 40 km from the Bolivian border and not far from Peru. We were greeted by our guide, Joel, pronounced something like ho-well, but one syllable. He's an indigenous young man, from a village not far from here. We were surprised because our guide from the south said these folks really exist anymore in Chile. His English is ok. He is schooled in the geology of the area, not much else. Fortunately, the sites speak for themselves.

Our hotel is wonderful; one story, designed to blend into the red rock valley into which it is nestled. Water comes from a well that draws very salty water and then treated through reverse osmosis making it usable. Our casita is spacious with an outdoor shower and views of the mountains. The hotel has 42 casitas, 4 small pools, a spa, and a very good restaurant. More on that later. The weather is perfect; 50 degrees in the morning going up to the mid 70s in the late afternoon. The sky is crystal clear, deep blue with just a few gorgeous clouds that drift across in the afternoon. It is so dry though, like nothing we've ever experienced, and at 8,500 ft ASL, sleeping last night was challenging.

At 4:30 yesterday afternoon we left the hotel and headed into the desert. On the way we stopped in "town" to pick up sun screen. San Pedro is a city of 6,000 people, most of whom are employed in the copper mine 30 km away. The rest are in tourism. There is a huge police presence. Chile's relations with Bolivia are not good. They argue over land in this area as Chile's border, set in a war in the early 20th century, land-locks Bolivia. Bolivia wants their corridor to the Pacific back. San Pedro seems to be ready for an invasion across the Andes. I find that unlikely but what do I know? There is also a bit of a cocaine problem here. Traffickers can walk across the 15,000 foot border to sell their wares in town. There is a main square with 10 ft wide dirt roads branching out from it. Along two of the main roads there are shops, 6 X 8 foot stalls made of adobe with tin roofs. There is underground electricity to most of them and we bought sun screen at a very modern looking pharmacy. Fran perked up at the town. She saw a wealth of photo opportunities and this morning (I'm writing on day 2 in Atacama) she's heading back by herself to see and shoot.

After that interlude we drove about 15 minutes to the Moon Valley, aptly named, at least from photos that we've all seen. I'm going to have a very hard time describing the beauty of this desert. There is nothing green, nothing, not a tree or a shrub or a blade of grass. The rocks are made of clay and gypsum and quartz and salt and a host of other minerals of various shades of blue, green and red. There are a few lizards that live here, some flies, but no birds. The formations are in every color of red with a bright white coating in some places. In areas it looks like a snow field in the middle of the craggy red rocks. The white is unusual and in a few months, most of the white will be gone. The rains last month soaked the ground, leaching the salt to the surface and when the water evaporated it left a coating of salt and salt crystals. The salt is just white. The crystals are like diamonds in the sun. Soon they will be blown away by the constant 20 - 30 mph winds that snake through the valleys. Below some of the higher ridges were vast dunes of dark volcanic sand. People come from all over to sandboard down the dunes. We walked up to the top of a ridge through the volcanic sand and salt. It was not an easy walk. At each few steps there was another visual perspective. We'd look to the left or the right or behind us and the topography seemed to change. What was a flat red rock wall became an undulating formation of layers and layers of different deposits, of different hues, as if the earth below had risen up in a wave like manner over millions of years. And that's exactly what happened, or so says Joel, and he should know I guess. As sundown approached the colors changed, subtly, slowly, until the reds went to pinks and the whites changed to grays then disappeared and what was left was a view of the Andes, pink rock rising to snow caps. We've never been anywhere like this. I promised Fran that for this blog entry, I'd use her real photos, not just our snapshots.

Now, finally for this entry, as promised, the restaurant at the hotel. Fran loves everything on the menu. I am challenged. I would not be alone in that. I'm thinking of Gary Corr, Brad Corr, Brian Good and Dave Gershon particularly. Vegetables, vegetables, and more vegetables, all mixed together either in a timbale or just all over the plate, dominating everything. Fruit, fruit and more fruit. Stuff made from cactus. Meats cooked in fruity sauces. Quinoa! Lots of quinoa. Cactus ice cream. But lest you worry, I'm sure I won't starve. Fran and I sure eat differently. She loves all this stuff, except maybe the cactus ice cream which out of desperation, I ordered and she tasted. It tastes a little bit like you would imagine ice cream to taste if it wasn't vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or any berry, or any citrus fruit or any flavor of any intensity for that matter. But those thorns . . .

---

Comments

[Tom Drum]

Great Descriptions
Hi David & Fran, With your descriptions and pictures, sometimes I feel like I am a backpack along for the trip, everywhere!!! It sounds like you are having a wonderful time, and I hope you continue to do so! Keep it coming! With Love & Respect, Tom & Carolyn