Map of the San Pedro de Atacama Region of the Atacama Desert - Blue labels indicate the places we visited
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Mon., 1/21/19 - Sun., 1/25/19 - Tucson to Denver to Santiago, Chile
We winterized the camper (emptied tanks, put in pink fluid, closed the slide, etc.) and drove the car to Tucson to spend the night at the LaQuinta hotel near the airport. While sitting in our room I got 3 text messages from United: 1 - your flight to Denver has been cancelled; 2 - we rebooked you on an afternoon flight; 3 - check online for your new boarding pass. This change did not matter much. We just had a more leisurely morning and less time to visit in Denver. By the time we arrived in Denver on Tuesday, the morning snow had all but disappeared. On Wednesday we spent the afternoon at IKEA where we found curtain and drape rods and panels and walk-in-closet shelving we may want for our new house. We had dinner at BonAmi (crepes!) with Lisa, Stella, Karl and Deb.
On Saturday, it snowed again for our drive to the airport. The roads were slushy, slippery, and not nice. We flew United to Houston, spent the 5- hour layover in a United Club Lounge (nice) and flew 10 PM to 10 AM (or 7 AM Mountain Time) to Santiago, Chile, arriving on Sunday morning. It was 9 hours in the air but we only crossed 3 time zones. After arriving at our hotel (the Almagro), we mostly rested, took a little walk, and had a nice dinner at the hotel.
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Flag of Chile
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Chilean License Plate |
Mon., 1/26/19 - Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama
We had breakfast at the hotel and then left one suit case in storage at the hotel and took the shuttle to the airport to fly north to Calama for our adventure in the Atacama Desert. It is about 60 miles from Calama to the tourist town of San Pedro de Atacama which is where the desert tours originate. A driver met us and a couple from Hawaii and drove us to our hotels in San Pedro de Atacama. We arrived at Hotel don Tomas at 4 PM and the driver informed us we would be picked up for a tour at 4:30. This was a change from our original itinerary but we checked in, dumped our knapsacks on the bed, and filled them with what we thought we might need on our excursion.
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Wind turbine and huge sand dune
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Mt. Licancabur - 19,408 feet |
Our hotel in San Pedro de Atacama
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At 4:30 a van arrived, with a driver and an “English” speaking guide, "Mike,” to pick up nine of us to go to the Valley of Death and
the Valley of the Moon (Valle de Luna). A sand storm came up and the latter was closed so we went to overlook the Chilean Valley of Death. There are different theories on how this extremely dry “valley” of red rock formations got its name. The one that made some sense is that as trade goods were moved both from west to east and east to west across the high Andes,
many of the pack animals, donkeys burros, and llamas, perished in the severe conditions and their bones littered the area. We could look around at blowing sand and lightening and thunder but were only affected by the wind. We watched a group of sand-boarders in the distance sliding down a sand hill. These hills are only on one side of a rocky ridge and are not like dunes we have seen in many areas where the peaks shift and sand slides down both sides. |
Valley of Death |
Hiking up to "sandboard" down the dune
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Valley of Death
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Valley of Death - San Pedro de Atacama beyond |
Valley of Death - San Pedro de Atacama beyond
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Our driver next took us to an overlook of the Valley of the Moon. The barren formations were built by wind and water over millions of years. The breadth and depth of the area is hard to show in pictures. This is an area that must be seen and experienced.
The sand storm abated and we were now able to enter the National Park. We drove several kms to the end of the road and got out to look at “The Three Mary’s” and “T-Rex,” rocky sculptures formed and left standing by the wind. |
Valley of the Moon |
Monument
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Three Marys on the right and T-Rex on the left - use your imagination |
Valley of the Moon
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Valley of the Moon
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We stopped and walked a short path up to a halite (salt - sodium chloride) mine. When you put an ear to the rock surface you can hear the crystal structures pop and crackle inside the rock. Blocks of the rock were cut out and loaded into trucks to be processed somewhere else.
We looked at another salt mine and then walked a path between the impressive cliffs and walls and structures. It was like (supposedly) walking on the moon. A prototype for a Mars rover was tested there by scientists because of the valley's dry and forbidding terrains.
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Former Halite mine
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Halite - these look very much like the formations you see in caves |
Halite |
Halite
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Valley of the Moon
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Valley of the Moon |
Valley of the Moon
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Next we were driven to a plateau to watch the sunset (8:30) over the Kino Mountains. Our driver set up a table with cheese (Gouda), chili pepper or teriyaki dip, and a Chilean red wine (Carmenere) or mango juice. We waited for the sun to set behind the Kino Mountain but the sky was too cloudy for any magnificent colors. The wine, cheese, and juice were good.
Sunset drink and snack
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A Saltbush - It’s roots can soak up saltwater and expire the salt through its leaves. The leaves taste of salt.
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Riki-Riki or turpentine bush. The leaves smell like turpentine when rubbed between the fingers. |
Sunset
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Sunset |
We got back to the hotel at 9:27 and our restaurant closed at 9:30. They still served us a tasty, thick squash soup that passed as dinner. It was a very long day.