March 20-22 San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Left. San Pedro de Atacama is a small orange dot towards the north of Chile. Concepcion is at the bottom of the map (left pic) and is near where we disembarked.

We disembarked Le Boreal (our home for the last 2 weeks) at the port of Talcahuano from where we were bused to Concepcion and then flown to Santiago. A short overnight stay at an airport hotel saw us up before dawn again the next day for an early flight to Calama where we were picked up by a representative of Contours (who organised our trip) and driven to San Pedro de Atacama. An exhausting few days with early starts. Not our favourite traveling style but there we were. 

A fascinating trip which took us higher and higher in the desert

And then we arrived in the Atacama Desert which sits at an altitude of 2400-odd metres - higher than Mount Kosciusko. From sea level to 2400 m in less than 24 hours! Did I just say Atacama Desert – callooh callay!!  We were to spend a few days here to help us acclimatise to the altitude –  sadly as it turned out we didn’t aclimatise.  That drive, rising higher and higher into the desert, had us mouths agape for most of the 100-odd km trip. Quite staggering vistas after the lushness of Chilean Patagonia, but as we travelled further east snow-capped mountains of the Andes range as well as volcanoes emerged on the horizon, the biggest being Licancabur. We also passed the Chuquicamata copper mine from which the region gains the majority of its wealth.  

San Pedro de Atacama is located around an oasis in the Atacama Desert: we were to see a number of villages built, almost tumbling, around oases over the next couple of days. There are quite a few attractions in the San Pedro area but we were booked to do only a couple of tours – trying not to wear us out too early as we had a gruelling schedule for the next 11 days at pretty high altitudes; FYI we had started on our anti-altitude pills! 

All was mud brick and low roofs. Many of the dwellings had corrugated tin roofs

The restaurants in the village were quite busy so we were lucky to get a seat

When we arrived it was too early to check-in so we walked into the village for a look-see and to have lunch. Madness really because I was bushed and it was midday and hot. Heat and exhaustion added to altitude issues – not a good combination for me. Nevertheless ….. it was a delightfully quaint village.  

Bottom L water erodes the mud bricks - we saw lots of crumbled walls. Rain is a blessing and curse but there's always lots of mud!

That evening bruised, slatey clouds started to amass on the horizon. It looked gorgeous but not conducive to desert travel. And right on cue down it poured flooding the unsealed desert roads which unsurprisingly were closed the next day – the day of our first tour to the Valley of the Moon. But rain means snow will probably fall on the mountains. And it did and it created a striking backdrop.  We were staying at a quite rustic hotel, Hotel La Casa de Don Tomas under the watchful gaze of the towering Licancabur volcano. In the morning all was washed clean. We spent the day just hanging out in the hotel catching up on pix etc.

The hotel had a good kitchen and breakfasts were fine. Lunches were 'burgers' and the evening meals were an interesting collection of dishes, mostly local foods and they always started with dinky appetisers. I can't believe I didn't get any photos. I mean this is food we're talking about! Shows the state my head was in. Blame it on the altitude.