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Thursday, February 13, 2014

San Pedro de Atacama

Arriving in northern Chile to a desert with an altitude over 2438m, from sea level on Easter Island  where it rains daily is definitely a shock!  I would recommend that people end a trip to Chile on Easter Island and try to visit cooler areas together.

Rested during the afternoon and drank Coca Tea to stabilize ourselves to the elevation gain.  The day time temperature is considered extreme on the meter outside of the Museum.  I heard it was around 40C during the hottest part of the day.  Our hotel room is an Adobe structure and it is surprising cool.  We don't need air conditioning as the evening temperature drops to around 12C.

One our first evening we attend an Astronomy presentation by the company SPACE in the middle of the desert.  The constellations are unbelievably clear.  This area is one of the best places for astronomy as there are over 340 clear evenings.  Not a shock since they get less than 100mm of rain per year.  We learned about the southern hemisphere stars, what people thought in the past and were able to very a variety of constellations through the telescopes.  Our highlight was seeing Jupiter and the three moons in Jupiter's orbit.   Check out the information on the ALMA project which Canada is involved in supporting.

It is also worth a visit to Museo Gustavo Le Paige.  This museum is a collection of artifacts representing the lives of the inhabitants in this area prior to the Spanish influence.  The displays provide excellent information in English and Spanish.  Below is one of the gold artifacts from the Inca period.  The area around San Pedro de Atacama is the farthest southern point that the Inca ruled along the Andes between 1450 AD to 1810 AD.

Inca Gold Cup

The next tour is to Lunar Valley for sunset.  The valley has an snow white appearance because of the salt and other minerals that have leached through the ground.  This area in Chile was a seabed at one time and is rick in fossils and minerals.   This tour ended with viewing sunset and the changing colours on the Andes Mountains while drinking Carmenere Wine and eating cheese.


The three Marias with a white layer of salt.




Our second tour had us being picked up at 5:00 AM for a 1 1/2 hour ride to the Geysers to see sunrise over the Andes.  This area the elevation is 4,200 M above sea level.  You need to be careful as the elevation can give people mild elevation sickness.   We were recommended not to drink alcohol the night before and eat a lighter meal not red meat.  The road up to this area is quite windy in places and all you see on the drive up is the red tail lights of other vehicles winding their way up the valley.

Once at the geysers the guide reminds us not to touch the water as it is boiling at 89C and to walk slowly so that you do not feel the elevation.  Even with taking these precautions Bill felt the affects of the elevation.  I even had him drinking Coca Tea to try and reduce what he would feel.  This geyser field is known for being the highest elevation in the world.



The geysers have a wonderful display of steam in the morning that is wye the tour is set for sunrise.  Later in the day there is no steam as the valley warms up.  When we arrived it was 0C which was warmer that what were where told.  They had told us to be prepared for -15C.  None of the geysers shoot up like Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park in the US but you can walk around the area freely and they even have a primitive hot pool if you are brave enough to take a dip.


The colours come from different bacteria that lives in the geysers.  Current research is trying to link this bacteria to the bacteria that started life on earth.
On the way back to town the drive is spectacular for the wildlife and scenery.

Wild Vicuna which are camelids that are the first version of camels.

Meals in town are excellent.  Even though the town is constructed of adobe bricks and looks a little rustic the food has been exceptional.  Because we are in the desert and the evenings can be cool restaurants often have fire pits like this one in the Adobe restaurant on main street.  Which means you can leave smelling very smoky.



Our last tour is of the Salt Flats and Laguna where the flamingos nest.  The salt flats produce a salt that has clay in it so it is not used for human consumption.  Have you ever wondered were our road salt comes from?


There are three types of flamingos that nest in this area they are the Chilean, James and Peruvian Flamingo.  The James and Peruvian are only found at higher elevations while the Chilean Flamingo is found in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.  We also saw the Chilean Flamingo in El Calafate, Argentina.


What a great time in San Pedro de Atacama but it's time to leave and head back to temperatures below -25 C.  What a shock both culturally and temperature wise.

Touring Chile was a wonderful experience.  We certainly needed more time and southern Chile would be a great area to visit.  The southern fiords, Torres del Paine, the Monumento Natural Los Pinguinos in Patagonia and the Lake District are still on our list to see.  Chile has a lot to offer in sights and great wine.  Good bye for now!



 




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