The Atacama Desert

After a two-day drive across the Andes and the high Altiplano, we arrived on 13^th March in the small town of San Pedro de Atacama, a little oasis next to the Atacama Desert in Chile.  The Atacama Desert is reputedly the driest desert on earth and contains areas where no rainfall has been recorded, ever.

Crossing the Altiplano to San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama is hot and dusty, all the buildings are adobe with mud roofs so it obviously doesn’t rain very much, or it would all wash away.  Every other building on the main street is a tour operator offering tours to the surrounding area, there are numerous restaurants and plenty of shops selling artisan stuff which may or may not have been made in China.  The whole effect however is delightful, and we found a lovely cabana on the edge of town where we stayed for five days.

The landscape around San Pedro comprises vast, desolate plains surrounded by volcanoes and some beautiful lakes and most of our excursions involved driving anything up to 120 km each way.  The one which was closest, only a few kilometres drive, was in fact the most spectacular.  The Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) really lived up to its name.  

Valley of the Moon with snow-capped peaks beyond

Eroded strata - Valley of the Moon

Apparently, the most popular time to visit the Valle de la Luna is at sunset when the colours are at their best, but this would have meant sharing the view with a multitude of other tourists, so we opted to visit in the afternoon when we managed to have the place virtually to ourselves.

The place where we chose to walk was called the Valley of the Dunes and there was a path leading up past a mighty big dune that would have done credit to the Persian Gulf.  

Sand dune - Valley of the Moon

The track wound on up to the spine of a ridge of rock and after about ¾ mile we came out onto the top of the ridge where the only other occupants were a charming couple of Chileans.  We exchanged pleasantries, we took photographs of them and they took photographs of us and then they left us in peace.  

Climbing the dusty track - Valley of the Moon

Erosion Gully

The top of the ridge

General Erosion

Erosion gully

We sat for a while in this wild and desolate lunar landscape with jagged rocks, deep ravines, a multitude of shapes and formations, with the far distant view of the snow-capped Andes.  We took our leave just as we saw the hordes of tourists starting to arrive, forming crocodiles behind their tour guides.  Perfect timing!

Welcome rest

It was a very dusty track

The 'Three Marias' - Valley of the Moon

Wind blasted rock - Valley of the Moon

One of our excursions took as to the remote village of Rio Grande which had the most gorgeous little adobe church with a thatched roof and a collection of adobe houses.

Lunch stop - Rio Grande

Adobe church - Rio Grande

Village Street - Rio Grande

Llama and friend - Rio Grande

On the way back from Rio Grande, we took a detour to an area known as Rainbow Valley which had a series of very strange rock formations.  Whilst the colours were not anything like as stunning as those we saw at Hornocal in Northern Argentina, the standing columns and eroded pillars of rock were still quite spectacular.

The track to rainbow Valley

Rainbow Valley

Eroded rocks - Rainbow Valley

Cliffs dwarfing Lucy - Rainbow Valley

Saline Stream - Rainbow Valley

Rough going - Rainbow Valley

Young llamas at play - Rainbow Valley

Petroglyph on the road back from Rainbow Valley

On another day we drove 120 kilometres to two lagoons high up in the Altiplano which we both decided were rather disappointing.  The lagoons themselves were attractive, a beautiful deep blue apart from where they were reflecting the snow-capped volcano where they were a deep green.  There was no vegetation and no wild-life apart from a few ducks near the water’s edge which we couldn’t get near because the paths were restricted.  There were however several tourist buses which also meant the usual infestation of tourists.

Really interesting road across the Atacama Desert

Laguna Miniques - Altiplano

Vicunas on the Altiplano

The day was saved when we stopped off at another lagoon on the way back which had a few flamingos and Alan managed to get a couple of decent photographs.  He has been missing his birds!

Chilean Flamingo - Salar de Atacama

Flamingo - Salar de Atacama

After a stay of just a week we decided to set off for the Bolivian border, there being nothing else of particular interest to us in Northern Chile.  We had one overnight stop in an unremarkable town and then started our ascent of the Andes for the second time in just over a week.

There were no hair pin bends, no dramatic scenery, just a long and steady climb on good tarmac that went on for some 200 km. There were a few smoking volcanoes, more salt flats and very little else.  The very little else seemed to go on for miles and miles.  Our altimeter read 3,800 metres when we finally reached the border.  

The road to the Andes

Salt flats on the road to the Andes

We sailed through the Chilean Border Control in about five minutes but when we got to the Bolivian Border Control we were told that they’d all gone for lunch and wouldn’t reopen for an hour.  Practical as always, Sue remarked, “Well, we’ve got to have lunch somewhere” so we had it there.

Lunch stop at the Bolivian border

Effect of high altitude on a packet of crisps

Once over the border the road changed, unsurprisingly, from tarmac to dirt although most of it was good dirt.  We were treated to a landscape of more salt flats, fields of tortured rocks but, as we were now in Bolivia, there was no descent, just a continuation of the very high Altiplano which makes up much of this country.

Wind sculpted rocks by the side of the road

Llama on the Altiplano

Another llama

Group of llamas

Late in the afternoon we finally reached habitation at the little village of San Cristobal where the only hotel was closed for renovation.  We did, however, find a perfectly decent hostel with private room and bathroom for £15 a night!  San Cristobal appeared very traditional, most of the women were sporting long pigtails, frilly skirts and bowler hats, but none of them was prepared to let Alan take their photograph.  

There was no WiFi anywhere so far as we could tell so the publishing of this post has been delayed until today, 21^st March, where we have reached the town of Uyuni and civilisation!