We started the new year traveling to the destination Paul and I longed to visit, Chile. While we hoped to explore right away our bodies had other plans. We needed rest and sleep. We decided to stay a week leisurely exploring Santiago. We eagerly used the our time to catch up on sleep, work, and self-reflection. The weather in Santiago was just right. It felt a bit like a Colorado summer, warm with pleasantly dry air. It was perfect for hikes, lounging at parks, delicious patio meals. It was the perfect way to embrace a new country full of beauty and fascinating sites.
With refreshed minds our adventurous souls bounced back in time to embark on a surreal experience in San Pedro the Atacama. After an early flight to nearby city of Calama we shuttled to the quaint and arid town of San Pedro. Along the way, the dry desert brought us memories of home but with a unique twist. This desert is much more extreme and it felt like being in another planet. We couldn’t help but compare it to what we imagine Mars to be. At one point I even sensed similarities to Tatooine from Star Wars. The vibes in San Pedro were instantly magical. I know this will sound totally bizarre, and I continue to reflect on this feeling even weeks later, but I felt a strong energy reverberating from the ground. Silly I know, but have to visit it to understand. In town we met wonderful artisans, musicians, and tour guides that added to the mystique. We especially loved hearing their stories and their deep connections to the Andes and their ancestors. During each of our tours we honored Pacha Mamá (Mother Earth) by pouring a bit of Pisco on the ground as gratitude. We also learned about the Andean traders that used llamas to bring goods over the mountain range. Perhaps it was a collection of everything; the landscapes, the minerals, the salinity of the soil, the people and their love that invoked a deep feeling — an “energy” — that makes this place out of this world.
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| A collection of turquoise and various other stones in Don Fernandos Pottery Studio |
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A trio of charismatic musicians that played some inspiring Andean folk tunes.
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| Meteorite museum domes |
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| Don Fernando Alfaro owns a local pottery studio that centers on Indigenous preservation. His work has been featured featured in Pier 1 Imports as fair trade products. He’s planning a pottery expo in collaboration with the Purépecha in Michoacán Mexico in April. |
Night Constellation Tour
On our first night, we plunged into adventure and curiosity and opted for a midnight constellation tour of the sky. Although we already held high hopes, observing that many stars in the night sky easily surpassed our imaginable expectations. It was astonishing to witness pristine night sky and a vast scattering of constellations. It was our first time seeing so many stars with our naked eye. Even more, our guide, Margo, had several telescopes where we observed nebulas, Jupiter’s stripes, and other cosmic sites likes the Magellan Dwarf Galaxies and the Southern Cross which are only observable from the Southern Hemisphere. Our adoration and awe for the night sky grew10-fold all thanks to this experience.
Valle de Luna and Laguna Cejar
The following day we took a tour to the heart of the desert where we entered Valley of the Moon and dipped our bodies in Laguna Cejar, a close contender to the salty Dead Sea. With similar salinity levels of 25%, it was fun challenge to try and sink. It was a tough task that was hilariously captured by our GoPro and we’ll post it online someday. I especially loved Paul’s determination. Immediately after leaving the water the salt caked and baked into our clothes resulting in several loads of laundry. We learned the salt comes from the erosion of two mountain ranges depositing minerals on the low-valley. We were even surprised to see the salt flats since I thought they only existed in Uyuni, Bolivia. Not only were the salt flats and lakes remarkable, the color of the slot canyons were also unreal. We rented bikes and explored the canyon walls through a labyrinth of dusty and colorful rock formations.
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| Volcanoes and miles and miles of dry land |
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| Entry point to Laguna Cejar |
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| Photo of the salt flats. Did you know there is an entire ecosystems of extremophiles in this area? Pretty cool stuff! |
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| Exploring the slot canyon |
Geysers El Tatio
Our last day in Atacama started at 4:00 am. We woke to a quiet moonlight morning and headed to the Geysers el Tatio. The area is a collection of geysers clustered on a large caldera. It looks like Yellowstone but in the desert. Even though the desert can get hot, early dawn can be very frigid. With freezing temperatures around we were so glad to have brought our “winter” gear with us. The bone dry cold definitely didn’t make us miss Colorado winters. Nonetheless the views and the geysers were quite impressive. On the bus ride back from the Geysers we admired the vastness of the desert and even caught a glimpse of Bolivia in the distance. Mesmerized by valleys, mountains, guanacos and vicuñas we felt humbled by the opportunity to travel to this unique ecosystem.
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| Sunrise at Tatio |
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| Cluster of geysers |
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| Beautiful wetlands in the middle of the desert. |
