Part 29 Atacama Desert, the "Driest Place on Earth", early March 18

Part 29 The Atacama Desert

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The Atacama Desert is said to be the driest place on earth. Riding across it on a reliable machine seemed safe but one can’t help wonder about being stranded. Which would be worse, a mechanical breakdown here or in Canada’s north during winter? In Canada, there is always snow to drink and fuel to burn for warmth. The desert was foreign, its stark and dangerous beauty fascinating to us. A rare fertile valley in the desert seemed especially lush by contrast.

Camping in Antofagasta with Michael

Riding in the Atacama Desert

The town of San Pedro de Atacama has a pleasant climate. It is far inland and away from the moderating effects of the cold ocean currents.  Its altitude of  2600m  ensures warm days and very cool nights. San Pedro is different in many ways from everywhere else in Chile. Town planners have retained a traditional and charming feel to the place. Adobe structures and narrow dirt streets are filled with tourists during the day. The many coffee shops, bars and restaurants keep the tourists refreshed. Numerous travel agencies selling single and multiple day trips to local attractions keep them busy. Countless hostels and hotels keep them rested and comfortable.

Charming Old World Streets

Very Old Adobe Church

We stayed at the Aji Verde hostel. It has secure parking for the motos, always our first consideration. It is clean, hippie cool and priced well. Gisele runs the place with lots of help from Adrian and others. They also keep the music going in the lobby. 

Gisele 

 Gisele and Adrian at The Aji Verde

Michael rode with us after camping for the night in Antofagasta, on the coast, and joined us at the Aji. We spent three more fun days sharing local activities and the charming town with him.

An early morning visit to the beautiful twin Lakes Miscanti and Miniques began a day in which we saw and moved through much beauty. Despite the lakes sitting at 4100m elevation, the surrounding snow-capped volcanos seemed to tower over them. We walked around the lakes to get different views then the highway took us back north toward San Pedro. That road continued straight for 50 Km along a flat altitude of 2500m. The huge Salar de Atacama (Atacama Salt Flat) spread out on our left and a row of over 20 gigantic volcanos loomed high above our right. There were unrestricted views in every direction.

Well placed Clouds Are a Coincidence

Lago Miniques

We turned left onto a side road that brought us across part of the salar. Once stopped on the salar we discovered that it is quite different from the flat, drivable Salar de Uyuni we had camped on a few months earlier. The Atacama salt has crystallized into a gnarly, inhospitable surface. The salar was fascinating to see. The flamingos enjoyed dining on the tiny molluscs in the briny, multi-coloured ponds. Flamingos start life a light grey colour. The older the bird, the more molluscs it has eaten and the pinker it has become. We saw some of the tiny molluscs swimming in a tank at the interpretation centre.

Salar de Atacama

Flamingo Eats Tiny Molluscs

Desert Village (Toconao) with Stone Houses (not the more common adobe)

Plaza de Armas, Toconao

That evening Michael and I rode out of town and into the “Valley of the Moon” to catch the sunset. The 30 Km road through the valley was reported to be ripio so Isa opted to catch up on some things at the Aji that evening. Michael and I rode through the entire valley to select stopping points for the return trip. It was less than two hours before a sunset best viewed at the place recommended by the park warden. 

We stopped and hiked several of the trails to get better views, making sure we were at the correct spot for the setting of the sun. It was magical and different. Long shadows were cast by spiked rock formations stretching upward, into the warm light. The red sand and rock intensified the colour of the light turning it to burnt orange. Some volcanos of the Andean range were visible on the horizon, far away.

Terry Riding to the Sunset Viewing Trail Head

Lunar Landscape

Red Sand and Rock

Valle de la Luna

We visited active volcanism at Taito where water was heated by lava near the earth’s surface. Water boils at 86 degrees at 4300 meters elevation. Steam hissed from dozens of vents in the ground. Hot water from a stream was directed into outdoor hot spring baths. There were wonderful vistas and photo opportunities throughout the day.

Steam Vents at Taito (at dawn)

At the Tatio Geysers

Heated Stream...

... Feeds Into Thermal Bath

Vicuna Near the Thermal Bath

Wetlands at High Altitude

Village Church, Northern Chile

Llama, Six Days Old

Water is Life in the Desert

We had dinner with Michael and went to the country home of an astronomer named Jose for an evening of star gazing. A group of about a dozen of us sat in a semi-circle of chairs around a telescope in Jose’s back garden. Most people accepted the use of the offered blankets in the cold night air.  Jose expertly set the telescope while giving entertaining descriptions of a new element of the southern sky. We each took a turn looking through the telescope. This organized tour was as fascinating as the one we had taken in the Elqui Valley. Refreshments were served half way through the evening.

Star Gazing

The next morning, we shared a late breakfast with Michael at the hostel. Michael grew up in Germany but has lived in Montreal for twenty years. We really enjoyed sharing time with him and getting to know him a little bit. Hopefully our paths will cross again in the near future. We said goodbye to Michael after breakfast and he headed to La Paz, Bolivia for the next part of his adventure.

Michael 

Michael in Another Adventure

The next couple of days were spent quietly at the hostel. Important tasks like getting the laundry done, renewing southern cone (countries south of Peru) bike insurance and blog writing were mixed with getting to know San Pedro a bit. We also shopped around for a four-day Land Cruiser tour through Bolivia’s, “Parque Nacional Avaroa”. The southernmost part of the park borders with Chile only a forty-five-minute drive from San Pedro. There were blockades along the routes in Bolivia at that time. People wanted better roads in the area. All tours had been suspended. Tour operators were hopeful that the tensions would dissipate soon and the routes would reopen. We had decided to stick around for a few days to find out.

We were interested in seeing the highlights of the park and especially in traveling the famous “Lagunas Route”. This route follows a series of sandy trails along the border with Chile. The trails pass by some of the world’s most remote and beautiful scenery. Riding the Lagunas Route on fully loaded adventure bikes is outside our skill set, indeed outside most people’s skill sets. A Land Cruiser tour promised to get us to these remote and beautiful places with little to no stress – and with no broken bones!

Part 28 Valparaiso to San Pedro de Atacama, early March 18

Part 28 Valparaiso to San Pedro de Atacama

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Cousin Ellen and her husband Mel left Santiago for Canada on Tuesday. They are such warm and caring people. It was great fun getting to know them. We had been visiting altogether at the house of her brother, my cousin Murray and his wife Carmen along with little ones Fernanda and Bruno in Santiago. It was also wonderful to get together with Murray again after more than 20 years.

Murray invited us to stay on until Saturday in order to meet fellow moto travellers, Francisco and Carmen. Francisco is a colleague of Murray’s in the Chilean mining industry. The five of us spent a pleasant evening at the home of Francisco and Carmen. We came away with great travel advice for northern Chile and some maps. On their advice, we added a couple of days in Valparaiso, a visit to the observatories in Vicuna and a visit to the Elqui valley.

Santiago

Santiago Cathedral 

South American Silver 

Downtown Santiago

Finishing our time in Santiago included a great walking tour of the city. The next day we did some strolling around on our own in the crowded downtown. Near the end of the afternoon we discovered that Isabelle’s bag was zipped open and her phone was missing. A little discouraged, we made our way on the subway system back to Murray and Carmen’s house. My iPhone was a generation older than Isabelle’s and hadn’t been used since Ecuador. It immediately stopped being dead weight on my motorcycle and became our primary navigation tool.

Police presence does not stop all pickpockets

Thanks again, Murray and Carmen for your tremendous generosity and welcoming spirit. Isa and I said our goodbyes on Saturday morning and headed west for the port city of Valparaiso. It was a short ride and soon we checked into the “La Joya” hostel. The motto painted on the main staircase is, “We are striving to be the best hostel in South America”. The place certainly was clean and nicely laid out.

We took a thorough walk along the extensive waterfront and northern part of the city. There was a colony of sea lions sunbathing on the remains of a concrete pier. Other port action included the unloading of two huge container ships. Beside the floating giants was anchored the Chilean navy.  

Valparaiso 

Sunbathing Sealions

Valparaiso has experienced hard times, being made essentially redundant by the opening of the Panama Canal but it is showing signs of slow recovery. It is one of the oldest settlements in Chile and was a mandatory port of call for centuries. The country’s seat of government was moved here by the dictator, Pinochet. This economic boost to the previously depressed area (Pinochet grew up in Valparaiso) has attracted tourism and a service industry that each give much needed employment to local residents.

Street Art 

Street Art 

No Building Code 

Funicular 

Walking Tour 

Knobby Hillside

On the way to the next morning’s walking tour, we passed by barricades, mustered riot police and vehicles. Plaza O’Higgins, the Chilean House of the National Congress was around the block from our hostel and the new president was to be sworn in that day. Demonstrations were expected. We returned after 5 that afternoon to find the barricades gone and traffic flowing.

Valparaiso Scenes:

The walking tour was good and brought us through many neighborhoods. The city grew through the centuries in a haphazard manner. There was no city plan for the wild port town. The result is twisted, narrow streets that wind their ways over and around knobby hills covered by houses and buildings that conform to no building code. Here, found materials like corrugated metal from shipping containers combine with adobe bricks to create structures for housing and for businesses.

Valparaiso Street Art:

Valparaiso is famous for its funicular pedestrian elevators along with its street art. It is considered to possess one of the three best collections of outdoor painting in South America. Only Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro and Colombia’s Medellin have street art that rivals that of Valparaiso in both quality and quantity. Here, street “taggers” respect street art and do not deface it. Building owners are thereby encouraged to give permission to artists to display their work. Businesses benefit from a good street painting on their wall by becoming a landmark within the rabbit warren of twisted streets.

Valparaiso Mirador 

Butch Phillips, is that you? 

Valparaiso Harbour

Riding north out of Valparaiso, highway 5 brought us to the beach town called La Serena. We checked into posh camping beside the beach and set things up. An evening walk along a beach that was lined with resorts brought us past the casino and bars. High season was over. It was strange to see a large density of tourism infrastructure completely empty of tourists.

Glamping

From La Serena we rode east, inland to the picturesque town called Vicuna. The sea breeze effect was gone, the cooling Pacific current no longer tempered the strong sun and the mercury rose steadily. This was the place Francisco had recommended. It was away from the Pan Americana highway and astronomy was the attraction. The Atacama Desert is the driest place on earth. The climate combines with high altitude in the Andes mountains to produce the best viewing condition of the heavens, on earth. We booked a tour of the night sky for the next night.

Vicuna Campsite

A van took us up a twisting dirt road that passed through little villages. The van gained about 1500 meters altitude before the driver turned off its headlights for the last section to the Mamalluca observatory. Our guide, Raul led us along a path lined with weak green and red lights. The path led up to and inside the telescope housing. Raul reassured us that the place was built without the use of stairs. The darkness was almost complete on the ramp up to the telescope.

Raul gave a presentation on the constellations visible in the southern hemisphere. He used a green laser pointer to focus our attention on a feature in the sky. The telescope allowed detailed views for each of us in turn. Raul’s passion for astronomy was evident. The tour was fascinating.

The next day we rode through the beautiful and fertile Elqui Valley to the town of Pisco. Extremely dry conditions and strong sun help meticulous vintners produce the potent grapes needed for the distilled potion called pisco. Chile claims that pisco was invented in Pisco, Chile. Peru claims the same fame for the town of Pisco, Peru. Who knows which came first?

Route of the Stars 

Elqui Valley 

Elqui Valley 

Elqui Valley 

Elqui Valley 

Lunch in Pisco 

Pisco Plaza 

Valley Walls View from Pisco

Heavy morning dew drenched our tent in the campground that was surrounded by bone dry pink and yellow hills. Little to no vegetation on the features made visible to us the mineral veins in the exposed bedrock as we rode back toward the Pacific Ocean. It was a hot 30 degrees when we set off that morning. An hour later, the temperature had dropped ten degrees as the waves came into view on the endless beach.

Collecting Solar Power 

Atacama Desert

Riding inland, we were flanked in the desert by many high-tension power lines. We saw wind farms and gigantic solar photovoltaic plants producing the power that was transported to market. Much of the photovoltaic power is consumed by the extensive mines in the north of Chile. The vegetation dwindled from sparse to visibly nothing by the end of the day. We were truly in the Atacama Desert.

 Desert Scene

Life in the Desert

We wild camped among volcanic stones that lay in the gravel and loose rock above a wave battered beach. The sea unleashed its force without relent on the sand and rock below. We heard pounding and thumping all night. A flock of sea birds searched with their beaks in the sand for clams, hoping to add to the piles of discarded shells. We saw scavenger birds too and dolphins in the morning. Behind the beach lay pink and yellow hills that showed few signs of fluvial action. The whole area was like one would imagine as a landscape on Mars.

Watching the Sunset 

Wild Camp Above the Beach 

Red Hills Facing Beach

A slow morning on the beach merged into a switchback climb to 2400 meters by noon. The sky was intensely blue, the sun powerful and the atmosphere was surreal. It’s difficult to describe.  We were back in the highlands and we loved it.

Internet booking had landed us a spot on a tour of the “Very Large Telescope” (VLT) at Mount Paranal, 2635 meters (8645 feet) above sea level in the Atacama Desert. Arriving early in the parking lot outside the security perimeter we met a fellow motoviajero, Michael. He rides a DR650 and lives in Montreal. He grew up in Germany and also speaks fluent English and French. We chatted during the two hour wait.

Very Large Telescope Housing 

Track Mounted Telescopes 

Cars for Scale

The observatory was fascinating.  Considering my brother Rob, I kept notes and took photos. Rob is someone who greatly enjoys astronomy.

Underside of Primary Mirror 

Gigantic Door 

Tiny Secondary Mirror  

8.2 Meter Primary Mirror, Vertical Tertiary Mirror

The facility is the “world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory”. Its proper name is the European Southern Observatory (ESO). European taxes built and staff the facility. An approved research proposal wins an accredited astronomer all expenses paid telescope time. The ESO features four main telescopes with primary mirrors measuring 8.2 meters in diameter. The liquid nitrogen cooled 4 VLT’s can combine their strength with underground mirrors, light tunnels and sophisticated computer driven light delaying to form a virtual telescope called, “The Very Large Telescope Interferometer” (VLTI).

Lobby of  Astronomers' Residence

The VLTI can monitor a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation from ultraviolet to mid-infrared. The site also features four 1.8-meter movable (track mounted) telescopes that can also combine with VLTI technology. The VLT has made a major impact in the field of astronomy, leading to the publication of an average of one peer reviewed paper per day.

The four VLT's 

Observatory from Access Road

After the observatory visit we rode on toward the famous sculpture, “Mano Del Desierto” where we had agreed to meet Michael for photographs. On the way we were struck by two rogue sandstorms. We stopped for the first one as it swept across a wide valley toward us. We braced with both legs, feet on the ground, against the wind. Unable to see, we listened to the sand pelting our helmets for about 15 seconds.  Then all was quiet again. After Patagonia the wind force seemed surprisingly mild.

"Mars"

The Hand of the Desert sculpture was impressive in real life. It was also devoid of tags. Trip research had turned up numerous images of the hand that had been spoiled by graffiti. Michael  was still there, waiting patiently for us. He took our photo. Visiting the Hand of the Desert was an important moment for us, another milestone in our trip.

Mano Del Desierto

During the past few days we had experienced our first return to high altitude in many months. Earlier in the trip, we had slowly reached then lived in the northern highlands near 3000m elevation for about 6 months. This time we had reached that altitude rapidly but still had suffered no bad effects. The three of us rode together to the oceanside city of Antofagasta to camp for the night.

Gas, Coffee Stop with Michael

The next day’s ride brought us up again and inland to the oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama, 2600 meters above sea level. Seemingly lifeless landscapes reinforced our understanding of the absence of any moisture. Canada contains 20% of the world’s surface fresh water. This place was foreign to us. Along the way there was much evidence of the mining industry that brings wealth to Chile. Copper is the most important mineral but lithium contained in the numerous salt flats of the Atacama Desert may prove to be even more lucrative in the future. A mirador at a red valley near San Pedro gave dramatic views.

Wind Farm 

Michael 

Approaching Cordillera Blanca 

Salar de Atacama 

Red Valley 

House Into the Hill 

Red Valley

The town of San Pedro de Atacama has a more Bolivian feel than a Chilean one. There are indigenous people. Dirt streets and adobe structures make up this charming place. People speak more slowly here. It feels familiar and comfortable. It feels good to be back in the highlands.