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

Part 29 The Atacama Desert

(Click on a photo to enlarge it)

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!