this day started SUPER early at 3:00am . . . yeah. i woke up with a headache. quizas una combinacion del sol y la altitud del dia antes??? we were packed up and ready to go at 4am, got on the van, and drove 2 hours to our destination: el Tatio y los geiseres. it was FREEZING!!!!!!!! like -12 degrees Celsius which is like 10 degrees Fahrenheit. that is cold. especially for a southerner. i was wearing shorts (to swim in the thermal later), windbreaker type pants, and my jeans on the bottom and, on the top, a cami, short sleeve and long sleeve shirt, a fleece, my northface, and my pink windbreaker jacket. i was also wearing gloves and thick socks and i was still freezing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there was a geyser there that had been made by a pipe eruption 3 days before. it is in some of my pictures and you can tell it is man made because it shoots up perfectly without stopping and it was very loud (but you cant tell that from the pic obviously, but it sounds like a train). they are trying to harness geothermal energy - which would be perfect if they could do it - but there is tension too that it might affect the pressure and naturaleza in the park where we were.
there were 2 natural geysers that we saw that follow a 12-16min pattern of erupting. but all on the groud were little pot holes with boiling water! it was soooo cool! you really had to watch where you were going because that water was hot! we had breakfast here too....same as the 2 days before. It is called El Tatio because there is an outline of a man lying down in the mountain - his face, stomach, and feet - and they say he is the grandfather of Christ and that the geysers and water are his tears. interesting.
we then went to bathe in a hot thermal! so fun. by this time the weather had warmed up a bit, which was good. we were able to get into the thermal without freezing to death! but getting out wasnt fun. the water was scalding hot in places and cold in others. it was amazing.
we then started on our way back to San Pedro. we paused to take pictures of the vicunas that were outside our van. vicunas are like a cross between a dear and a llama. they are illegal to hunt because they are an endangered specie and there fur is worth $800USD per kilo. wow! next we stopped at a lake to take pictures - there is a picture of one of the patos making a nest! still very cold - the wind will get you! then we stopped to see more LLAMAS!!!!!!!!! i was even closer this time and i am kicking myself now that i didn't try to pet one. one had earrings and bows in its hair! and there were standing in a little river thing that was half frozen. i love these pictures!
finalmente, we stopped at a cactus reserve. these cacti have to be where there is humidity because they only absorb water through their prickles and not their roots. these cacti only grow 1cm per year. so i took a pic with one that was over 7m tall, so it was over 700 years old! crazy. we were given free time to explore after we were walked down to a waterfall, so i kept climbing down and it was so fun! i kept going down until i made it to this amazing oasis thing and then had to quickly rush back to the van. doable high adventure. my cup of tea :) it is also wierd to think that this is in the desert. i dont really understand it. here is a map of region II in chile, which is the desert of Atacama. so, yes, all of the lagunas and salar y todo esta en el desierto. i circled the city of Calama where we flew into and also la ciudad de San Pedro de Atacama. i underlined the places on the map that we went, but there are more too that just aren't on the map.
we got back at 1:30. had lunch and went back to the hostal to finish packing up and the hostal man drove us to the bus stop at 4pm. i left my stuff with some girls and then headed into town to go to the museum and do some last minute shopping. bought a magnet for my family and some cool copper earrings. we then embarked on our long journey home...bus ride to Calama (crazy ride - i thought the bus was going to break down it was doing such funny things), taxi to airport, flight home, van ride from Santiago to the house!!! got home at 3:10am and my family is so sweet!!!! my mom had put a thermos of hot water and coffee in my room with a pancito de ave y palta. i love my family! mind you too that i had been up since 3am the day before!!!!
funny story: in Calama, before we took our taxis to the airport we went to a nearby grocery store to buy food for dinner. i bought some wheaty crackers and wanted some turkey to go with them...but chile does not sell prepackaged turkey, so i took a number and waited in line to order my pechuga de pavo. when i talked to the lady i said "cincuenta gramos de pechuga cocinada de pavo" and she looked at me like i was crazy.....she was like "cincuenta gramos de pavo"at least that is what i THOUGHT she was saying, but no. she scampered away and came back like 2 whole minutes later carrying 3 WHOLE turkey breasts in her arms!!!!!! i was like NO NO NO quiero un pocito! i have no i dea what she thought i said. she was like, i thought you said cinco lamos.....but i have no idea what she was actually saying. anyways, i ended up with a nice 6 slices of turkey approx. 100 grams. oh dear! and fortunately Colleens was there to watch all of this happen and laugh at me and never let me forget it. we then our food at the airport. the airport is so small - you have to walk out to the plane - that security only opens at certain times like 45 mins before the flight. so we sat outside of security and ate.
San Pedro de Atacama y el desierto de Atacama = a trip that everyone should take. it was amazing.
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