San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, Nov. 28-29, 2021

Tony Crocker

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On Nov. 29 we flew from Santiago to Colama, where our driver Victor and guide Fabiana drove us to San Pedro de Atacama. There was a dust devil just at the entrance to town.

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San Pedro is fairly close to the Bolivian border at 8,200 feet. The summer is the busiest tourist season, though nearly all Chileans from Santiago in the current era. Summer high temps are in low 80'sF and lows in low 50's. The surrounding area is about as barren as Death Valley but not a complete moonscape like I've seen in the Sinai and parts of the Sahara. San Pedro averages 3 inches of rain per year, with about 1/3 of that in February, coming over the Andes from Bolivia. The "driest desert in the world" part of the Atacama is between the highlands and the coast.

The eclipse travel agency TEI put together the Atacama itinerary in late October once we knew Chile would be open to tourism without extensive quarantine. This was passed through two layers of travel companies in Chile before landing in the hands of our capable local guide Fabiana. The Atacama region had successfully isolated itself from Chile's winter COVID outbreaks in winters of 2020 and 2021, so many indigenous communities are still reluctant to have tourists. Fortunately Fabiola found excellent alternatives so we were not shortchanged.

The afternoon of Nov. 28 we went farther from town than the Moon Valley in the Salt Mountains. We had viewpoints of similar topography.

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This was the first place we saw guanacos since Torres del Paine a decade ago.

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We found other groups waiting to get pictures of an abandoned bus in front of a salt encrusted dome.

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In a secluded area we could hear the salt crystals cracking within the rock.

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We finished up with a sunset picnic.

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I thought other eclipse chasers might be interested in the Atacama tour but only longtime TEI Travel customers John and Judy signed up.

On the morning of Nov. 29 we drove an hour to Laguna Baltanache which had extreme buoyancy and perhaps better colors than the salt pool closer to town that was closed.

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The symmetric 19,404 foot Licancabur volcano is nearly always in view around San Pedro.

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Liz and I took a dip.

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John and I checked out a smaller pool near the parking.

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The buoyancy was fun but needed to wash off the thick salt deposits when we got back to the hotel.

The original afternoon hike was not available so Fabiola had 3 alternatives and we chose Rainbow Valley. This was a lengthy drive near the town of Rio Grande, then diverting up stream to a side valley with rocks of the multiple colors advertised. First view with guanaco near the base:

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We parked here.

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We got out for a mostly leisurely walk at around 10,700 feet.

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Fabiola knew where to get pics of the multiple colored rocks most effectively.

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This elevation range was also favored by the Mother-in-Law's Cushion cactus.

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Back in San Pedro we found the meteorite museum.

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The Atacama is one of the best places in the word to find them.

Inside of San Pedro's church:

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Many Chilean dogs are among the world's most privileged. They roam freely during the day and go home at night. In 2007 we had observed this even in cities like Puerto Montt where they hung out near the fish market.
 
Interesting! Thanks for sharing. You caused me to look up guanaco on wiki. They live off of succulent plants and get little to no liquid water.
 
The surrounding area is about as barren as Death Valley but not a complete moonscape like I've seen in the Sinai and parts of the Sahara. (...) The "driest desert in the world" part of the Atacama is between the highlands and the coast.
I know virtually nothing about South America, so these reports are useful/entertaining to an armchair traveler like me who is unlikely to do extensive traveling there in this lifetime.
 
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