Category: Chile 2013

It’s our last full day in San Pedro de Atacama. There is no hurry to get out and on the road; we leave about 10am. We had planned to see some petroglyphs but Cris heard the road is closed. So we just take a slow drive (and happily slow walks) close to home. There are interesting… Continue reading Chile trip 5 October 2013

We are off by 6 am for the Geysers del Tatio. We are enjoying (HA!) our dry, tasteless sandwiches on the way up the mountain. We arrive before dawn; it is below freezing; and we are at an elevation of 14,173 feet. Thank god Cris brought sweet, hot coffee. There are 80 active geysers here. It is… Continue reading Chile trip 4 October 2013

We have breakfast entertainment today! The neighbors have peacocks and peahens. One of the males sees his reflection in our dining room window and puts on a full tail display. He also pecks at that other male he sees in front of him (his reflection). It was pretty spectacular. At 10 am we are off to… Continue reading Chile trip 3 October 2013

There are a couple of local items that we have enjoyed at breakfast. Maracuya is a local fruit and the juice is delicious. There is also fresh, sliced Pepino Dulce also known as sweet cucumber. It tastes like a combination of honeydew melon and cucumber. The sweet offerings at breakfast are pretty good but otherwise… Continue reading Chile trip 2 October 2013

1 October At 7am we are on the road to Laguna Cejar and Laguna Tebenquiche located in the Salar de Atacama. The Salar de Atacama, at an elevation of 7,500 feet, is the largest salt flat in Chile. It is surrounded by mountains and has no drainage outlets. To the east it is bounded by… Continue reading Chile trip 1 October 2013

30 September We are up and out by 6:30 to get the sunrise pictures. Our destination is Rainbow Valley (Valle del Arcoiris)–about an hour’s drive. Rainbow Valley is a series of hills that display countless colors as a result of the minerals in the rock and soil. Prolific copper reserves result in incredible shades of green. Iron… Continue reading Chile trip 30 September 2013

29 September 2013 We have a long peaceful sleep and we are ready to start our trip to the Atacama Desert. We meet up with Rex at breakfast; he arrived at the hotel late last night. It is really nice to see him. Rex headed up our photography trip to Patagonia in April 2012. This… Continue reading Chile trip 29 September 2013

Here we are in Santiago, Chile! And the Santiago we find now is very different from the Santiago we visited in April 2012. The “old” Santiago was crowded, uninteresting, and devoid of restaurants and interesting sites. This “new” Santiago has parks; neat restaurants; and great crowds of people walking, talking, biking–it is exciting and lovely.… Continue reading Chile trip 28 September 2013