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 the Puritama Hot Springs. What a lovely place! There are several pools and a few waterfalls. Rex brought his suit so his “dives” in. We dangle our feet and watch the tiny fish swim around our legs. The water is warm; not hot. It feels good while you are in the water but the winds are up and you are chilled to the bone until you dry off.
We see the prettiest birds: Black Hooded Sierra finches. They clearly are used to handouts from visitors here but not from us! We also see a Plain Breasted Earthcreeper and what looks like a coot. Although Cris says the coots are not in this area.
Cris joins us for lunch at La Casona. We want to sample more traditional dishes. Need I say that I start with a Pisco Sour?! The guys have the local beer. Howard and I have Pastel de Jaiba. Cris explains that you take bread and soak it overnight in milk. Then mix with crab and cheese and bake! Rex says the black clay serving dish is also traditional–it keeps the food warm while you eat it. Cris has a traditional dish that Rex calls “a heart attack on a plate.” It’s french fries topped with a steak topped with 2 fried eggs. We enjoyed that dish the last time we were in Chile.
We’re looking for local pottery and Cris has a friend that he says is an amazing artisan. One of the downtown restaurants has her pottery on display so we go see it. It’s beautiful! (http://www.ceramicalamano.cl/) So Cris is on a mission to set up a meeting time in her studio.
For sunset pictures we drive back to the Salar de Atacama but this time we go to Laguna Chaxa. The guys are hoping to get photos of the flamingos with the setting sun reflecting on their feathers. Again the flamingos are not in abundance and are not happy to be close to us. There are other shore birds: plovers, Andean gulls and avocets. I am lucky to see a small lizard that is only found in this salt flat: Fabian’s Lizard. It has a beautiful beaded pattern.
We are still full from our great lunch and It’s an early start tomorrow. So off we go to dreamland!