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 ruins on a hill (Pukara de Quitor) that we view from the road. We are surprised to see California Quails! Then we drive up a somewhat treacherous dirt road for some interesting pictures of the hills–the erosion patterns are really neat. There are HUGE holes in the road. Cris says he can see the Chinese in those holes!
Next stop is an interesting canyon where we see a barn owl’s nesting area but no owl. We pass a picturesque little church but we must take pictures from afar because No Trespassing signs have recently been posted.
Cris takes us to a French Bakery and we are mad that he has not showed us where it was before! The croissants are amazing! Rex and I get the chocolate ones and Howard and Cris get the Serrano Ham and cheese. The bread looks crusty and luscious but since it’s our last day we don’t buy any.
We drive into town and suddenly the car is being chased by a barking dog. It’s Cris’s pooch. She is so cute! She was a street dog when Cris found her–or when she found him. He has nursed her through cancer treatment but she is fine now. Cris’s beautiful girlfriend, Kresne, had been walking the dog when she saw Cris and escaped. It was really a sight to see the doggie playfully jump all around Cris. We get to meet Kresne and invite her, Cris and Rex to dinner that night.
We need to get some money! Cris takes us to every ATM in town with only a small amount of luck: I am able to get $20 at a time so I insert my card 5 times. I end up with a wad of 50 small denomination bills but at least I have cash.
We visit Cris’s potter friend. Her studio is on a dirt road well off the main highway. She does amazing work but her collection is limited because she is renovating her kiln. She has lovely large pieces but we need to keep it small so we can hand carry it back. We settle on a pot depicting the seed pod from an Algarrobo tree. Those trees have the narliest, most picturesque trunks. We have passed a lovely specimen several times and I have commented on it each time. I think our choice was perfect.
We go back to the hotel to relax and nap before dinner at 7:30pm. We have been conferring with Rex about Cris’s tip. We are challenged to come up with the cash because of the ATM problems. So we pull together a wad of small denomination bills plus $US and amazingly reach our goal. The envelope is really thick but we did it!
Cris chooses La Estake for dinner. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch there earlier in the week. The manager is a close friend and we will be well taken care of. I’m embarrassed that Cris told the manager that we had a problem with the bar servers the other night. It was before the night sky tour. We had about 30 minutes to kill before the bus was to arrive. We went to the bar and gave the man our drink order. It didn’t come; it didn’t come… Finally a woman comes to the table and asks what we’d like to order. I explain to her that we had already put in our drink order but have not yet been served and we are now in a rush. She puts up her hands as if to say “stop” and then says “I speak English but please slow down so I can understand.” When I repeat what I just said I start out speaking slowly but I can tell I’m speeding up as I go on. In the end we left with no drinks and I realized that I was undoubtedly a really bad example of an American.
Anyway, apparently the restaurant manager is anxious to please us and in the end we are very pleased.
We start with excellent Pisco Sours for Rex, Howard and me. Kresne has a beer and Cris is the designated driver. Chile has ZERO alcohol tolerance for drivers. That means NO drinking and driving. If you are caught driving with any alcohol in your blood you can lose your license for 3 months. Boy, that is tough! First course is sautéed mushrooms served on pastry dough, ceviche and thinly sliced zucchini wrapped around goat cheese.
The guys have steak and blood sausage mixed with bell peppers and creamed corn. Howard says it is delicious. I have seafood cannelloni and it is fabulous. Kresne has a vegitarian meal. Kresne and Cris choose a “Las Mulas” Carmenere wine and it is perfect with the meal. Dessert! We have the BEST Tres Leche dessert I’ve ever had! It is barely sweet–the ones I’ve had are way too sweet. I am sorry that I’ve had so much to eat because I’d love to eat the whole thing. We also sample a delicious Mille-feuille (thousand layer) dessert and it is excellent too. We have espresso with dessert–Cris insists it must be WITH dessert rather than after dessert in the French fashion.
I forgot to say that Cris’s doggie joined us for dinner. She was an angel, lying under the table to entire time. She did get a nice piece of bread for being such a good girl.
It is a wonderful end to a great week. We are sorry to leave Cris. He has been a nice, incredibly funny, informative guy. We hope we will be able to see him again.