Weekend in the North, Part I

Me bundled up at the Valle de la luna.

Beautiful rock faces in the sunset at the Valle

de la luna.

Geysers near San Pedro.

The bleak and empty, but beautiful scenery.

In the middle of nothing.

This past weekend I took a four day trip to the north via an invitation by my friend Tefi. She actually group up in Antofagasta, the largest northern city and capital of the 3rd region of the same name. 

Antofagasta in the grand scheme of things is a rather unattractive mid-sized city of approximately 300,000 residents. However, the real reason for taking a trip there is to go visit the Atacama desert and, in particular, San Pedro de Atacama. Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and intriguing places in chile, I simply could not pass up this opportunity. 

The Atacama desert is a small desert bordering Northern Chile, Southern Peru, and Southwestern Bolivia. It is notorious as being the most arid, or dry, place on Earth, often experiencing rain only once every fifty years in some parts. After an hour and a half flight, we landed on the coastal, port city of Antofagasta. We then proceeded to quickly stop by Tefi´s grandmother´s apartment, we then grabbed a car and began the four hour drive to San Pedro. Though rather unremarkable, the thing that impacted me most during the drive was how desolate and little-populated the region is. 

After stopping in Calama, the city most people fly to to get to San Pedro, the route began to indicate how high up into the Andes we were going. When we got to about 30 minutes outside of San Pedro, we stopped at el Valle de la Luna, or in English, the Valley of the Moon. The valley is aptly named for it´s resemblance to the surface of the moon. We arrived just before sunset, the preferred time to visit. After a quick climb up a sand dune/mountain, we arrived at the most popular view point. There we stood and took in the tremendous sunset, seeing an awesome array of colors, from orange to yellow to light and dark red. By far one of the most beautiful sights I have ever witnessed. We then quickly went down to the car so as to arrive in San Pedro before it got too dark. Once you reach the valley, the number of paved roads begins to dissipate and the trail becomes rather tough.  

We arrived in San Pedro and found a hotel to stay in. We then walked around the village that is San Pedro. Though very touristy, the village still evoked a sense of rurality and loneliness, tucked away in a secluded and depopulated part of the Atacama. We walked around in the frigid cold (San Pedro lays at 8,000 feet altitude) and found a restaurant with a warm fire to eat. We then set out to find a tour to go see the geysers the next day. After we booked one, the guides told us to bundle up because the tour picks us up at 4 am and we arrive at the geysers at 6 am. We were told to dress for about 5 degree weather, but that the winds had previously reached about 65 miles per hour. We bought a set of hat, gloves, and scarf and went back to sleep. In the morning we left for the geysers at about 4:30 am. We were told to try to sleep so as to ease an altitude sickness as we would be going up to about 15,000 feet of altitude. The geysers were located only about 90 km away, but because of the altitude and lack of roads, the trip took upwards of 2 hours. 

We arrived and quickly walked over to the area that held the geysers. I was expecting to see 5-10 geysers, but was shocked to see an enormous valley completely saturated with geysers of every size. Anyone is able to walk wherever they want, but our guide told us to watch our step as many careless tourists over the years have fallen in some of the larger ones, and some had even died during unexpected eruptions. The reason for arriving so early is that the geysers only erupt during the sunrise because of the temperature differentials that enable the bottling up of gases near the surface. Though we were all shivering from cold (I had three pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, two shirts, a sweater, a fleece, and a windbreaker on), it was easy to forget when you beheld the majestic, natural beauty of the area. 

After seeing the geysers, we traveled around the area, stopping to take pictures of Vicuñas, a relative of the llama known for it´s extremely valuable coat, and other flora and fauna, though there wasn´t much of either. We then stopped by a pool where you can bathe. The pool is the result of cold mountain streams intersecting with several geysers, creating a large temperate pool. Though we didn´t go in because of the cold, many people did, though they later regretted it.

After leaving the geyser plateau, we ventured to a village nearby called Machuca. This village lays at 14,500 feet and has no power or running water. With a permanent population of little more than a dozen people, the village was essentially a grouping of 10 buildings and about 600 llamas. After dining on shish kabobs of llama meat, which were actually quite delicious (I was told that llama meat is very lean and has no cholesterol), we ventured back down to San Pedro after another two hour drive.

Thus ended hour first day and a half in the north. Stay tuned for the rest of the trip!