The Andes: UP Close

Laguna Miñiques, altitude 13,500 ft

Monday was our day to get up close and personal with the Andes.  UP is the operative word.  While the other trips had taken us a bit above the altitude of San Pedro, this would bring us up to 13,500 feet.  We had a 7:00 am pick-up at the hotel, and were prepared for what we knew would be a chilly (below zero degrees) start, but a warm ending at a lagoon on the salt flats back at 8,000 feet.  So I will specify about my layering for the day.  

Finally got me some Andes!

In the above photos I am wearing yoga leggings under my jeans, two pairs of socks, a yoga fitted sleeveless top, a long sleeved pullover shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, a fleece vest, a scarf, a travel (can roll up into a pouch once I don't need it) down jacket, gloves and a hat!  But, it did the trick, kept me warm, and I was able to peel off layers as the locations warmed up.

Our first stop as we headed up was the small town of Tocanao.  There are very few towns in the Atacama, but when you see them they pop up near a water source.

The belltower door is made from cactus wood.  As we learned the day prior, the church was separate from the belltower.

In spite of the outside temperature which was probably around 30 degrees, inside was toasty warm. Our tour guide explained that the church was built from lava rock and so maintains the heat - nature´s solar heating.

The church´s spiral staircase to the organ is also made from cactus wood.

We visited the garden of a local shop and got a quick visit with a llama, as well as a view of the shop owner´s weaving loom.

Back in the van, we continued our ascent and the Andes neared.

Our peak destination was the Lagunas Miscanti y Miñiques.  Originally streams, the lagoons were formed about 1000 years ago by a volcano eruption and lava flow that created natural dam.  The surrounding volcanoes share the same names as the lagoon. The Chilean Andes includes about 500 volcanoes, with about 125 still considered "active."  Chile is home to 10% of the world´s volcanoes and an impressive 20% of the world´s active volcanoes.

As we approached Laguna Miscanti, 

we could see wild vicuñas feasting on the Paja Brava, a course grass that grows at 4000 meters (13,123 ft) above sea level.

A bit of walking

 then over this next hill to Laguna Miñiques

We headed back down, with our final stop being on the Salar Atacama. You can see it below as we descend.  What looks like water is actually the salt flat.

The name of the tour was ¨"Lagunas Altiplanicas" and that included one more lagoon, Laguna de Chaxa which is a national reserve for flamingos.The Chaxa is salt water, with the water coming up from the ground versus being fed by any natural water source. Definitely smelled like salt water!

The rocky salt formations border the lagoon,

The volcano on the far right is where we had visited in the morning.

This little guy is a Caiti.

Now you can see us with layers removed.  Warm and beautiful weather.  

Our tour guide brought us back to San Pedro and we celebrated the completion of our expeditions of the Atacama with lunch and Pisco Sours, of course!

We had managed to survive the altitude, the bumpy, winding roads, the dirt and dust, the cold temperatures.  All of that seemed minor in comparison to the spectactular sights and geological wonders we had enjoyed over the past five days. We took a final stroll through the town, did some battle with the few available ATMs until we could finally get some cash. A lot of places, including the tour company we used, the shuttle to and from the airport, and several restaurants and stores are cash only.  The very few ATMs here are notorious for breaking down and/or running out of cash.

Back at the hotel we showered off another day of dust, dirt and salt and decided we didn´t want to venture out so had a light dinner at the hotel restaurant.

On Tuesday morning we checked out of the hotel, with a final peak of the volcano that is the backdrop to San Pedro. We had our flight back "home" with a view of the snow covered Andes about mid-flight between Calama and Santiago.

While getting an Uber from Vitacura to the airport has been easy, each time we try to get one at the airport it is a challenge.  In spite of there supposedly being only one spot that Uber can pick up, both times the driver didn't seem to know where to find us. My ultimate solution this time was to text the driver a photo of where we were standing and that seemed to do the trick.  

And I was successful again at leaving instructions for Rita to make us a beef stew!

What a nice, warm welcome home after our odyssey through the high desert.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Valle del Arcoiris - Rainbow Valley

Our Sunday tour, from 8:00 until 2:30, brought us into the Domeyko Mountains.  We had a fabulous tourguide, Sophie, who had her own intersting life history (orignially from France, she mentored with a sculptor in Checkoslovakia, and ultimatley ended up in Chile where she leads tours and does ceramics) and a wealth of information about geology, history, cultural practices, and local flora and fauna.

She was also great about re-routing to keep us away from other tour groups as well as adding stops along the way.  

Our first stop was the village of Rio Grande.  

While currently only having about 96 inhabitants, it is located in the basin of ¨big river." Although it now has added electricity through generators, it is still pretty similar to its early pre-Hispanic era origins. Sophie explained that it was, becuase of its location, the forced passageway for caravans of indegenous groups traveling through the area.

Look close and you can see the moon to the left of the cross.

We learned that prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, churches where always kept separate from the bell towers-the church being seen as "feminine" and the belltower as "masculine."  

Jim did his "masculine" thing and climbed the bell tower.

The river was edeged with ice.

The remaining residents either work in the mines, or have small plots of land for sheep, agriculture or crafts.  Sophie actually bought a bag of garlic from the woman who had these sheep.

The yellow berry of this plant is used for laundry soap.

Yellow and red quinoa also are grown.

As we left and headed to our next stop, Sophie explained that the vegetation in the Atacama, what little there is, varies based on the altitude.  So, the Cordon cactus will be seen at one elevation.

The type of plant available for food will also dictate what animals will be able to survive.  There are domesticated Llamas

 and  wild Vacuñas

Sophie was apologetic that we were missing seeing San Pedro´s archeological museum which is closed for remodeling, so she added a stop in the tour at one of the more recent areas being researched which shows evidence of some sort of early fortification.  It is also in the Rainbow Valley area aptly named for the many color variations in the rocks and cliffs due to the oxidation of the various ores.

We then had ample time to walk around varous parts of Rainbow Valley.

Our final stop, where we ended with a picnic snack supplied by Sophie, was at Hierbas Buenas.  This place was used by the ancient caravan travelers as a place to rest on their expiditions in search of exchange of goods.  Here we could see well preserved petroglyphs, carved by the Atacameno people, dating back over 10,000 years. Messages carved in the stones included shamanic forms as well as animals.

With that, it was time for our caravan to return to San Pedro.  

There were many tours to choose from and this one did not make the first cut. We had originally planned to go to the Tatio Geysers. Convinced that the experience would have been revelatory, we were prepared to endure the 4:30 AM departure, risk altitude sickness due to the rapid steep ascent to 14,000 feet, brave temperatures well below freezing, just to run half-naked from a changing shack to a cauldron of bubbling mineral water for a 30 second dip.  As we say in Chile: "Ya es suficiente" "Enough is enough"  Given how stressful the thermal springs experience had been we determined that the geysers would have been even harsher.  It was not an easy decision for us as we are always ready to take on unique and challenging experiences, especially to places we may never see again but sometimes wisdom is the better part of valor or as my Italian grandmother use to say, "Don't be a f*****g idiot!" We decided to scrap Tatio and subsituted it with this trip.  A brilliant decision as it turned out. The landscape was astonishing and Sophie was a character out of a Hemingway novel.  If she claimed to have fought in the Spanish-American War we would have believed her.  As we walked back to the hotel for a much needed hot shower, we were convinced we had made the correct decision - what a beautiful and amazing day.