San Pedro, Chile

San Pedro de Atacama is a town in a desert in Chile.    The town itself feels like a tourist town with restaurants and gift shops and tour companies galore.  However, it is in an amazing place with geisers, mountains and desert sights that make it an incredible place to visit.

On our first day we hiked the Pukara de Quitor, a precolumbian archaeological site that was a defensive bunker used to protect against invaders.

The next day, we were up at 4:30 am to catch a ride to the Tatio Geisers for sunrise.

We explored the Valle de la Luna, which has some great desert formations.  But, I wouldn’t say it looks like the surface of the moon.

We caught some beautiful sunsets, which is a standard desert pastime.  At the best locations, everyone comes out for the show.

The next day we tried to go to Laguna Cejar and Dos Ojos, but we were unsuccessful. There was some weird thing about the times we went. So we went to Laguna Chaxa and Cejar the next day at the right times.

Chaxa was full of flamingos and salt. It was a good sight amid the desert.

Laguna Cejar was Chile’s version of the Dead Sea. It was so salty that you remained buoyant without any effort. This allowed us to look at the beautiful surrounding mountains. They suggested that you not spend more than 30 minutes inside so that you don’t shrivel up from all the salt. You also had to wash right off in the showers once you were finished swimming.

It was a good day and we were glad to finally get it done. Being in foreign countries with a lack of fluency in a language creates some drawbacks, but we always go where we want to, eventually.