Sep 20, 2010 - Chile - San Pedro de Atacama

Hello again, We're just back from our four-day tour from San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile through to the salt flats of Uyuni in Bolivia (and back again), which was a once in a lifetime experience. Really glad we did it and we saw some amazing sights - but it was pretty rough travelling at times so we're glad to be back in the world of hot showers and comfy beds! Early the first day, 11 of us got a minibus across the border from Chile to Bolivia, where 4x4 jeeps were waiting for us. After our introduction to the lumps 'n' bumps of...

Jul 26, 2010 - Chuquicamata

After spending most of a day researching how to get here we connected with the tourist office in San Pedro first thing today (Monday) and they gave us all the info necessary...for those in the vicinity: phone 055-322122 or visitas@cedelco.col to make reservations. We called and were lucky enuf to get into the 3:30 pm tour today...no room in any more tours thru the rest of the week! Hustling a bit we got the bus to Calama and w/ help from bus operator folks, got a colectivo to the new tour bus terminal (opened April 30, 2010). For those in...

Jul 25, 2010 - San Pedro, CHile

. I successfully get out of Bolivia and into chile. I can't believe I made it in Bolivia.  The first thing I noticed in chile was the roads. They were cement. There were lines and signs and barriora on the side. Wow lines on the roads. It is funny how quickly you forget thereal world.  I am to meet thefrench in town to find a hostel but loose them. I find a girl on the bus who also is looking for a hostel. I tell her I know where I'm going and hope there is space. There is space in the second hostel. The town San Pedro is tiny and quaint....

Jul 25, 2010 - San Pedro

Tiwanaku After checking out many of the tour outfits we settle on ...................for our trip across the salt flats. Our driver, Pedrito, was very nice tho spoke little English. Others in group included Maria & Sabacian-Uruguay, Mario & Ignacia-Santiago, Chile. Eduardo Avaroa Natl Park Our trip was really fantastic: Laguna Blanca Laguna Verde Volcano Licancabur Salvador Dali Desert Sol de Manana I am suffering from dust, wind, cold, headache...otherwise, trip going GREAT! Laguna Colorada Flamingos lay eggs into the water, in 2009 there...

Jul 24, 2010 - Calama

TurBus 4pm along coast - past desalination plants, piles of huge bags of salt. Otherwise, coast is just as barren as inland, dry, dry, dry sand dunes and rock mtns. Chile is the only country so far where buses have been stopped ( 2 times) and our luggage inspected. Pass Volcano Licancabur Volcano

May 26, 2010 - San Pedro day 5

We went horseback riding for about 3 hours in the desert. I was able to take a lot of pictures of the people riding and the landscape. I remembered sunscreen, so I have not been sunburned this whole trip. My horse´s name was Esperanza. I liked Le´Pun better, but it was fun anyway. Steph and I ate and I took a nice long nap. A bartender tried to get into a long conversation with us. The people here notice us as much as in Viña, and a lot more than in Perú, even though San Pedro is full of tourists all the time.

May 25, 2010 - San Pedro day 4

Woke up at 4 in the morning and drove to see the glaciers in 0-degree weather. Surrounded by ice and boiling water in a rocky, desolate area, I decided that it was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I opted not to swim in the thermal pool, because I knew I would be even colder when I got out wet. Besides, there was nowhere to change. We saw a lake in the desert with 5 species of birds. The guide told us that one of the species mated for life. If the female dies, the male stops eating and starves to death. If the male dies, the...

May 24, 2010 - San Pedro day 3

Hector´s and my 2 year anniversary. I spent our free day in San Pedro in town, writing in my journal and watching The Four Feathers. A big group of us went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Hope got an amazing banana milk drink. I have to try to make that when I get home.

May 24, 2010 - San Pedro´s Pukara

Day was spent in Pukara de Quitor, about 3kms away from san Pedro itself. First visited a fortification made up of terrces built intot he mountains overlooking the san Pedro view. Get to see amazing views of the oasis itself as you get up to a good 2000 metres height

May 23, 2010 - San Pedro day 2

Tom and Pam told us to go by the graveyard, but we did and I don´t really understand what is so significant about it. There were several graves that were small houses, and that was interesting, but there wasn´t anything incredibly distinctive about the graveyard. Later we visited a valley where they grow fruit, the oldest bell tower in Chile, and the salt field where flamingos live. We watched the sunset and Dr. Yingling let me borrow his jacket because I forgot mine. While I was waiting for the sunset, I was sitting on a wall and a couple...

May 22, 2010 - San Pedro day 1

Hope and I shopped around San Pedro for souvenirs and a gift for my secret sister. One of the shop owners invited us to a concert and guided tour of the museum in San Pedro. In the afternoon we visited the Moon Valley and Death Valley and watched the sunset. When we got back Hope and I went to the museum. We heard a guitar player that was pretty good, and saw the artifacts from the Atacama desert.

May 17, 2010 - A day in Viña

Persuasive speech presentation. I put a lot of pictures in my powerpoint, because I was talking about the Elqui valley and the rumors of extraterrestrial activity. I put in pictures of aliens and read a quote about a "sighting" that turned out to be false.