Monday, January 7, 2019 – San Pedro to Santiago
We were up early today and got ready for our morning tour to the salt lake. We hadn’t been there this visit so we were excited to see it again.
We grabbed a light breakfast at 7:30 and sure enough, Felipe had left pages of information for us! We saved it for future reference and headed out. Sebastian was waiting for us and we started right on time.
It was about 30 minutes drive due south and the landscape quickly became barren, though the feral donkeys didn't seem to mind. The salt started accumulating on the plains and soon we were at the salt flats.
Along the way, we had a nice view of Quimal. This is the woman who appeaers in the legendary love triangle, with Licancabur and Juriquez. She was banished to the other side of the valley.
We stopped at Laguna Tebinquinche first and walked the shore, to see the crystallized salt. The ground was crunchy under our feet.
Gorgeous vistas, every way you look.
The "islands" in the lake, and the shoreline, are actually made up of archaebacteria. These "extreme" bacteria can live in the high-salt environment. They form thick mats.
There were a few flamingos but they flew away as soon as they saw us.
Had to shoot fast with a zoom lens to even see them.
More scenery, as we took the path along the shore of the lake.
Looking back, Licancabur and Juriquez reflected nicely in the shallow water.
The landscape is vast and so empty here.
Salt plains cover most of the surface. Good thing it's not too hot yet.
There was a sinkhole to visit called the "Eyes of the Salar" which was scenic. No swimming in it now, but there's a place you can swim...
Back north to Laguna Cejar for a swim in the salt lake! There are three separate pools here, some shallow and some deeper.
We chose an empty deep sinkhole but were promptly joined by a Brazilian couple who apparently didn’t like any of the other lakes that they could have had to themselves. It was amusing.
The water was chilly but refreshing, and the scenery was incredible!
It's kind of like the Dead Sea, where it's so salty that you float high and can't really sink.
After a bit of aimless bobbing around, we dried off and headed back to the truck. It was a short ride back to Awasi from here.
We were back by 11:00 – early! Time for a leisurely shower and a freshwater rinse for our suits, and in the dry desert air they almost dried out while we finished packing. We were ready to check out a few minutes before 12:00.
Lunch wasn’t starting yet but we had snacks just like on arrival day. This time we had both a salad and a sandwich, and it lasted until almost exactly 12:30. They do not let you go hungry here.
These dolls are on the table for every meal. A nice local decorative touch.
We left lunch to find that Sebastian was waiting for us in the truck with all of our luggage, so off we went, sad to leave but excited for the next part of the adventure.
The drive to Calama was easy and we were there by 1:45 for our 3:00 flight. Unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye to Sebastian. He had a later flight home but was going to hang out in Calama for a few hours first.
When we checked in we were told that the flight was 30 minutes late, so luckily we discovered that there was a Priority Pass lounge.
We breezed through security and it was right there, and fairly empty. No snacks needed but a glass of wine hit the spot.
Boarding was actually through a jetway which was nice, and we pushed back a little earlier than the 3:30 predicted time. In fact we were airborne at 3:30, which meant that we might not be much later than our original arrival time.
We took a very direct route to Santiago and touched down by 5:10. Luggage took a few minutes but we were out by 5:30 and our driver was right there, waiting for us. We walked to his van and headed out to brave the Santiago traffic. Cristobal said that the drive to the Ritz might take over an hour, but luckily traffic was not bad and we were there by 6:25 and in our room by 6:30.
Tonight we had a dinner meeting with our tour guide. We had already visited Santiago in November 2017, and while there we'd done two full-day wine-tasting tours with an agency we'd found online. Our tour guide Jeanette was wonderful, and since we liked her so much, we'd arranged another longer tour with her during this trip. But that wouldn't be for another few days, so in the meantime we arranged to meet up for dinner tonight.
We changed and got ready to meet Jeanette for dinner at 7:00, but she was late and called the front desk to let us know that she’d be there at 7:30 instead. So we enjoyed the beautiful lobby for a bit.
Dinner with Jeanette was a lot of fun! We went to a Peruvian restaurant within walking distance and ordered lots of food to share. We ate way too much and I was stuffed by the end of the night. We had beef skewers, multiple ceviches, causas, and then a beef dish that was crazy rare. Pisco sours and then some Carmenère too. So good!
Back to the hotel around 10 to try to get some sleep. Tomorrow, we fly south to Patagonia!
We were up early today and got ready for our morning tour to the salt lake. We hadn’t been there this visit so we were excited to see it again.
We grabbed a light breakfast at 7:30 and sure enough, Felipe had left pages of information for us! We saved it for future reference and headed out. Sebastian was waiting for us and we started right on time.
It was about 30 minutes drive due south and the landscape quickly became barren, though the feral donkeys didn't seem to mind. The salt started accumulating on the plains and soon we were at the salt flats.
Along the way, we had a nice view of Quimal. This is the woman who appeaers in the legendary love triangle, with Licancabur and Juriquez. She was banished to the other side of the valley.
We stopped at Laguna Tebinquinche first and walked the shore, to see the crystallized salt. The ground was crunchy under our feet.
Gorgeous vistas, every way you look.
The "islands" in the lake, and the shoreline, are actually made up of archaebacteria. These "extreme" bacteria can live in the high-salt environment. They form thick mats.
There were a few flamingos but they flew away as soon as they saw us.
Had to shoot fast with a zoom lens to even see them.
More scenery, as we took the path along the shore of the lake.
Looking back, Licancabur and Juriquez reflected nicely in the shallow water.
The landscape is vast and so empty here.
Salt plains cover most of the surface. Good thing it's not too hot yet.
There was a sinkhole to visit called the "Eyes of the Salar" which was scenic. No swimming in it now, but there's a place you can swim...
Back north to Laguna Cejar for a swim in the salt lake! There are three separate pools here, some shallow and some deeper.
We chose an empty deep sinkhole but were promptly joined by a Brazilian couple who apparently didn’t like any of the other lakes that they could have had to themselves. It was amusing.
The water was chilly but refreshing, and the scenery was incredible!
It's kind of like the Dead Sea, where it's so salty that you float high and can't really sink.
After a bit of aimless bobbing around, we dried off and headed back to the truck. It was a short ride back to Awasi from here.
We were back by 11:00 – early! Time for a leisurely shower and a freshwater rinse for our suits, and in the dry desert air they almost dried out while we finished packing. We were ready to check out a few minutes before 12:00.
 |
| Beautiful setting for snacks, Awasi Atacama |
Lunch wasn’t starting yet but we had snacks just like on arrival day. This time we had both a salad and a sandwich, and it lasted until almost exactly 12:30. They do not let you go hungry here.
These dolls are on the table for every meal. A nice local decorative touch.
We left lunch to find that Sebastian was waiting for us in the truck with all of our luggage, so off we went, sad to leave but excited for the next part of the adventure.
The drive to Calama was easy and we were there by 1:45 for our 3:00 flight. Unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye to Sebastian. He had a later flight home but was going to hang out in Calama for a few hours first.
 |
| Sala Pacifica VIP, El Loa Airport, Calama |
When we checked in we were told that the flight was 30 minutes late, so luckily we discovered that there was a Priority Pass lounge.
We breezed through security and it was right there, and fairly empty. No snacks needed but a glass of wine hit the spot.
Boarding was actually through a jetway which was nice, and we pushed back a little earlier than the 3:30 predicted time. In fact we were airborne at 3:30, which meant that we might not be much later than our original arrival time.
We took a very direct route to Santiago and touched down by 5:10. Luggage took a few minutes but we were out by 5:30 and our driver was right there, waiting for us. We walked to his van and headed out to brave the Santiago traffic. Cristobal said that the drive to the Ritz might take over an hour, but luckily traffic was not bad and we were there by 6:25 and in our room by 6:30.
 |
| Ritz-Carlton, Santiago |
We changed and got ready to meet Jeanette for dinner at 7:00, but she was late and called the front desk to let us know that she’d be there at 7:30 instead. So we enjoyed the beautiful lobby for a bit.
Dinner with Jeanette was a lot of fun! We went to a Peruvian restaurant within walking distance and ordered lots of food to share. We ate way too much and I was stuffed by the end of the night. We had beef skewers, multiple ceviches, causas, and then a beef dish that was crazy rare. Pisco sours and then some Carmenère too. So good!
Back to the hotel around 10 to try to get some sleep. Tomorrow, we fly south to Patagonia!
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