Wednesday, November 23, 2005
South America Trip - Day 36 - San Cristobel to Santiago
We had a long day ahead of us so we got up at 4 am and were on the road by 5. Heading out of San Cristobel we left the well maintained road to the mine to start on the 4WD track. First stop was a lake to see some Flamingos. I got really close and watched a whole flock fly away. Unfortunately I had no camera on me.
There are two types of flamingo in the Atacama Dessert. The James flamingo is mostly pink with some white and black on the edges of their wings. The Andean flamingos are mostly white with black tips on their tails. We saw many of both in the same lakes.
We climbed higher to reach Laguna Colorada (Red Lake). The lake is red because of the algae that lives in the water. There were more flamingos here. We spent some time sneaking up on them in an attempt to get close-up shots with our digital cameras but they were onto us and every step closer we took they took one further away.
As we climbed higher the land became more barren. We saw large mosses that grow 1 mm per year, they must have been ancient. The scenery was amazing. The mountains are rich in minerals. They look like they had paint spilled on them, reds, browns, creams etc. Even in this desolate area, where you would think nothing grows, we saw vicuñas hanging around! Apparently they eat plants that grow below the rocky ground. The highest we got was 5000 m above sea level.
We saw some bubbling geysers like Rotorua (and with the sulphur smell) and dipped our feet into natural hot springs.
On the way down from the highest point we passed the "Dali rocks" (named by tourists). The rocks were shot from a volcanic eruption and are strewn across the sand in interesting shapes due to erosion.
The last stop of the tour was Laguna Verde - actually an aquamarine colour. The wind had picked up and it looked like a tropical ocean. You can´t swim in it though because it is arsenic that gives it the green colour.
We were 1 hour late finishing the tour and still had a long way to go to catch our flight at 6 pm. When we realised there was a 1 hour time difference between Bolivia and Chile we knew it was going to be tight. Our Chilean driver, Felix, did his best to get us through the border quickly. He handed us over to a younger driver, Juan, for the dash from San Pedro de Atacama to Calama, a 1.5 hour drive. Juan did it in 1 hour despite the strong cross wind in the desert and passing a police car going the other way. Juan got us to the airport at 5:45. We saw people boarding the plane as we pulled in. We rushed to the check in desk but were told we would have to take a later flight (luckily at no cost). Well the race was exciting anyway.
There are two types of flamingo in the Atacama Dessert. The James flamingo is mostly pink with some white and black on the edges of their wings. The Andean flamingos are mostly white with black tips on their tails. We saw many of both in the same lakes.
We climbed higher to reach Laguna Colorada (Red Lake). The lake is red because of the algae that lives in the water. There were more flamingos here. We spent some time sneaking up on them in an attempt to get close-up shots with our digital cameras but they were onto us and every step closer we took they took one further away.
As we climbed higher the land became more barren. We saw large mosses that grow 1 mm per year, they must have been ancient. The scenery was amazing. The mountains are rich in minerals. They look like they had paint spilled on them, reds, browns, creams etc. Even in this desolate area, where you would think nothing grows, we saw vicuñas hanging around! Apparently they eat plants that grow below the rocky ground. The highest we got was 5000 m above sea level.
We saw some bubbling geysers like Rotorua (and with the sulphur smell) and dipped our feet into natural hot springs.
On the way down from the highest point we passed the "Dali rocks" (named by tourists). The rocks were shot from a volcanic eruption and are strewn across the sand in interesting shapes due to erosion.
The last stop of the tour was Laguna Verde - actually an aquamarine colour. The wind had picked up and it looked like a tropical ocean. You can´t swim in it though because it is arsenic that gives it the green colour.
We were 1 hour late finishing the tour and still had a long way to go to catch our flight at 6 pm. When we realised there was a 1 hour time difference between Bolivia and Chile we knew it was going to be tight. Our Chilean driver, Felix, did his best to get us through the border quickly. He handed us over to a younger driver, Juan, for the dash from San Pedro de Atacama to Calama, a 1.5 hour drive. Juan did it in 1 hour despite the strong cross wind in the desert and passing a police car going the other way. Juan got us to the airport at 5:45. We saw people boarding the plane as we pulled in. We rushed to the check in desk but were told we would have to take a later flight (luckily at no cost). Well the race was exciting anyway.
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