Vacacion Parte III - Atacama Power!

The day before I went to San Pedro de Atacama (SPDA), I went to Zapallar, a beautiful town on the beach. Think Hamptons, but more hilly and with small but beautiful cottages. I went for lunch with my friend Caira, and her aunt and uncle and we had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold (it is after all, still winter here)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296780&l=d6741&id=907196

SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

Monday.
Coincidentally, I was on the same flight as another volunteer and her family. I hung out with them for the first few days. We walked around San Pedro, and when I say walked around, I mean we walked up and down the one main street there. And we planned our first few days in the desert.

Tuesday.
I woke up very early on Tuesday to go on a tour of the lagunas in and around the salar de atacama. The first stop was Chaxa, the lagoon inhabited by flamingos. There were tons of them and right after they wake up they fly from one part of the lagoon to the other so we got there in time for that. The scenery was incredible and the water was so still you could see perfect reflections in them. Next, we went to another lagoon, Laguna Miscanti. This was at an altitude of 4,200 meters, and I was definitely feeling it. We were walking on a flat area and my heart was pounding! After the tour of the lagoons, we went to a few small towns in the area and ate some lunch. Once we arrived back in SPDA, I took a very long siesta and then another delicious meal at the best restaurant in SPDA, Todo Natural.

Wednesday.
Back to Todo Natural for breakfast. I am a creature of habit, what can I say? Then Katie's family and I went on another tour to the Valle de la Muerte and the Valle de la Luna. Excellent scenery and lots trekking at a lower altitude.

Then, my friend Caira arrived. Following our delicious dinner (guess where?!) we decided we definitely wanted to go out. However, my long excursion and her day of traveling to San Pedro left us too weak to do anything. We decided to take a nice siesta and then rally at 11:45 at night to then go out. Bars in San Pedro close earlier and we were determined to at least make last call! What an experience that turned out to be! We went to the bar and after last call, all the locals and tourists went off the beaten path and started a bonfire where we hung out and chatted till it was time to go home.

Thursday.
Katie and her family went to the geysers which I wasn't prepared for (the temperature was -15 degrees Celsius!), so Caira and I hung out in San Pedro and spent the day taking silly pictures and catching up on our vacation adventures.
After dinner, before we hit the bars Caira, Katie and I took it to the streets for some dancing, drinking and singing-filled merriment (but not too loud, we aren't THAT ridiculous). Think "So You Think You Can Dance" but better because one person recorded (yes, this is on video somewhere) one person sang, and one person did their dance. I think it was a 3-way tie, but my Bill Cosby dance killed. Then back to the bars, but only for a little bit.

Friday.
Ladies and gentlemen, I found my new sport: SANDBOARDING!!! It's super fun, exerts lots of energy so it's super strenuous, and if you fall, you fall into soft sand so injuries are hard to come by and if you know me, I get injured. A LOT.
In the morning we had our lesson followed by a few runs on the "bunny slope" and then on to the bigger runs. But Lauren, sandboarding doesn't sound like it's such a physically challenging sport? It isn't, but it's not like skiing at a resort, there are no ski lifts, so you have to hike up the sand dunes... OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH! yea, I definitely earned whatever delicious meal I ate afterwards.
Following sandboarding, Caira and I hung out with our instructor, Jorge and we had a delicious lunch accompanied by a well deserved cerveza. Back to the hostel for our siesta and then we headed just to the outside of town for our astronomy tour. If anyone gets a chance to visit the southern hemisphere, make sure you can go to a clear area because there are so many more stars down here.... it's incredible. Just as nyc's sky is flooded with city lights, Santiago is flooded with pollution. Stars are hard to come by. When you are finally able to see them down here, it's amazing! We had a great experience on the tour with a ridiculously funny french astronomer who has been living in Chile for years as a guide.
Back to SPDA for dinner where Caira and I were too exhausted and it was too late to start a siesta, so sadly we called it a night.

Saturday I woke up super early to head back to Santiago...

Here are some pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296782&l=e5549&id=907196
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297131&l=d1dd2&id=907196

Coming up, the final leg of my vacation: Buenos Aires with Mom and Earle!