School Holidays (Finally!)
Off to the Atacama we go!
Up bright and early to head off to catch our flight to Calama. The transfer picked us up straight form the airport, onto the mini bus already filled with some Spanish speaking strangers, us brits head straight to fill up the back row of seats. And off we set for our journey to San Pedro where we would spend the majority of the next 10 days. Dropped off at our hostel and settled in nicely, then headed straight out into the town to book our trips for the week and explore what San Pedro had to offer. Stumbled across some markets so (of course) we had a look at what the stands were selling. The general tat that we had seen before, but obviously fuelled with excitement we spent our well earned wages on things we do not need. After a long day of travelling we decided to head to the hostel to have some drinks by the fire and then tuck up into bed.
The next day we decided we had all earned a sleep in so did not set an alarm (wahey!). Rolled out of bed when we felt and hung around the hostel all morning to watch the world cup. In the afternoon we decided to explore more of San Pedro so head back into the town centre to partake in even more market shopping! But this time we bought some more things of what we would need during our stay in San Pedro.
Cycling? In this heat?
Day three was slightly more exciting as we had decided to rent some bikes so we could cycle to a place called "Death Valley"... (not the most inviting name). After a fairly short bike ride towards Death Valley (which was mostly uphill) we were surprised by a sand path that weaved through many sand dunes. Stopping every now and then to explore the sand dunes (and catch our breathe) we found some spectacular views. This was the best way to spend the afternoon. Completely tried us out ready for our early start the next day.
WILD FLAMINGOS!!
The start of the tours we had booked began, so very early start! But all completely worth it as we went to a Flamingo Reserve for breakfast. INCREDIBLE! Absolutely breathtaking!
Next stop on this tour was to visit two sister lagoons located high up in the mountains. These were something that I never expected to see.
Next stop on this tour was to visit two sister lagoons located high up in the mountains. These were something that I never expected to see.
An afternoon of lagoons! Prepared with our swimming costumes under our clothes we were very excited to take a dip in a salt lagoon. (Little did we know how flipping cold it was going to be!!) Luckily the weather was sunny and warm so it wasn't too bad. We were advised to float in the salt lagoon, however the salt was so sharp that it was stinging our skin!! Anyways a salt lagoon is one to tick off the bucket list.
We visited a few more lagoons, however these ones were not for swimming (just photoshoots). Our final stop was another lagoon for sunset (including a snack and PISCO!). Seeing the Andes mountains change colour from a grey to a red and orange was beautiful. Perfect way to end our first busy day.
Alright Geyser?
Yet another very early start (4.30am pick-up!!!) to give us enough time to drive to the Geysers for sunrise and of course, breakfast. After a short nap on the coach we hd arrived!! Greeted by the cold we made our way off the bus and into the smelly Geysers. While our guide set up our breakfast we all huddled to keep warm (-10 degrees!!!). After warming up over several cups of hot chocolate we took a walk around the Geysers, watching their cycles and taking many photos. Back onto the bus to warm us up and onto our next stop.
We stopped off at a tiny village where only 4 people lived. One man was cooking kebabs and after two long journeys we joined the queue. The kebabs happened to be Llama kebabs....and they were amazing!
To end the day we went to watch the sunset high up above the Moon Valley and then headed back to the Hostel for some well earned rest to ensure we were already for another early start for our journey to Bolivia the following morning.
Olivia is in Bolivia!!
Early start and onto another mini bus but this time to head out of Chile and into Bolivia for a few days. To kick start our Bolivia adventure we met our driver, put all our bags on the roof of the 4X4, piled on into the car and swiftly left for our first stop.
Our first stop were the Ice Lagoons. Now the first one...you could literally walk on (frozen) water. Was slightly sketchy as you could here the ice beneath you making some funny noises. However the second Lagoon was not frozen but a bright blue colour and absolutely stunning!
Next stop, more Geysers. I didn't think it was possible but these Geysers were more smelly than the last ones!
After lunch at the hostel we climbed up to 4990m to visit another flamingo lagoon. As we got out of the car we were greeted by snow! Something I never expected to see on this trip was a pink coloured lagoon, filled with flamingos, in the snow!
Now we heard that Bolivia was going to be cold from many people we had met in the Hostel, but none of us expected it to be THAT cold! None of us had prepared for the snow. Layered up with our sleeping bags and multiple layers of blankets and many layers of clothes we all tucked in ready for a cold nights sleep.
Snow in the Desert?!
It had snowed most of the night, and out of the window that morning all we could see was white. But no snow would stop us! Is driving in snow really that different to driving in sand? Off we set, no road in sight just driving wherever. Up a small hill one car couldn't make it so all the cars stopped to help it up. After a while of driving we were finally out of the snow! We stopped at a a stone park. Huge boulders surrounded us (it was like a natural play park for adults) we could climb up everything.
Back into the car and off to see some more flamingos in another lagoon. (I don't think I will ever get tired of looking at Flamingos).
Next stop, LUNCH! We had stopped in this place called 'Rock Valley' Everything around us was dried magma from a Volcano Eruption. Truly amazing.
We had a quick lunch out of the back of the 4X4 and then swiftly moved on to our next stop. Now this one was like something out of The Lion King. We walked out across this giant bit of rock sticking out high above a valley.
Final stop before we head to where we would be staying for the night was the rail track. The rail track was in the middle of no where and was still a working rail track so of course what so we do? Sit on the line to take photos....
This next hostel was something truly amazing. Everything was made out of salt! (Literally EVERYTHING!) The walls, the tables, the benches, the beds, even the floor was covered in salt. Now not believing what we were seeing, what did we all do? Of course, lick the walls to see if they tasted salty, and yeah they did! This was the first time since arriving in Bolivia that we could have a shower (not that it made much difference as we would all still be wearing the same clothes, it was so cold that we all wore everything we had!)
Sunrise at the Salt flats
Final very early start, leaving at 5am to ensure we could make it to the Salt Flats for sunrise. After a nap in the car I opened my eyes and for miles I could see nothing but flat ground, this meant we had arrived at the salt flats. However we kept driving...and driving...and driving. Until we met this island in the middle of the flats....Cactus Island. This lump of rock was just covered in cacti and off we went climbing up it to reach the top before sunrise. And OH MY, the view was truly special!
After breakfast at the bottom of Cactus Island we set off to take the classic perspective photos on the Salt Flats. We spent so long laughing and joking around, we had so much taking these and we got so many!!
After a very long stop we drove off on the Salt Flats for what seemed ages until we eventually reached a building made entirely out of salt in the middle of no where! This was the Salt Hotel. We also came across the Bolivia sign so took the opportunity to pose for some photos in front of it.
The next stop was the train cemetery, now this is something that I had seen online and was very excited to go and see. Just like the Stone Park, it was another giant playground for adults as we climbed on and in all the trains to take photos.
Finally we stopped for lunch and this was our first access to Wifi or signal we had had in the last few days. After eating some good food and reaching out to those back home to send over some photos we sent back off but this time to explore Uyuni alone after saying goodbye to our driver.
After meeting our new driver for our drive back to the boarder we headed to the hostel for dinner and out final nights sleep in Bolivia.
Bye Bye Bolivia and Bye Bye San Pedro
Today was the day we would leave Bolivia and head back to San Pedro for two more days before heading back to Santiago and back to work.
A truly amazing trip with unforgettable memories!
