Having seen a few local sights already, I felt no obligation to do anything on 26th January other than relax and recover from the gastroenteritis, or whatever it is that has been bothering me these last few days. Being in a warm desert I decided that this would be a good time and place to wash everything, including my boots, since it would all dry quickly. I caught up with some letter writing and then chatted in Spanish to a Japanese girl – she was easier to understand than the Chileans, whose way of speaking continues to give me a lot of trouble. Later I went out to a bar with Dave the Australian, and played a fun lateral thinking game with him and some Kiwis. Someone then had the idea of going to the local “disco” – we did, but the crowd was very young so we didn’t stay long.
The following day (27th January) I had signed up for a trip to see the Salar de Atacama, a nearby salt lake. The day got off to a rather disorganised start – the promised breakfast at Residencial Florida didn’t materialise and the “7:30 departure” came and went. Breakfast was available over the road, and then nearly an hour late the same 4×4 as the previous day (the gold coloured Chevy Blazer) turned up. We all piled in, and headed for the salt lake.
The Salar de Atacama was impressive, when combined with the distant views of the snow-capped Andes. We stopped for a while at a place with a variety of different coloured salt formations. There were flamingos nearby and I tried to get closer, but they flew off.
Later we headed off again, me chatting with a girl from Paris, and a friendly guy from Argentina – I am getting a little better at deciphering the accents of the Southern Cone countries, but Chile is definitely the harder of the two.
We soon reached Toconao – a tiny but beautiful oasis, with green vegetation crowded into a little valley through which ran a bubbling stream. We had a look at a little craft and textile workshop, where a loom was being used to weave cloth. It was a great place to relax after the dry barren heat of the salt lake.
Then it was time to go back to San Pedro. I wanted to get back to Calama on the afternoon bus, and with a bit of time to spare before departure, I headed a little way out of the village to get a clearer view of the distant mountains. I came across a large pile of sulphur sitting in the middle of the desert for no apparent reason, and decided to help myself to a small piece… Then I went back to get the bus, along with Don and Dave who were also checking out of San Pedro.
Finally, after a couple of hours on the bus, I was back in Calama where (with Don and Dave) we checked into Hostal Toño – a more highly recommended place than the lousy hotel I stayed at before. We all headed out for a sandwich (known as a “Barros Luco” in Chile for some reason. We had a good “information swap”, since Don is heading north.
Finally I headed back to the hotel to examine my piece of sulphur, and to then add it to my growing collection of minerals…
What a funny thing to steal. Smelly sulfur! How long before you got rid of it?
😀 30 years and counting…