We were picked up from our hostel at 7:30am and made our way up in altitude to the Salar de Atacama. This is the largest salt flat in Chile and since it gets zero rain fall due to the Andes, the salt is a massive jumble that looks like dried coral. The area does receive snow melt from the Andes which creates 2 very shallow lakes which thousands of Flamingos call home. There are 4 species of Flamingos and all of them can be seen here. Millions of tiny brine shrimp live in the shallow lakes and the flamingos spend their days feasting. Our guide explained that the pink coloring of flamingos is due to their diet of only eating brine shrimp. The flamingos were really stunning, especially watching them take flight or land with the Andes behind them.
After a simple breakfast of bread and jam, we headed up into the altiplano (the high desert) to see the lakes. The road up into the Andes was incredibly bumpy, there are no paved roads at all in the Atacama, but all the bouncing around is worth it to be surrounded by snow-capped volcanoes and to finally see Laguna Miscanti and Laguna Miniques. At around 12,000 feet the two lakes are just beautiful. They are milky green due to the snow melt and mineral run-off from the volcanoes that surround them. We walked around the lakes taking our time to acclimate. At Laguna Miniques, we had to keep our distance from the shore due to an endangered Andes bird that only nests here. Biologists and Reserve employees live in a little hut around the clock to help keep the nests safe from the Andes fox. As our guide explained how the eggs need to be protected from the hungry fox, exactly on cue, one wandered about 10 feet from us. It’s a cute little fox, but is a major threat to the birds.
Next stop was a little pueblo for lunch. The guide sat with Matt and I. She practiced her English and I practiced my Spanish. Her name was Fabriola. She was around 20 and married and really cute. Her husband was a cook at one of the restaurants in San Pedro. I called her “Professora” when asking questions. She really liked the sound of being called “Professora”.
After lunch we were off to another pueblo called Tocano. The people here work a stone called Laparita from the nearby quarry. Our guide said, in her English, “In this village, you can purchase crap.” She meant to say “crafts.” I tried to find some Laparita jewelry, but all I could find was replicas of the church carved from the stone. We headed off next to the quarry. There are only 3 men left who actually work in the quarry. Once they retire, there will be no one left to work the quarry. All the young people prefer to leave the pueblo to find work. At the bottom of the quarry is a beautiful river surrounded by fig trees, plum trees and grape vines. The pueblo grows the fruit and makes a specially fermented drink. Fabriola said it tasted horrible and that she only pretends to drink it during fiesta time.
Finally, as we climbed up from the river, we were shown petro glyphs on the canyon wall. It became a game as to who could actually see them. No one could. Fabiola ended up taking a photo of one to show people what she was trying to point out – that the petro glyph was actually there.
We returned to San Pedro around 5pm. It was a long day, but a very good day.
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