A Whole New World

The Atacama Desert, what a beautiful place! Aside from throwing me right into the middle of Aladdin, the driest desert on Earth simply took my breath away.  I am so incredibly thankful that I got to have this experience, I've gotten a lot more appreciative lately. Being that Incubus is my favorite band, it seems fitting that my new motto comes from one of their songs: "Don't ever let life pass you by" (WOAHHHH, no joke this song just popped up on my iTunes shuffle! Fate.) I'll try to summarize this amazing experience as best I can :)

My journey to the Atacama began with a night spent on the beach. I know what your thinking, "I thought she went to the desert, not the beach." I did, but I had to stop in Antafogasta while in transit. I flew from Santiago to Antafogasta and then bussed from Antafogasta to San Pedro de Atacama. Antafogasta is this podunk little town, and by that I mean the third largest city in Chile. Too bad there is absolutely nothing to do in this mining town. My flight arrived at 11p.m. and my bus was not leaving until noon the next day... I was traveling with 6 other students and

 we were fortunate enough to score a ride from the airport to the bus terminal (about 30 minutes) from this suuuuper nice father. 8 of us squeezed into his 7-seater, all with our huge backpacks and headed to the bus terminal. Jose is just another example of how amazingly nice Chileans can be. Upon arrival to the bus terminal, I was able to change my bus time from noon to 7am the next morning. That only left 7 hours to kill. Being stubborn and not willing to spend money on a hostal, we were all looking to sleeping in the bus terminal, until we had a thought...to the beach! Eventually the cold won out and we ended back at the bus terminal, but it was a fun couple hours chilling on the beach.

Bus travel in Chile is awesome and super easy, not to mention it is ten times more comfortable than flying. This made it easy to knock out on the five hour ride into the desert. I was greeted by sun when I arrived! It was the greatest feeling ever to feel the sun on my skin. The hostal also had a car that came to pick us up :) Hostal Nuevo Amanecer is an awesome family-owned hostal that dealt very well with a bombardment of 21 Americans. There was a little balcony that offered an awesome view of the nearby mountains. The highlight of this balcony though was being able to stare into a night sky lit up by millions, and I mean millions, of stars. The clarity was incredible and was a welcome break from the smogy skyline of Santiago. The firepit was also a nice place to relax at night and have a jam sesh or two or three. This was my first time staying in a hostal with people I didn't know, but it was a positive experience and I met some cool people (Specifically 3 Kiwis - from New Zealand- who were traveling South Am via motorcycle!) Being my mom's daughter, I got straight to the sightseeing without wasting a minute. I can't even begin to describe the awesomeness of my days. The best I can do is give you, my faithful readers, some of the highlights.

Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley)

GORGEOUS! It really looks like you are in another world. Everything is flat, then out of nowhere is this crazy rock/mountain/sand/salt creation that is Valle de la Luna. It really is massive! It kind of reminded me of the Grand Canyon, each part is different, and has unique characteristics, and offers a different view. It's best to go at Sunset for truly incredible views. You have to hike about 30 minutes to get to the top of one of the peaks to get the best view. You think it's not that bad, but altitude definitely gets ya. Also, the temperature drops as soon as the sun goes down. We're talking shorts and t-shirt weather to sweats and warm jacket weather. I think my coldest night there it was -16 Celsius! The geography of this place is so varied and truly breathtaking. After the sunset, we got to explore some salt caves! Super cool except for when our guide decided to leave and we were actually lost out in the middle of the desert. Don't worry, we found our way back, I am writing this blog afterall.

Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley)

Some say that Death Valley got it's name because it's where many of the "desaparecidos" (the disappeared) were sent to die under the dictator Pinochet. I got to know a much happier Death Valley, one of sandboarding and salt crystals. Massive sand dunes provide decent slopes and a soft landing for when you take a tumble, or many tumbles in my case. Warning: You will get an incredible amount of sand in your shoes, so just be prepared. If you take a tour, pisco sours (basically Chilean margaritas) and a drive to a prime sunset watching spot are included. Once again the geography of this place blew my mind! The sand was just littered with salt crystals in some place. Naturally I took a taste to see if it really tasted like salt, soooo salty! It's strong stuff. It was strange to be able to just walk among the sand dunes. In some pictures it really looks like you are out in the middle of nowhere by yourself. It was really nice to be able to venture out and just be alone with my thoughts. If you are into exploring nature, the Atacama is one place you can't miss and Valle de la Muerte is a must-see. 

Laguna Cejar and the Lagunas Altiplanicos

These two places were by far the most beautiful. Laguna Cejar is 30% salt and it's super easy to float, the only downside is that it is freezing cold. I decided to forgo the floating, but I was still able to absorb the gorgeous scenery. The lagoon is electric blue, surrounded by glowing white salt flats, in the middle of what looks like a wheat field, with the Andes as a backdrop. I know right?! So amazing! How this was created in the middle of the driest desert in the world I couldn't tell you, but I will tell you that it's worth the 30 minute car ride over unpaved/rocky roads.

Ojos de Salar is on of the lakes on the Altiplano. They are two perfectly round pools of water that are right next to each other making them look like eyes. The water is still freezing but this time it's green and you can't see the bottom. I love jumping off things though, so I couldn't pass this one up. remember to bring a swimsuit if you go, so you don't have to rock the shorts and sportsbra look. Hitting the water was by far the coldest thing my body has ever experienced, but the rush is incredible. I jumped twice.

The final spot we went to on the Altiplano was once again a prime location for watching the sunset. I literally can't put into words how beautiful it was. It was a really moving moment for me, 360 degrees of an incredible view. Everyone who went on the tour just picked a spot and sat and watched the sun go down. There was no need to sit in a big group, everyone just had their own moment with their thoughts watching the most beautiful scene unfold. Not an exaggeration at all, I think watching the sunset there was the most beautiful thing I have seen in my entire life. The pictures don't do it justice.

 

As if it wanted to leave a permanent impression on my mind, the Atacama gave me the most incredible sunset on my last night. Regardless of the sunset, this trip is something that will forever hold a place in my heart. The desert is an incredible place for self reflection.