Tuesday, July 28, 2015

7/26-27/15: Geysers de Tatio & Valle de la Luna

Yesterday, I had reserved two tours for Sunday, the Geysers de Tatio in the morning and Valle de la Luna in the afternoon. I was really excited because I was actually going to be doing something again, and traveling on my own!

I was worried because my phone is still not working - I think it's a problem with my battery, not the charger or something else, which is a huge problem - and I went and bought a plastic alarm clock yesterday. However, I tested it and the alarm doesn't seem to work, so I set my alarm on my laptop and hoped that everything would go well. I was supposed to wake up at 4:40 or so to be ready at 5, but nothing woke me up - the clock alarm didn't work, and somehow my laptop had remained on but the internet browser had closed. Still, I woke up around 5:15 and rushed to get ready, hoping that the car still had yet to come. By the time it got to 6, I gave up and went back to sleep.

I woke up again in time for breakfast, then failed to take a nap. I went to the city center to ask about the tour, and was lucky to speak enough Spanish that the employee (he might have been the boss?) allowed me to sign up for the tour the next day instead. I spent the afternoon in the local museum, which was full of information about the Atacama region - it's one of the only stops between Argentina, when much of the food needed for people living in the Atacama Desert was imported, and the coast. It had many great explanations in both Spanish and English, so I spent the afternoon copying down some key vocabulary words while enjoying the exhibit!

I had a tour for Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) scheduled as well, but didn't realize that Bolivian time and Chilean time don't match up. As it turns out, My tour that was supposed to start at 3 pm started at 2 pm Bolivian time - the time to which everything I have was still set to. Well, that would explain a lot. I had a lot harder time getting this tour rescheduled for the next day, but I was so lucky I could. Whew, because I was not about to spend a ton more money on them.

The next day started at the actual right time of 5 am, and I headed with the group to the Geysers of Tatio. It was about -10 Celcius and ridiculously cold - I was not happy about being so cold, and I regret not bringing a pair of warmer pants! Still, the geyser field was incredible and absolutely beautiful! I felt a little bad about being the only one who needed English translations (lots of Chileans travel to San Pedro de Atacama for vacation, apparently) but the tour guide, Felipe, was nice enough and didn't make a big deal of it at all.

We also went to some hot springs - even though it was freezing cold outside, I thought it would be like the hot springs from Uyuni (really warm and worth it) and decided to get in. Unfortunately for me, these hot springs were not nearly as warm, and I ended up feeling more lukewarm than anything. At least I got some great pictures of the geysers next to them! Geysers are apparently formed only over rock that is hard enough not to erode with the passage of water through it, because otherwise, you get hot springs or something similar.

On our way back, we stopped by a pond and saw several different animals - from ducks to birds to vicugnas - and plants. The scenery is absolutely amazing because SPDA is surrounded by 5 different mountain ranges, 3 of which are in sight in the areas near the city. They make for gorgeous photos, breathtaking landscapes, and impossible colors against in sky.

We got back near noon, and I had some time to kill before my second tour of the day. I got some work done, and then headed out for the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) tour! The area is also quite awesome, but again I felt bad because I was the only one to ask for English translations. Oh well, I'll get over it. I'm paying the same amount as everyone else (maybe even more, who knows?) so I'm going to get my money's worth.

The area is gorgeous. It kind of does look like the surface of the moon, which is what the area is supposedly named after. Places that were extremely far away looked a lot closer because the air is so dry - not because there's no rain (there's apparently quite a lot) but because its relative humidity is extremely low. Either way, it made for some great pictures - thanks again to the series of mountain ranges.

We also visited a little cave area!

Plus the"Tres Marias" - three rock formations that look like mother and child!

Our tour guide (Philip? Something like that), seeing as we were a group of young and relatively fit people, proposed that we go to a more unusual spot in the area to watch the sunset. I was all for it, as was everyone else! I could absolutely see why he chose this spot, because the other was filled with other tour groups and didn't have the same gorgeous view of nearby rock formations. The sunset was incredible - and what made it even better was the color palate of the mountains on the other side. The sunset is apparently a "fake" one, meaning that we see the sun set over the mountains but the sun hasn't actually set yet due to the height of the mountains. We still have light, and the reflection/refraction of it is what makes the mountains on the opposite side have purples and pinks and blues. Wow.

Overall, though I was supposed to have this day on Sunday instead of Monday, I had a great time!

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