the coriolis effect

Back from the North, and a very happy trip indeed. Too long to summarize, I suspect.....
We flew into Antofagasta, which is a port town, somewhat brown (excepting a beautiful plaza with a mini big ben- this used to be the heart of British nitrate interests economic imperialism etc; and the boats in the harbor), but seeing the "Jardin Infantil Snoopy" made my day. almost as much as peanut butter and banana sandwiches in the plaza, courtesy of the jar of peanut buttery goodness Scott brought from the US via Temuco.
Bus to Calama, passing a huge geoglyph (imitation old, or the real thing), and, after night fell, on the way to San Pedro de Atacama, getting out of the bus when the road was blocked by a truck missing a wheel or some such, and letting our eyes wander up from dunes (small compared to later ones) to sky full of stars. the milky way clear and running from horizon to horizon, and mars bright.

Until this year San Pedro´s lights turned off at 1. Thats no longer true, but its still a tiny one story, dirt road town, full of hostels, tour companies, restaurants serving actual veggie food, and because of Fiestas Patrias, tourists to fill everything. So glad made reservations, at Hostel Puritama- when we got there, people whose room we were to take hadn´t moved out, so the owner had moved the dining room table out of their dining room- living room area (fairly separate from other areas of their part of the hostel) and moved two beds in for us. and the cutest little dogs EVER (despite the fact they weren´t....exactly...trained....) A dinner at a place called Cafe Tierra ("Todo Natural") where our pizzas with a corn based crust and lemonade were cooked right in front of us.
Thursday- joined the zoo of people trying to book tours. plenty of companies to go around, but we tried to be all scientific and went into a bunch where we got the same spiel. There are three main tours: Valle de la Luna for sunset, Altiplano Lakes, and Geysers (or Geysers and Pueblos). also Volcano climbing, which we seriously entertained, but ended up not going through with probably for the better (and cheaper). After watching part of a municipal parade and downing empanadas, we reported for our Valle tour at Desert Adventures only to have some problem with the vans...so we switched days, rented bikes, and tried to bike out of town (on those unpaved, frequently sandy roads). Past Cueva del Diablo, and a strange face carved into a rock archway, down to canyon area they had suggested, when we finally got foiled by a stream we couldn´t cross (Scott: of all the problems I would except in the desert, water wasn´t one of them). so instead wandered down path between two rock slopes, that wound around and didn´t seem to end. scott climbed up rocky side at one point, but when I tried to follow, sending down a shower of pebbles, I practically had a panic attack (not even the bigger rocks were actually attached). fear of falling episode number one....dinner at Cafe Export, pasta and tourists at the table over who turned around, asked me and scott to lean in closer (we were struggling to hear each other over the music), and proceeded to take our picture, us framing a candle and tapestry. it was somewhat bizarre.

Friday: Altiplano tour with Pachamama tours. driving out of town through the desert, then hitting a row of trees that supposedly stop the salar from expanding, then to town of Toconao, which has a waterfall that just seemingly pops out of the rocks. unlike the adobe houses of San Pedro, Toconao is constructed with volcanic stone. Laguna Chaxa, part of the Reserva Nacional Las Flamencos- and flamingos! chilling in the water, in the middle of the desolate salt covered terrain. We were given a lunch of cazuela in Socaire, where tables were set up for all the tours before and after us (its really practically all the same, depending on individual tour guides). Despite the brown landscape around it, there were patches of green in terraced fields- they can grow tons of things subsistance. We then drove up and up, into the altiplano, and to the hidden in the mountains Laguna Tuyajto. It was beautiful- very shallow, light turquiose blue, with whitish salt filled squishy sand, and a purplish mountain on far side. Lagunas Miniques and Miscanti next- nestled in the hills, greener surroundings, blue blue waters. When no one spoke it was just so quiet, except for two birds on the water. And on the way home, a stop by the Tropic of Capricorn where it intersected an Incan secondary road ("used for sacrifices and such").
After frantically signing up for a geyser tour at the last minute, a big group dinner with Chelsea from the altiplano tour, from Colorado, Siobhan from her hostel, and a couple in the room next to us at ours. And Scott´s friend Roberto, who we knew was in town, and ran into randomly). Milagros, with an open ceiling in middle and big bonfire. Not bad, not bad....good conversation and a sense of adventure, in the middle of the desert....
Bed at 2 up at 3- its really bizarre to stumble out of a hostel at 4 AM and find a whole crowd of bleary eyed people waiting for buses. Our Cosmo Andino driver took the "off road" approach to the El Tatio Geysers. Perhaps not as stunning in one sense, as yellowstone´s, but certainly more hands on- there were all this holes of steaming 80 degree celsius water, and no barriers whatsoever- it was don´t get to close, watch your step, and oh yeah, a Spanish doctor fell in last year.
On our way back our tour guide took us through this ravine with precarious rocks, stopped the van, and sure enough a little greenish white viscacha, which blended in nearly perfectly, was staring back at us. Past llamas, the town of Machuca (current pop. 1), and Batman looking at more flamingos through binoculars (and a car looking for Batman aka Spiderman aka Superman aka one of the tour guides), to San Pedro.
After spinning through the Museo Gustavo Le Paige, with its real mummys, Chelsea, Scott and I revisted Pukara de Quitor, this time on foot. More exciting than the hill with reconstructed Incan buildings was the adjacent lookout. We ascended in 20 minutes, and from the top, a stone platform with a cross inscribed in 4 languages, watched a beautiful sunset in silence. And then had to creep our way down in twilight, and THEN had to walk the 3 km to San Pedro in darkness, save the light of a cell phone to reflect water at the stream crossings. To a homemade pasta dinner.

Though exhausted, and therefore a little reluctant, we reported for a horseback ride sunday morning, I to Presidente and Scott to Jefe, the slowest horses of the group (I´d totally called it, too). Past the Pukara, through the river we´d got stuck at with bikes, and up and up and up, until we were overlooking the Valle de la Muerte. It was so bizarre, seeing below us a maze od reddish rocks, but looking out seeing flat pastel land with lone volcanos protruding up at random intervals. We could see into Bolivia, on the other side of Volcan Licancabur, and technically I think into Argentina. It was surreal. And the descent? 300 meters or so down a sand dune ("if your horse falls, help him up...."). Safely at the bottem, we passed through the valle and over the Cordillera de la Sal to San Pedro.

Last event was the postponed Valle de la Luna tour. The guide stopped at this chasm hidden next to a rock wall (fear of falling number two, and how)We stopped at several lookouts, Valle de Marte, before reaching Valle de la Luna. Scott and I climbed another sand dune, and stared out over the flat land with strong rock formations on one side, and the more canyony other side. The last stop was climbing another dune, crossing along its ridge (with Scott finding a seashell in the sand), and perching on a rock ledge to watch the sunset. Scott and I got their first, and it really was like, as Chelsea said, watching lemmings, or cult followers, as more tour vans pulled up and deposited their cargo. Unlike the sunset before though, we oculdn´t stay til the real colors came out....
another home cooked dinner, and Flora so tired she essentially fell asleep while talking.

Monday morning we eschewed the early bus or attempting a tour of Chuquicamata, had a lesiurely breakfast of yogurt and fruit (and Scott perhaps learned that yogurt and kiwi are not the best of combos). Suffered through The Tuxedo again on the bus back to Antofagasta. Managed to catch Bus #15 , which leaves every two hours, to the turn off for Monumento Nacional La Portada. Walked past a dynamite factory and a wall painted with "Pinochet Asesino" to the cliffs and coast, and rock formation. Rushing to catch the same bus to the airport, we thought we missed it, which prompted Scott to make a half hearted hitchhiking effort before the #15 appeared. We walkedthe last 2 km or so into the airport (when have you ever walked to an airport?), the setting sun blocked by perhaps the only shoreside mountain in the entire northern coast. Ah well.

Tired, and I think satisfied, but already hitting post vacation let-down, we closed out the day at "Comida Rapida" in Las Heroes, all bright light and white tables and prefab food, before we parted ways in a chilly Santiago night.