San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro is a small tourist town located in the heart of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. We stayed here for four days to visit this amazing landscape. The Atacama desert lies between the Pacific Coast and the Andes Mountains and is 1,000-km (600 miles) long. It is the oldest and driest desert in the world. Some parts of the Atacama have never recorded rain. In fact parts of it are so dry that no plant or animal life can survive. But in many parts of the desert fog from the ocean or snow melt provide enough moisture for some plants and animals to live here. In Chile many parts of the desert are protected as part of the Los Flamencos National Reserve. This is co-managed by CONAF (The National Forest Corporation) and the local indigenous population who live in villages scattered around the Atacama..

There is also mining in the Atacama. Copper mining is a key export and in the Atacama the Chuquicamata mine is the largest open pit copper mine in the world. On the Solar de Atacama (salt flats) there are Lithium mines which we saw from a distance. Lithium is used in smartphones, hybrid cars and computers so is also an important export. However there has also been debate in Chile over the impact of the lithium mines as they use a lot of water in the extraction process which is impacting on the flamingo population and other wildlife. We were told that there are plans to possibly pipe sea water from the ocean to the mines to try and solve this problem.

San Pedro de Atacama

Los Ojos Del Salar (The Salt Lake's Eyes)
There are two of these perfectly round fresh water ponds side by side. Nearby to these ponds is Laguna Cejar, where the water has a higher salt concentration than the Dead Sea. I had a swim in this lagoon whereby you float rather than swim because of the salt.

Sunset at Laguna Tebenquiche

Geyser del Tatio. 
At 4200m these are the highest geysers in the world and the third largest in the world with over 80 active geysers.

VicuñaThese animals are related to llamas and roam wild in the Atacama desert.

Just in case you thought we were alone in the desert. We joined the others in the daily tours to visit the sights of the Atacama desert.

Church in Peublo de Machuca. Four people still live in this village which now survives on tourism but in the past  the villagers worked mining sulphur. 

Soca Cornuda birds in the Atacama

Sue at our dining table at the Hostal Edén Atacameño in San Pedro.

Our hostal was pretty basic but did have hot showers in the morning and late at night. Something not to be taken for granted here. Water is a scarce resource and you cannot drink from the tap because it has such a high concentration of minerals.

Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley)

So called because when it rains it is impossible to get out of the valley as the mud becomes so deep. A guide said that people and animals have died in the valley because of this.

Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley)

Formed from stone and sand which have been eroded by wind and water. It looks somewhat similar to the surface of the moon. The white colour is from the salt crystals.

Lake Chaxa. There are three types of Flamingos that live here all year round.

Sue and me at Laguna Miscanti, 4000 metres above sea level. 

Our biggest challenge during our visit to the Atacama was dealing with the high altitude. It is hard work breathing at these elevations. We had mild altitude sickness which also upsets your stomach and affects your appetite. i think I have lost more weight here than in the whole nine weeks doing the bike ride. I have chewed and drunk a lot of cocoa leaves to help relieve the symptoms. The leaves don´t taste very nice but they are not too bad soaked in a hot cup of tea.