We had two nights in this great little town...somewhat overrun by foreign tourists. Great selection of tour agencies as well as eating houses. Our accommodation (Hostel Lickna) was very good, we had a big room with 3 beds plus en suite for $35000 pesos per night (exchange rate US$1 = $545 Chilean pesos). We arrived from Calama around 1.30pm, we couldn't meet the time requirements of 2pm for the Cactus tour of Valle del luna and valle del muerte, so has to settle for a later tour with another company. There were 12 of us on the tour and we were the only two oldies on it. Got to meet a nice Brazilian guy and a Spanish girl, both spoke English pretty well. The tour took us to some great places, however the wind was at gale force (hard to stand at times) which meant you were sand blasted every time you ventured out of the van. We were taken to a vantage point where we could see the Atacama salt plain, with volcanoes in the background (we were in the Andes). After that we were taken to the Valle de muerte (Death Valley) where we walked down the canyon. The name came about because of language, the first priests in the area were from France and they mixed up Valley of Mars to Death when converting to Spanish (well that's what the guide told us). The last part of the trip was to the Valle del Luna (Valley of the moon). The landscape was just as you would imagine the moon. We climbed up beside some large sand dunes (not allowed on these, we were in a national park) to sit on a ridge and watch the sun set, getting the different colours of the the rocks. Altitude got to me (around 2500metres above sea level), struggled a little going up the incline. Once up it was worth it, mind you every time you exposed yourself above the ridge line you got sand blasted. AS soon as the sun set, the temperature dropped. This part of the Atacama gets seasonal rain (in summer i.e December/Jan. They call it the Bolivian winter).
We had a very nice meal that evening, great wine as well.
On Thursday we left at 6am to the Salar and Andean lagoons. The hostel had given us a small breakfast the night before which was much appreciated. Our first stop was at laguna Chaxa (salt lakes) where we got to see three different flamingo species feeding (they live on the brine shrimp that feed off the algae). It was very cold (but no wind). Had breakfast (excellent) then we went on to a small town (Toconao) and onto an Even smaller village (Socaire) which had an adobe church (we later had lunch here). Then it was on to two Altiplano lakes - Miscanti andMiniques. Surrounded by volcanoes. We walked between the two lakes and were lucky enough to see a couple of small herds of Vicunas. Any walking was difficult because of the altitude (around 4500metres). This group were all around our age and very interesting. We discussed drug running in Bolivia (that is where our driver grew up) and this lead onto the politics of Chile and Argentina in the 1970's and 1980's- where they had military dictators and where a significant number of people just disappeared. One of the group was part of a European investigation team that visited Chile during that time, he said he felt most unsafe. Anyway we had a great time talking about the current unrest (the local Indians in southern Chile want some recognition from the government. They are undertaking some violent protests at the moment, which is troubling a few middle class Chileans as they feel that the military is just watching and may in the future have another coupe.
The tour was great. Can't recommend Cactus tours enough. The tour guide was great also, very knowledgeable. He is planning to travel and work in NZ very soon (Chileans up to 30 can get a 1 year work visa for NZ).
Friday, we had a great breakfast sitting in the sun. Our bus to Calama left at 1pm, so we had time to have another look around the town and for Lynley to do a little shopping.
The bus trip to Calama was very good. Had a two hour break at Calama before our 6 hour bus trip to Iquique. Lynley fell for a little street dog with big brown eyes (she wanted to adopt it and take it back to NZ).
The trip went well, bus not to the standard as the first, but they showed a great movie (Transporter 3- in English), which helped past the time. Arrived in Iquique around 10.30, got a taxi to the hotel (Lynley had turned down a ride with a lady who was on the bus and concerned about us - just a language problem). The hotel room was very big. The night porter directed us to a local take away for a late meal. The guy behind the counter was friendly and couldn't do enough for us. Had a great sleep.
The tours: The Valle del luna was around $8000 pesos each plus $2000 park entrance each. The full day one was $35000 each plus $6000 park entrance fees each (but did include English speaking guide and b/fast and 3 course lunch.
We had a very nice meal that evening, great wine as well.
On Thursday we left at 6am to the Salar and Andean lagoons. The hostel had given us a small breakfast the night before which was much appreciated. Our first stop was at laguna Chaxa (salt lakes) where we got to see three different flamingo species feeding (they live on the brine shrimp that feed off the algae). It was very cold (but no wind). Had breakfast (excellent) then we went on to a small town (Toconao) and onto an Even smaller village (Socaire) which had an adobe church (we later had lunch here). Then it was on to two Altiplano lakes - Miscanti andMiniques. Surrounded by volcanoes. We walked between the two lakes and were lucky enough to see a couple of small herds of Vicunas. Any walking was difficult because of the altitude (around 4500metres). This group were all around our age and very interesting. We discussed drug running in Bolivia (that is where our driver grew up) and this lead onto the politics of Chile and Argentina in the 1970's and 1980's- where they had military dictators and where a significant number of people just disappeared. One of the group was part of a European investigation team that visited Chile during that time, he said he felt most unsafe. Anyway we had a great time talking about the current unrest (the local Indians in southern Chile want some recognition from the government. They are undertaking some violent protests at the moment, which is troubling a few middle class Chileans as they feel that the military is just watching and may in the future have another coupe.
The tour was great. Can't recommend Cactus tours enough. The tour guide was great also, very knowledgeable. He is planning to travel and work in NZ very soon (Chileans up to 30 can get a 1 year work visa for NZ).
Friday, we had a great breakfast sitting in the sun. Our bus to Calama left at 1pm, so we had time to have another look around the town and for Lynley to do a little shopping.
The bus trip to Calama was very good. Had a two hour break at Calama before our 6 hour bus trip to Iquique. Lynley fell for a little street dog with big brown eyes (she wanted to adopt it and take it back to NZ).
The trip went well, bus not to the standard as the first, but they showed a great movie (Transporter 3- in English), which helped past the time. Arrived in Iquique around 10.30, got a taxi to the hotel (Lynley had turned down a ride with a lady who was on the bus and concerned about us - just a language problem). The hotel room was very big. The night porter directed us to a local take away for a late meal. The guy behind the counter was friendly and couldn't do enough for us. Had a great sleep.
The tours: The Valle del luna was around $8000 pesos each plus $2000 park entrance each. The full day one was $35000 each plus $6000 park entrance fees each (but did include English speaking guide and b/fast and 3 course lunch.
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