Atacama 20 March 2017
Our last day in the Atacama desert was another 5.30am start
as we headed over to the Laguna Verde.
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| Laguna Verde |
We arrived in a valley of rocks just as
the sun was rising and the light on the rock formations was just beautiful if not bizarre.
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| Weired geology |
We arrived here thinking the Atacama Desert would be vast areas of sand dunes but have been completely suprised at the geology and variety we have seen in this area.
From there we headed on to the Laguna Verde which was just lovely and had lots
of Tuca Tuca’s (like small beavers) in burrows round the lake.
We headed round the lake for a walk
and got back in time for Danielo to have got some breakfast ready, we sat the
three of us in the sun with the place to ourselves and took in the scenery and
the atmosphere. Just lovely.
Steve spotted a Viscacha in the rocks and managed to get a quick photo before it disappeared.
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| Vicuna racing - they always win ! |
After racing some Vicuna’s back across the desert (40km an
hour – these animals can sure move) we drove back down another stunning road with
Andean white peaks and volcano’s all the way.
This is the main road from the Bolivian & Argentinian border and used by trucks heading from there & Paraguay to the coast for shipping or collection.
It is a very dangerous road as many of the lorries have no safety checks and it is steep & winding dropping from 4600m to 2800m. There are several roadside shrines from fatal accidents and escape runaway tracks into sandbanks for failing brakes !
Back at the hotel, we had to start thinking about packing up
again for the next day by which time Paul and Mandy were back too so we had a
nice farewell Chile dinner with good wine and headed off to bed.
We have really loved Chile from its southern tip at
Patagonia all the way up to its border with Bolivia at the Atacama. The Andes
have been our constant backdrop with stunning scenery and the people have been
just wonderful, kind and friendly at every turn.
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Roads are very dangeous and there are many
shrines on the bends |
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| 4327m above sea level |
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