Rain in Atacama Desert
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The bus from Salta to Calama took us to new heights, literally, reaching 4,850m elevation at its peak and staying above 4,000m for 4 hours. We definitely felt the effects of the altitude though fortunately only in the form of light-headedness and shortness of breath.
Arriving in Calama, the whole bus suddenly filled with the sound of cellphones alarming with emergency alerts. The Calama river was about to burst it banks. It wasn’t raining in Calama but I guess it was in the Andes. We weren’t sure how much time we had but no one else seemed too concerned so our panic eased and we began the walk to our hostel.
We weren’t immediately impacted by the flooding but turns out San Pedro had a similar event that would impact us later.
After feeling somewhat stranded during our time in Cafayate and with plenty to see in San Pedro we decided to hire a car for our 4 days here. First time driving in the right side of the road! We grabbed the car at midday the next day and headed for San Pedro, stopping at Valle de la Luna on our way.
We had booked a 12:00 slot at Laguna Piedra for our second day to float weightless a while in the very salty lake so headed out after breakfast. You immediately notice the extra buoyancy.
We then headed to the nearby Laguna Tebinquiche though we didn’t see any flamingos and most of the track was closed, potentially due to the heavy rain a few days before.
The following day we endeavoured to start earlier and make the most of the car, heading into the Andes at 8am, back towards the Argentinian border we crossed on our way here. We originally set our sights for Salar de Tara but soon discovered it required a 4WD which we did not have (despite the high clearance and rear tray). As a result we simply drove the road to see what caught our eye. We ended up stopping at Mirador Quebrada Quepiaco to spot some vicuñas and flamingos before heading further East to Monjes de La Pacana for some impressive rock forms.
We spent almost the entirety of the drive above 4,000m, significantly higher than Aoraki Mt Cook. A good day out despite the change of plans.
A young Vicuña chasing a bird.
We then drove back through San Pedro to Petroglifos Yerbas Buenas to discover it was closed with some flooding damage visible around. We attempted to see if the Valle del Arcoiris was open though the road to it followed the river and was impassable. Bit of an anticlimax for our action packed day but not something we could control.
Having thought 8am was an early start, we knew that the El Tatio geysers were most impressive at sunrise when the difference in temperatures below and above ground was largest, so our alarms were set even earlier at the ripe hour of 4:45am the next morning.
We made the 1.5hr drive out to find that access to the geysers currently required a 4WD, again due to the recent heavy rain. With the sun fast rising and geysers fast receding, we attempted to hitchhike the rest of the way in though of course we were not alone in our intent. The gate wardens eventually let us drive to the first stop where the road was ok in our 2WD truck which was a win enough for us. Here there were mostly only “bubbling hot pools” though by then the air was warming so the geysers had subdued anyway.
A “Bubbling Hot Pool” at El Tatio.
The drive back (now that we could see) was quite nice in itself, adding value to our once again rain-impacted mission.
The plan for this afternoon was to walk from our hostel to the Garganta del Diablo. Of course, on arrival we were told it was closed due to the flooding, not expected to open for another week. A somewhat pleasant walk nonetheless and for myself some well overdue exercise.
On the way back we watched as workers below were redirecting the river. I chipped in (after some gestures on my part and a thumbs up on theirs) and dropped a stone onto the pile by hand. Clean green energy but significantly slower and less effective than the man below.
Workers redirecting the river in the aftermath of the heavy rain in the Andes.
Our final full day in San Pedro we spent returning the car and exploring the town some more. As we were eating dinner it started raining! The locals seemed very amused by this as I guess it is not a regular occurrence.
The next morning we were off early again, this time collected from our hostel as we set off for a 3 day tour to Bolivia across the salt flats!
Links & Lessons Learned
[ SAN PEDRO, CHILE ]
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