Oh well hello there my blog-followers!
I am currently blogging from San Pedro de Atacama, which is in the northern-most part of Chile and home to the driest desert in the world. We are doing so much and seeing so much that I just couldn't wait until I got home to start blogging sooo here goes nothing:
Day 1 (Friday, October 28)
We woke at the crack of dawn to be on a bus around 5:00AM taking us to the airport where we boarded our flight to Calama, Chile. Then we bused for another hour or so up to San Pedro de Atacama. We are at a much higher altitude (2400m or 7900ft) so thus we must be careful not to get altitude sickness. (So far so good!) Also, it is incredibly dry up here so we are drinking water like it's our job. And not the tap water, might I add, due to metal contamination. Furthermore, the temperature is very extreme, dropping below zero up in the mountains to getting up into the 80s with a very strong sun that makes a hat and sunscreen a must. Up here in the desert, we are surrounded by copper, nitrate, and other mineral mines. We actually passed the largest copper mine in the world on our way from the airport. Pues, once we got settled in to the airport, we took a little walk around the small, quaint town of San Pedro. Not too much going on... Very touristy. However, we did manage to book a tour for the next day (Saturday), which brings me to...
Day 2 (Saturday, October 29)
Again, waking up at the crack of dawn (3:30AM for the second day in a row), we put on our swimsuits then bundled up with layers upon layers. Being picked up at 4:20AM, ten of us headed up the mountains with the starry sky looking more beautiful than ever! I even saw my first shooting star!! Another note: Because of the high altitude and nearly non-existent clouds as well as lack of light pollution and radio interference, the Atacama desert is one of the best places to conduct astronomical observations and is home to some of the biggest and most high-powered telescropes in the world. Thus we will be going on an astronomical tour in a few days. Pues, where were we headed so early exactly? El Tatio, a geyser field with over 80 active geyers. It was INCREDIBLE. I truly need to invent a new adjective to describe the astounding beauty of the combination of mountains, desert, geyers, and just the vastness of the scenery in general. Well, hopefully you'll check out my pictures and see just what I'm talking about. On another note, boy was it cold up there!! However, with a little guts, we all stripped off all our layers and headed for the thermal baths. Hahaha. What an experience. It was all great and lovely until we had to get out of the water. Yikes!! An experience nonetheless, and that's what we are here for - to experience. Among the 80+ geyers, there was even a volcano with smoke coming from the top - the real deal! Sooo beautiful. On the trekk back, we stopped at random points on the (very, very, very bumpy) road to take pictures of beautiful panoramic scenes and the wild animals, such as burros, flamingos, and vicunas (a llama-looking animal that is only found at high altitudes). Anyways the beauty was overwhelming.
Part two of day two consisted of touring an ancient fortress, which was fun, but the best part of the afternoon/evening was going to a national park - Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). It was like being on another planet, hince the name. It is so desolate and dry with differing rock formations from varying minerals etc. I honestly felt like I was on Mars, so uninhabited but so beautiful in its own way. The desert is surprisingly beautiful. In the Valle de la Luna, we also climbed a huge sand dune in order to watch the sunset across the landscape. More or less, breathtaking. Although I was a little bummed because due to the crazy wind whipping sand to and fro my amazing light pink Iowa Hawkeyes hat blew off and down the dune, which later I was prohibed from retrieving it because we aren't allowed to walk on the actual dune. Major bummer. So I guess I'll have to put that on my Christmas list (haha) or just wait until I get back to Iowa to buy a new one, although I will have to buy a replacement down in Chile due to the muy fuerte sun. Anywhoo I'll survive. Hopefully a Chilean will find my hat and decide it is cool enough to sport around! After the park and dinner, it was straight to the showers for all of us. We were all absolutely filthy with sand, dirt, and dust. Best shower of my life (or at least in the running). Although I'll probably be finding sand amongst all my things for weeks to come... Oh well, when in San Pedro... :)
Day 3 (Sunday, October 30)
The morning of our third day here, we were able to witness a traditional native (blend of Chilean, Peruvian, and Bolivian) baptism ceremony of our program director's daughter. How lucky we were to be able witness this personal and emotional ceremony. I can't even begin to describe all that occurred. I will note, however, that this baptism was not of water, but a hair-cutting ceremony. It was actually pretty cool the way everything occurred. The godparents carried out the ceremony with the whole community present. It was a very emotional and special day for our program director, his wife, daughter (obviously), and friends and relatives. Moreover, it was very cool that we were about to be there to share in the special ceremony. We even got to try coca leaves, which are supposed to help altitude sickness etc. Also a kinda cool experience. The rest of the afternoon I laid by the pool and got tan. :) Success!! Now we are heading for dinner and then the ASTRONOMY TOUR!!! We get to look at the stars in the best place to look at the stars etc. in the world. Wow!
Astonomy Tour = EPIC. Absolutely mindblowing. We learned a ton about the rotation of the earth, planets etc. in our solar system as well as about constallations and how people 3.000+ years ago would have looked at the sky. We also got to look through telescopes to get a closer look at Beetlejuice, Sirius (the brightest star in the sky), the third star of Orion's sword, the Seven Sisters, two orbiting stars (which really look like one), another galaxy, a star cluster that looks like a giant spider, the small Magellanic cloud, and the big one was Jupiter and her four moons. WOW. We also got bombarded with facts about how far away all of this really is - thousands of lightyears away... It was all just so incredible. The stars, galaxies, planets and everything else in between just makes me feel so small, which makes the fact that God created all of this yet He loves us, humans, so much and desires a personal relationship with each of us all the more unbelieveably amazing. Throughout this whole trip to the desert, I have been astounded by the variety of beauty God has created. He is unmatchable on every single level imaginable.
Day 4 (Monday, October 31)
Happy Halloween everyone!! Day four of our desert excursion took us to the salt flats. What used to be a giant (I think they said the 3rd biggest in the world) salt lake is now a huge space of flat yet bumpy ground filled with salt. We literally took a little taste of the rocks and yes, salty it was indeed. Amongst this rocky and salty terrain was a few fresh water lagoons that are home to many creatures of which the flamingo is the most well-known. Flamingos everywhere! Surrounded by volcanoes and mountains and fresh water lagoons. An oasis in the middle of the driest desert in the world. Chile is an amazing country with an amazingly large variety of environments - from deserts to glaciers, wine valleys to volcanos, the Andes mountains to the Pacific ocean... With Chile you can literally travel to the end of the world. What a country! What a country indeed. ((PS again, the rest of the afternoon, I laid out by the pool and worked on my "tan" - tough life I know. And for the record, I did get t-a-n, which is an accomplishment for my general pale skin. Must have been the Atacama sun! Magical.))
Day 5 (Tuesday, November 1)
Departure Day... However, in the morning we went to the Puritama hot springs, which were exactly like an oasis in the desert. Absolutely gorgeous as well!! ((Note: On our way to the airport we stopped at the most well-known memorial for those who were murdered by the regime of Pinochet (dictator) after the coup in 1973. Very cool especially since I had just watched a documentary with my class called Nostalgia de la Luz about the Atacama desert and those murdered/disappeared during the dictatorship and how families are still searching for their loved ones in the barren, vast desert as the astronomers are searching amongst the stars and galaxies as well.))
The desert never ceases to surprise me or amaze me. Throughout the entire time I was there, I was constantly in awe of the beauty of this seemingly-barren land. I think I fell in love with the desert. No joke. Totally unlike me, seeing as I prefer cool weather to the scorching heat, busy cities to vast landscapes, and so on and so forth. However, the Atacama desert is enchanting.
Anyways check out the pictures and I apologize if this blog was a bit all over the place. Currently it is 1AM and I am unpacking from the desert (the amount of sand is unbelievable) and repacking for Montevideo and Buenos Aires. I have to be up at 4AM to get ready to catch my ride to the airport for our morning flight. Thus, I am wondering if I should even sleep! Ridiculous but totally worth not sleeping. Soooo stay tuned for Buenos Aires and Montevideo!! :)
¡Ciao!
Sarah
PS the pictures might not be posted quite yet... slow internet connection!
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