Salt Flats and Chile

11 October, San Pedro de Atacama

Finally got off on our tour of the Salt Flats a few days back. We fell in with a great crew for our three day, two night tour. Of the ten starters in our group, eight were Australians and two were Dutch. Naturally enough we were by far the oldest in the group, but that was no problem for us nor the rest of our group. We headed off about 11:00am and from the start it was full-on for the whole three days. We travelled in two Toyota Landcruisers, which were comfortable enough, but no luxury ride either. The Uyuni Salt Flats are one of those few features that can be clearly seen from space. The horizon is so distant that it is easy to see the curvature of the earth. One of the must-do things on the Flats is to take "'silly" pictures. People bring along props like plastic toys and stuffed animals to set up bizarre shots, using the distant horizon and flatness of the landscape to create photo-illusions. During the afternoon of the first day, the wind started to increase, bringing a bitter chill that had us all reaching for cold weather gear.

Our first night was in a hotel constructed entirely of salt bricks. Chairs, beds and the floor were all salt. We scored a private double room with toilet, so we were comfortable and, with sleeping bags supplied by the tour company, we were snug and warm. The food throughout the trip was great, considering that it all had to be prepared from makings bought along in the vehicles.

From the Salt Flats we climbed higher up into the Andes, driving through some of the most spectacular scenery we have seen anywhere in the world. Sand hills, boulder-strewn plains, remnants of coral reefs that today have become cactus islands in a sea of Salt and, of course, the mountains themselves.

Although the second night was in very basic accommodation, we had the advantage of having the nearby hot springs to ourselves for an after-dinner dip. The desert stars were out in their full glory on a cloudless night. We stayed in the springs until, prune-like, we struggled back to our lodgings in the pitch dark.

The last morning was a bit of a rush as it had started to snow during the night and there was some concern that we might not get to the border in time to catch the bus into Chile. By the time we got moving the wind was almost blowing us off our feet and the chill factor must have driven the temperature down well below -5C. That didn't stop us from piling out of the warm cars to see the enormous flocks of flamingos on Red Lake. In peak breeding season, more than one hundred thousand birds cover the lake. Today there were nothing like those numbers but there would have been several thousand birds. The flamingos here are especially pink, even red. This is brought about by the red algae they eat on the lake.

Our exit from Bolivia was easy enough. We even had a happy, smiling official. Things were a little more difficult entering Chile. Formalities are managed by the bus load, so with only two windows operating and a half a dozen buses arriving, processing through Immigration was extremely slow. Customs is very strict entering Chile. Every bag is hand-searched. After probably an hour or so, we were on our way into San Pedro de Atacama.

We hadn't realised it until we tried booking accommodation, but this is a long weekend in Chile for Columbus Day. We had settled for a four bed room in a Hostal about 1km from the town centre. For the price ($160 AUD an night) we would have expected a fairly classy place. What we have is a bit basic, but there is hot water and comfortable beds.

San Pedro is a bit of a culture shock after Bolivia. Most noticeable is the predominance of people of Spanish origin, rather than indigenous folk. Almost 90% of Chileans are of Spanish heritage. We have seen very few "Indians". Wandering the streets, one could easily be in any southern Spanish city. Next shock was the prices. Eating out yesterday we found prices on a par with home. While San Pedro has some poorer, Bolivian-like dwellings on the outskirts, things are a lot flasher in the middle of town. White-washed adobe is the favoured look in the small town centre. Dozens of tour agencies compete  for space with restaurants and up-market craft shops on the dusty streets and, on this holiday weekend, the streets are packed with city trendies who well out-number the tourists and travellers.

Today was to be a rest day for us to catch up on some washing and shake off some of the dust from our Salt Flats tour. We did however manage a 3 km walk out to the ruins of Pukara de Quitor, the site of the last stand of the Atacama peoples against the Spanish. As you might have guessed, the outcome was fairly well pre-ordained. The Spanish overcame the local defenders, beheading 300 warriors.


13 October,  Tur Bus, Antofagasto to Copiapo

Two fairly solid days of bus travel will bring us to Copiapo - five hours yesterday and another six today. Most of yesterday and all of this morning we have travelled through desert - not at all an attractive landscape. Sulphur mines, copper mines and various other activities that involve large trucks throwing clouds of fine dust into the air, line the well-maintained highway for hundreds of kilometers. Virtually all traffic is mine-related. Heavy tankers haul sulphuric acid, ore trucks rumble along the highway and dozens of fire-engine red mine utes rip through the desert, aerials and orange flags swishing wildly in the almost white dust.The coastal plain is at its narrowest here, less than one kilometre in many places and the country is fairly desolate, not even enough vegetation to support any grazing

14 October, Copiapo.

So this is Chile? Very nice. Malls, flash cars, supermarkets, clean streets and everything a modern developed/developing country should have. And all credit to the Chileans. They have built and are building what will probably be the first country in South America to boast the "Developed Nation" tag. We aren't sure who hands out these gongs, but by all reports and from what we have seen so far, Chile is well on the way to gaining one. Now we don't begrudge the nice people of Chile their increasing prosperity, but we have to say that we miss the more "gritty" parts of west coast South America. Viva Bolivia and Viva Peru! There cars don't stop at stop signs. Zebra crossings are just interesting decorations on the roadways and every taxi beeps us as they pass. We were stunned today when traffic stopped at a give way sign to let us cross! That doesn't even happen in Australia! What thrill is there in life if traffic actually stops to let you cross the road? No dog poo on the footpaths.  Very few dogs on the streets. No hawkers, or dancing restaurant touts (female) and no colectivo conductors hanging out of mini bus doors yelling at us.

It might sound strange, but we miss it already.

On a more positive note, Chile is very safe for travellers, everything works, there is electricity 24 hours a day and life, at least in the small towns and cities we have seen so far, is very laid-back.

On our stroll through the town today, we did discover one gem - the Atacama Regional Museum. Here, along with the usual bits and pieces that grace these regional collections, was the actual rescue vehicle that was used to free 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground by a mining cave-in in 2010. At first we thought it might have been Chile's first attempt at a space vehicle, but we eventually figured out what it was. Our Spanish is obviously getting better!

So we will take advantage of the relative sophistication of Chile to have a bit of a holiday for the last week of our time in South America. We are off to the beach resort of La Serena tomorrow, then to Valparaiso on the coast near Santiago.

15 October, La Serena

Just a 4 hour bus trip today. The scenery doesn't change much in northern Chile. Desert, mines and then some more desert. What is of note is that Chile seems to have embarked on some major infrastructure projects using the bounty from the mining boom. Much of the Pan American highway that runs the length of Chile is dual carriageway and many parts that aren't are being rebuilt.

La Serena is yet another very modern city. It is a long way from the dusty roads of Bolivia to the tree-lined boulevards of La Serena. We took a long walk to the beach this morning with high expectations. We were sorely disappointed! The sand was grey, the surf flat and worst of all,  the dunes behind the beach were best described bas a rubbish dump. Building materials,  bags of household refuse and piles of rotting garden trimmings littered the whole area, including parts of the beach. Most unattractive!