San Pedro (St Peter) De Atacama

Arrived San Perdro de Atacama after a 6 hour bus drive from Antofagasta. A pleasant journey, and the landscape change from Semi-arid to dry. A gradual transition as we climbed from sea-level to 2408m above.

St Peter's meet (San Pedro de Atacama and Panchgani)

San Pedro de Atacama is a town set on an arid high plateau in the Andes mountains of northeastern Chile. Its dramatic surrouding landscape incorporates desert, salt flats, volcanoes, geysers and hot springs.

Town neat and clean. Sprayed with water to prevent dust from flying around

A Sleepy old town - Actually was crowded due to the long weekend of Halloween

Could not resist and bought a white shirt

We visited the Hot Springs (Spanish: Termas Baños de Puritama) which is a series of eight large pools of geothermal spring water located at the bottom of a canyon. It is located at an altitude of 3,475 meters above sea level, 30 km northeast of the town and of San Pedro de Atacama. The springs were warm, but the cold wind blowing through the canyon made one feel really cold. So back jumped in. It was an afternoon trip and returned back early evening, before the after sunset chill set in

Top of the canyon. Bitterly cold even with blue skies

David enjoying himself in the springs

Peaceful and beautiful - but COLD

The next morning we drove up to lagoon Chaxa, to watch flamingos. It is located near a town called Toconao around 50 km south of San Pedro. It is on the way to Miscanti and Miniques, so during one day, we combined two places

We visited Piedras Rojas (Red Stome) and one must see the blue of the water yourself. Light azure maybe? And the red of the interesting shaped lava rocks. Iron was deposited in the sand millions of years ago. It was a rough ride by bus to get here but so worth it. Luckily we were wrap up well it was oh so cold. It's the wind mostly.

Two of us hiding from the bitterly cold winds

Trying to get into formation

Shortly after this picture was taken, Davis's cap flew into the lagoon. We had a tough time rescuing it.

In the bitter cold the School Flag was flying once again - "With a little help from my friends"

One of the most stunning landscapes in and around Atacama are the Volcanoes. It is surrounded by them, most of them dormant. Even as one moves around the area, on of the volcano dominates the view. They climb up to 5000m and their appear as a perfect triangle. The Licancabur vocano is in charge of controlling the City of San Pedro de Atacama, but it is not alone

David and the tour guide picked up a large pieces of ice for the Ice box to have later a very Chilean drink

We drove down to Miscanti Lake (Spanish: Laguna Miscanti) which is a brackish water lake . Miñiques volcano and Cerro Miscanti tower over this lake. This heart-shaped lake has a deep blue color.

Located 4000 meters above sea level, these four lagoons are in the middle of a magical natural landscape, surrounded by mountains

The western shoreline of the lake is separated by less than 1 km from the drainage divide between the lake and the Salar de Atacama basins.Laguna Miscanti basin also has a common boundary with Salar de Talar basin.

A lava flow from an eruption of Miñiques separated Miscanti Lake from Miñiques Lake.

As in most of the sites, restricted areas are marked out. One could not visit the shores of the lake, but did notice a black bird (more like a large swan).

The Three Marias in the background

On our way back 4pm, stopped for lunch at a small town and visited the local church

Moon Valley

On your visit to the driest desert in the world, we could not miss the opportunity to see the geologically spectacular Moon Valley.

It is a couple of kilometers outside of San Pedro de Atacama, between the jagged rocks and unusual shapes of the Cordillera de la Sal (Salt Mountains), is the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley),. We took in the extraordinary shapes of the landscape, which will make one feel as if you were walking on the moon. During the afternoon, you can enjoy the unbeatable views of the Andes and its volcanoes. As dusk falls we were overwhelmed by the red and golden colors of the desert sky. All this results in a simply unforgettable tour. I let the pictures do the talking.