North to South in Chile

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Wednesday, October 3, 2018 -

In the truck with Sebastian our guide, we head south from the hotel toward the Lagoons and the largest Salt River Flats in the world near Bolivia.

Forty percent of the lithium in the world comes from this area.

chilie2018 — Mountains behind Laguna Cejar

chilie2018 — Andean gull sitting on mud in the Laguna Piedra the second salt pond we visited.

chilie2018 — Rich in nitrates, the water from the Andes washes down to the basin of this area.

chilie2018 — The flamingos feed off brine shrimp which gives the flamingos their pink color.

chilie2018 — The water of Laguna Cejar is surrounded by grasses - you cannot swim in this lake.

chilie2018 — The place to swim is Laguna Piedra - it is very shallow for 20 feet and then drops into a sinkhole going down several hundred feet.

chilie2018 — We saw large sinkholes.

The people who lived in the area were known to as the 'Leconoti' culture.

These sinkholes are off limits to swimmers - and their water is fresh - or maybe not as salty as other waters.

chilie2018 — A sandpiper walks in the shallow water of Laguna Tebenquiche. This was the largest of the salt lakes we visited.

chilie2018 — The salt water left salt on top of the mud and shore around the lake.

chilie2018 — Salt bushes cover the ground. You can see salt on the leaves and the ground.

chilie2018 — A lizard was the only living thing without wings we saw in the desert surrounding the salt lakes.

chilie2018 — We can see volcanoes on the horizon which are 22,000 feet high and 200 miles away, the terrain looks very barren and desolate. Forty thousand years ago there were many more lagoons.

chilie2018 — On the way back from our morning drive, the truck dropped us into the town of San Pedro where we saw this church built in the early 1600's.

chilie2018 — It is thought to be the second-oldest church in Chile.

chilie2018 — The patron saint of the church is Peter. It has undergone many renovations with the present walls dating back to 1744.

chilie2018 — We walked up and down the street markets and saw a group of street musicians. Lots of backpacking tourists and many expedition places. There are over 35 hotels in the small town as tourisim has skyrocketed in the last 10 years.

We made it back to Awasi for a late lunch of salad greens with avocado and cauliflower soup.

chilie2018 — After lunch we haded to Rainbow Valley and we stopped on the side of the road to see Guanacos, which look a little like Llamas.

In this herd were females, 4 small and one alpha male.

chilie2018 — Seba, nickname for our guide, Sebastian, pointed out a bush or herb that only grows in this area known as Rica Rica to which they spice ice cream and lemonade. We thought it was quite tasty.

chilie2018 — I do not know the name of this cactus, but they were all over the desert floor. Beautiful in the sunlight.

chilie2018 — Reeds in the afternoon light.

chilie2018 — We walked the area known as Rainbow Valley or "Valle del Arcoiris". Parts of the rock formations are thought to look similar to Petra in Jordan.

The volcanoes from the Andes left a red/brown ash which created a variety of colors over the rock formations.

We saw a Siskan, a black bird that displays his yellow feathers when flying.

chilie2018 — We took a short hike into the valley to see the colors. The valley is colored by various minerals like borax, copper, magnesium, salt and of course atacamite - after which the Atacama Desert is named.

chilie2018 — At every turn there was a pretty vista - and the sky was beautiful.

chilie2018 — More of the valley

chilie2018 — Red mountains, blue sky, and white clouds.

chilie2018 — We got back into the trucks and headed to the Petroglyphs that are 5000 years old.

We saw a patch of green on the dessert area that is irrigated by natural springs. There were hoses running from the springs to a reservoir to irrigate the farms below.

On the side of the road, we saw a herd of llamas indicating a shepherd must be nearby. Llamas graze on this area and are adapted for this high altitude.

chilie2018 — These petroglyphs date around 1400 BC and depict shaman, llamas or guanacos and fox.

chilie2018 — At 6:30PM, we headed for our last stop of the day, Valle de Muerte.

On our way, we saw a baby guanaco playing with a young guanaco on the side of the road. Cal captured beautiful pictures of the pup hugging, kicking and jumping about.

chilie2018 — The baby guanaco.

A guanaco's typical lifespan is 20 to 25 years.

chilie2018 — We arrived at the Valley of Death (Valle de la Muerte) as the sun was setting.

With the sun set, we headed back to Awasi.

chilie2018 — Licancabur volcano over 5,000 feet high towers over San Pedro and can be seen from anywhere.

In the past, it used to be a sacred place for the Inca Empire. According to legends, the Incas would carry out religious ceremonies to worship the sun during the zenith of their power.

chilie2018 — The cloud formations were wonderful all over Chile.

chilie2018 — The sun sets in Chile - we pack up the wine and beer and head back to the hotel.

Dinner was a fish stew with crusty mustard honey rolls and creme brulee' for dessert.

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