After our Bolivian nightmare, we ended our tour of the salt flats in the huge, dry desert of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. Spending a week based in the pleasant little town (the only sign of civilisation for miles around), Atacama was a huge improvement on the past week we had had. We were finally able to relax, away from the constant threat of food-poisoning and spontaneous political outbreaks of violence. We spent the week making the most of the activities that San Pedro’s beautiful surroundings had to offer; visiting Moon and Death Valley, the piedras rojas (red stones), various stunning lakes, natural hot springs, as well as sandboarding, horse-riding and stargazing. Seeing the Milky Way in all its glory with my naked eye, and looking through one of South America’s biggest telescopes to clearly see Saturn with all its rings was a true highlight.
The Atacama is an amazing place, being South America’s driest desert it understandably receives very little rainfall. On a tour of Moon Valley we were shown strange marks in the rocks, and whole areas of rock that had been completely destroyed by the extreme weather caused by La Niña in 2012. We were told that the rainfall was so intense that more rain fell in two days than had fallen in the last 8 years! We may complain about British weather, but it certainly isn’t as sporadic and bizarre as it is in Chile…
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Santiago. After travelling for five weeks, there were many things I had missed about living in a (comparatively functional) capital city. Relaxing into our apartment, it was a relief not to have to sleep in a coat and hat against the cold any more. We’d finally finished living out of a rucksack and hostel-hopping, with sometimes very basic accommodation and living conditions. It was a novelty to be able to drink the tap water and have a hot shower, with the added luxury of a decent wifi signal and more plug sockets than 1 per 6-bed dorm. Welcome to the 21st century again.
We had been warned about the torrential rain, storms and flooding in Santiago and the surrounding area. It seemed like the gods were on our side this time, however, because as soon as we got there the rain miraculously stopped. To add to this, we saw news reports the next day of torrential rain and horrendous weather conditions in the North from where we had just come, where the ‘El Niño’ weather phenomenon was predicted…
I spent the last week saying my goodbyes to Santiago, and revisiting all my favourite places before the inevitable flight back to the UK. We also got the chance to visit Valparaiso; where we did a free walking tour, admired plentiful street art, climbed many colourful hills and sampled The Clinic Bar’s finest cocktails on the rooftop with a panoramic view of the city at sunset. A beautiful end to a beautiful year in a beautiful country.
Houses – Valparaiso
Street Art – Valparaiso
Piano Steps – Valparaiso
Steps – Valparaiso
Valparaiso
The Clinic – Valparaiso
Chloe in Chile 