Chile - Desert

This really is a magical mystery tour. We’ve no idea what were up to next. We’re in the middle of the driest desert on Earth. You’re probably expecting me to say that it was raining when we arrived. No chance. We haven’t even seen a cloud yet. It last rained in 2001. We’re in a small town, San Pedro de Atacama, which is a little oasis of green thanks to the two rivers that flow into it. We’re surrounded by mountains and volcanoes of course. One is picture perfect, an exact cone. It doesn’t look real, like a comic book volcano. There’s also an active volcano called Laska, which continually smokes like a brooding teenager. Luckily the prevailing wind always takes its ashes into Argentina and away from us.

We’re booked into this luxury, all inclusive adventure holiday camp. Even the drinks are included so I don’t know how they let us in. It’s a kind of Chilean Centre Parks for the Rich. Indeed, all the guests appear to be mega rich, except us of course.

The way it works here is that everyone meets up in the bar before dinner with the guides to decide what excursions to do tomorrow. There’s hiking, horse riding and mountain bike riding, but we just stuck with the walking. You go out in air conditioned mini vans in small groups, usually between 6 and 8 with a guide and then start the walk. At the end of the excursion, the same vehicle is waiting with icy cold beers – brilliant.

Our first trek was in moon valley. It turns out that the moon is in northern Chile, and not in outer space as previously thought. Barren rocks, craters, and dust. You get the picture. If the lunar landings were faked, this is where they did it.

On Christmas day we opted for a gentle stroll up river for a couple of hours to a hot spring. We jumped in and relaxed in the water that was like a warm bath, while the chefs prepared a wonderful lunch with prawns, smoked salmon, salads, cheese with wine and beer. This is the life.

The most memorable hike was up a volcano. Yes, that’s not a typo – a volcano. We were running out of options for excursions the previously night and were somehow talked into this crazy escapade. Next morning, Mags wimped out with some excuse about having a cold, so it was just me and 4 other hardy souls heading out into the hills. The minibus took us most of the way so it wasn’t such a massive challenge. We had to ascend about 500 metres, but this was at altitude so it was a bit trickier – really hard to catch your breath. For some reason, I wasn’t affected as much as other people and found it quite easy to get to the top. We were at 5650 metres, and had amazing views into Bolivia and Argentina, and with the clear day could see for hundreds of kilometres – really exhilarating.

Off to the lakes next where we’re hoping to see a bit of green.