First semester of teaching=done. Crazy. To celebrate, a few friends and I decided to go on vacation to different cities. First stop: La Serena. Abby, Sam, Andrew and I decided to take a bus up north to the beach town of La Serena and head into Valle de Elqui (aka Pisco Valley). It was really nice to get out of a major metropolitan city and go to a nice, quieter beach town. And boy was it a beach town. Our hostel was literally right next door to a fish market so it definitely smelled like seafood. The first day we there we decided to take a tour to Valle de Elqui. Our driver took us into the mountains and the sky was literally a crystal clear blue. No smog! It was sunny and warm out which was so nice. We got to see the valley, walk around, and go to the Gabriela Mistral museum (she was the first and so far the only Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize). Then we went to lunch at a solar-powered restaurant where solar-panels cooked my meal which consisted of goat (delicious). Later, we toured a Pisco distillery (Pisco is a national Chilean (and Peruvian) drink distilled from grapes that tastes like brandy) and got to try samples of this Chilean favorite. At night, we went to an observatory to look through telescopes and look at the INCREDIBLE stars. The Southern Hemisphere has different constellations (including the Southern Cross) and Valle de Elqui is notorious for having some of the most cloudless, clear nights for star-gazing. It was incredible. I could literally see the Milky Way with my naked eye. Through the telescope, we saw Saturn and its rings/moons, and Mars. I also saw some shooting stars and the Andean constellations. Anything about outer-space is truly mind-blowing and I was even more blown-away after this tour. The next day, we walked around the beach, saw the Faro (lighthouse) and made tacos at our hostel. I could not have asked for a better start to my winter vacation.
I arrived back in Santiago and had a few days to recover and get ready for the next trip. I packed my backpack and got ready to fly north to the desert. Abby, Sam, Trisha and I were stoked to explore the northern part of Chile/Bolivia. We flew to Calama and took a bus to San Pedro de Atacama, the driest desert in the world. Since it is a desert (and it is winter), we knew it was going to be warm/hot during the day and COLD at night. But we were not prepared for the cold that was awaiting us. One of the first activities we did was take a tour to Valle de la Muerte/Luna. Valle de La Muerte (Death Valley) was originally called Valle de la Marte (Mars Valley) but people misinterpreted it to be called Valle de la Muerte (where in fact no one has ever died, thankfully). The valley was incredible. And it was hot. Later, we took a bus to a salt cave and crawled through caves literally made out of salt. Next stop was Valle de la Luna to watch the sunset. Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) is supposed to resemble the moon and from my superior knowledge of the moon (ha) it certainly did.
Once the sun went down, we went back to our hostel and prepared to wake up for sunrise the next morning. Our bus picked us up at 4 in the morning and drove us to the El Tatio Geysers for sunrise. We had been informed to bundle up. Bundling up did not help. It was FREEZING (-11 Celsius approximately 10 degrees Fahrenheit but it felt A LOT colder). We got out of the bus and couldn't feel our toes or our fingers. But it was still really cool to see the geysers at sunrise. They were fuming with steam and smelled like sulfur and rotten eggs (most of that was due to the fact that our tour included breakfast which meant hardboiled eggs cooked by the geysers and chocolate milk boiled to become hot chocolate). The sun came up and it was still cold but the sun helped make us feel warmer. We had the opportunity to go swimming in thermal baths but we all refused. Our tour continued through the mountains and we saw the local Vicuña animal (related to the camel), some llamas, and ate DELICIOUS goat cheese empanadas.
Later that day we went to Laguna Cejar, which is a Salt Lagoon in San Pedro where you literally float because of the salt density. It was pretty cold so I didn't get all the way in but it was definitely salty and made your skin feel incredibly dry. Then we went to the "Ojos de Sal" (Salt Eyes) which were two smaller lagoons that literally reflected everything. It was approximately sunset so I was able to get a cool picture where you can perfectly see my reflection. Finally, we went to the last lagoon at sunset which had a spectacular view/reflection of the San Pedro de Atacama volcano. I need to get a better camera because my pictures do not even begin to do the colors and the scenery justice...
One of the coolest parts of the trip was going to Bolivia. We woke up early Thursday morning and went through Chilean immigration. We took a bus to the Chile/Bolivia border and had to pay an entrance fee (because the United States charges other countries to enter the United States, the other countries such as Chile, Argentina and Bolivia charge a reciprocity fee. Sometimes being a United States citizen has its disadvantages). After paying the fee, we met our driver and our group who we would be 4 Wheel Driving through the Bolivian desert with: A British couple named Kirsty and Alex and our driver Guido. It was pretty cool to be driving through the desert but I could definitely understand why 4WD was needed. It was sandy, dusty, and bumpy literally in the middle of nowhere. The first day in Bolivia consisted of going to gorgeous Lagunas (Lagoons), thermal baths (again I didn't get in because it was WAY TOO COLD outside), eating lunch, meeting the other groups who were 4WD with us, and seeing flamingos. That night we heard it was going to be "the coldest" night but it actually wasn't as bad as I though. A few of us decided to take our "torches" (flashlights) as the British like to call it and walk to the store to get some wine. The other 4WD cars had 4 British people, 1 Australian, 3 Dutch, 4 French, and 1 Brazilian so we all decided to teach other games that night. We learned about Fuzzy Duck/Ducky Fuzz, Goodday Bruce/Sheila, Candy Shop, Jimmy 1 Spot, etc. I can't wait to teach all my friends back in the States about these fun games. It was a great first day in Bolivia.
Even though the first nigh wasn't the coldest, I still managed to sleep in 2 pairs of socks, long underwear, sweatpants, a long sleeve shirt, 2 sweaters, 2 blankets, a comforter and 2 more blankets on top of that. I had a sleeping bag but I didn't need to use it that night. Let's just say when you are 4500 meters above sea level (approximately 15,00 feet) in the middle of Bolivian mountains and desert, it is COLD. The second day we went to a Piedra de Árbol (rock tree), some more lagunas, a volcano, saw some more flamingos, and drove more through the desert. That night we were guaranteed a hot shower and let me tell you, everyone literally ran to the shower haha. It was hot but the water pressure was pretty much nonexistent. We stayed in a Salt Hostel where literally everything was made from salt (the floors, the walls, the tables, everything). We stayed right outside the Salar de Uyuni which was our main destination of the trip. That night, we played more games and had even more fun interacting with all the groups.
After a fun night, we woke up to watch the sunrise over the Salt Flats. Then, we drove to an "island" in the middle of the salt flat where there are tons of cacti and incredible views of the salt. Salar de Uyuni is 12000 sq km and 10 m deep. That's a LOT of salt. It is the biggest salt flat in the world. Salt Lake City is close behind but I have never been there. When we drove into the middle of the flats, we began to have tons of fun taking crazy pictures because of the lack of depth perception and the bright reflection. We pretended like we were climbing on things, holding people, having dance parties, and doing super creative things. It was difficult to arrange the photos and it took a lot of time and patience. We could have spent hours playing around there but our driver was getting inpatient and wanted us to leave haha. The sun and the reflection definitely made it a hot day and no matter how much sunscreen I put on I couldn't avoid getting burned. Then we made our way to the town of Uyuni, I bought a shot glass and dice made out of salt and a Bolivian bracelets (I am notorious for buying and wearing bracelets from every country I go to and wearing them until they fall off). We ate some delicious Bolivian soups and meat and continued to explore. Finally, we went to a Train Cemetery which was like another giant playground. We stopped by the tour office of Cordillera Traveler (the tour company) to say goodbye to all the other groups. Most of the other people were continuing their travels through Bolivia while the 4 of us had to go back to San Pedro to head back to Santiago. It was sad saying goodbye but it was definitely an awesome trip and we met some really great and fun people.
Finally, we began our drive back to Chile. We had a pretty rough ride back meaning it was super cold, dark and bumpy so it was very difficult to sleep. We stayed at a hostel that was definitely the coldest night. We woke up super early, went back to the Chile/Bolivia border and arrived back in San Pedro de Atacama. We were glad to be back in Chile but sad to have left Bolivia. I would definitely like to go back and spend more time there (plus I heard it's SUPER cheap!). Relaxing at the hostel was much needed in the afternoon. Later, we went sandboarding in Valle de la Muerte. Growing up in Colorado and strapping 2 skis on my feet since I was 5 made it so much more difficult to learn how to sandboard. It was fun though. I think I will stick to skiing though (My dad should be proud) :)
Overall, I have had a WONDERFUL winter vacation. Bolivia marked my 20th country I have EVER been to! I want to get to 50! I think that is manageable. I still have a week off to relax in Santiago, maybe go skiing, and get ready to start teaching again. Next semester will be a lot different since I will be teaching 3 different levels of English instead of one. I know this is a long blog but I hope you enjoy reading it :)
