Traveling – Page 6 – HEREWHEREWEARE

A quick stop at a customs office just outside San Pedro de Atacama and we were now officially back in Chile. I’m not entirely sure at what moment we officially left Argentina (no signs) but the scenery on the drive from Salta was beautiful. At our highest point we reached close to 4000m before descending back down the mountain range and arriving in San Pedro de Atacama where we were still at 2,438m above sea level.
As we walked the dusty streets of San Pedro de Atacama the air was dry and it took a moment to catch our breath. The Atacama Desert is considered the most arid desert in the world and we guzzled down water like it was going out of fashion. The whole town blends in to its vast surroundings – white and sand-coloured buildings line the streets with roofs made of clay and hay. Stepping inside the storefronts it is quite the contrast with various textiles and souvenirs of the brightest colours filling the buildings.We had a 4:00am start on our second morning with a visit to Tatio Geysers, the highest geyser field in the world at 4320m above sea level. With temperatures below zero at dawn, you can see the flow of vapor from the geysers, reaching as high as 10 metres! We had been warned of how cold it could be and dressed accordingly – I had 3 pairs of pants and about 5 layers on top however as we stepped out of the bus and began walking around the geysers we were all still frozen to the bone!We huddled around the geysers, watching them bubble away and catching just a little relief from the cold as the warm vapors sizzled out. As the sun rose it began to get warmer and we continued exploring the geyser field. At one stage, we decided to jump for a photo only to realize that exerting that kind of energy at over 4000m above sea level makes you all kinds of dizzy and we definitely didn’t try that again! With the darkness fading it was time for breakfast and we enjoyed hard boiled eggs and coffee – heated straight from the geysers! At first no one was eating their eggs, rather using them as a device to thaw out their frozen fingers.We braved the cold and stripped down to our bathers for a quick swim in a geyser fed pool before continuing to Machuca, a small, almost uninhabited town located near the geysers. We had a quick look around and tried some llama kebabs which were surprisingly quite tasty! The town is close to a small wetland area where families of flamingoes, ducks and seagulls live, as well as the odd llama or two who always manage to entertain me (yes, from eating them to watching them)!The Atacama region being a desert, has next to no rainfall (or clouds) making it great conditions for stargazing. We went on a night trip to an observatory located out from the town where our guide showed us various constellations in the sky with his incredibly strong (and illegal) laser. After our introduction to the millions of objects in the sky, we were left with time to view various points through a number of different telescopes. We took photos of the moon through one telescope and through another we could see Saturn which looked amazing with its rings (I tried to get a photo of that but it wasn’t as easy)!Finishing off our time in the Atacama Desert we took a half day trip to another “Valle de la Luna” (Valley of the Moon). The various rock formations date back up to 22 million years and with the absence of any animals or vegetation, it really does feel like you are on another planet. We continued through the valley, stopping to look at rock formations such as the Three Marias and the Dinosaur head (our favourite). We walked past the Amphitheatre rock formation before climbing a hill to watch the rocks change colours as the sun set. We really enjoyed the little town, it’s like no town we’d ever seen before. Not necessarily pretty, but unique – especially when compared to the many colonial cities we had visited so far.

You can see more photos from San Pedro de Atacama here.

Iguazu Falls was one of the “must-see” destinations for our South America trip and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We traveled by bus from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu, the small tropical village where most people visiting the falls spend a night or two (if we were cashed up it would have been the Sheraton Iguazu hotel with panoramic views of the falls but no such luxuries for the backpacker)! Nevertheless, we enjoyed the humid change in the weather after being in BA city all week and with our friends Segal & Gal from Israel (some of the nicest Israelis you’ll meet), we enjoyed some grilled surubi (a local fish) for dinner at one of the many restaurants along the main road.

Arriving at Iguazu Falls the following morning, it could almost be likened to arriving at Disneyland – multitudes of tourists piling in, the passenger train ride to take you to different areas of the falls, but rather than Mickey Mouse they have food crazy creatures called Coatis (explained further below)!We had decided to visit the Argentine side of the falls only, mainly to avoid having to get a visa or paying any reciprocity fee to visit Brazil. The Brazilian side is known for its full panoramic view of the falls whereas the Argentine side is made of platforms at different levels throughout the falls, allowing you to basically be standing within the falls at various points. As we commenced on the walking track we came across signs warning us that monkeys and coatis were throughout Parque Nacional Iguazu and these warnings were complemented by some disturbing photos of coati scratches as well as fantastic cartoons of the coatis in action.Walking along the balconies, it wasn’t long until we had our first coati encounter and thanks to the signs we were slightly scared it was going to rip us apart but it just continued along the railing, looking rather harmless (not so much the case later on when Will was carrying two empanadas and they hunted him down!)Arriving at an opening with our first view of the falls, it really is absolutely incredible, breathtaking, beautiful – basically any cliché descriptive word you can think of could be applied here. The roaring sound of the water and the enormity of the falls consume all of your senses and we stood in admiration at that first viewpoint for quite some time before continuing for a closer look.We walked down to the river’s edge where we boarded a small boat to take us right in to the centre of the falls, know as the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat). As you board they give you dry bags for your belongings and you soon realise why as the powerful water absolutely saturates everything around you. It was hard to keep your eyes open as the water poured down and I found myself laughing hysterically as water sprayed in my eyes and nose and ears – we were really wet!After drying out a little, we continued walking the boardwalks around the falls. It was strange feeling safe and sound on the boardwalk, knowing that if you were just a metre to the other side you could be washed away. The scenery surrounding the falls is just as beautiful as the falls themselves, incredibly green with large palm trees and hundreds of butterflies flying around. The sun was shining which was great as it created many of the famous rainbows that hover above the falls. Iguazu Falls_057 We took photo after photo, competing against the hoards of Argentinian tourists that surrounded us. It seemed like every time you looked up, there was some different angle or area that you hadn’t seen before resulting in basically a million photos that look pretty much the same but it’s just so hard to not be continually amazed by the panorama.Finishing our day, we caught the train to the top of the falls where a boardwalk across the river takes you to the very centre, directly above the Garganta del Diablo. The volume of water falling down at this section is incredible and the roaring sound it creates gives you a real appreciation for just how powerful the falls are. Having now witnessed it for ourselves I think it is something that everyone should try and see in their lifetime.