Day Two from Southern Hemisphere

On Day 2 we went to the Salt flat, one of the largest in the world. A small part of it is sectioned off for us common folk (aka tourists) to enter. The entire ground you are walking on is large, I’m talking rock and boulder large and just as hard, salt crystals. It’s strange because walking along the paths feels just like walking over a recently salted, ice-covered sidewalk. If you look from further away it seems like the ground is covered in snow because of the color.

Oh, and did I mention that this is where the flamingos go in Chile? Unfortunately we were there after most of the types of flamingos had already migrated to Bolivia and Argentina, but we still got to see a few. Apparently fewer and fewer are coming back each year. Biologists aren’t sure why but think it is related to the decreased water due to global warming, which affects their mating seasons.

After chasing after the flamingos we boarded back on the van to see the Lagunas Altiplánicas, beautiful lagoons located at 4,300m of altitude (about 14,000 ft). The ride up the mountains was plenty bumpy and the obnoxious Canadian (yes, I know it seems like an oxymoron) told the driver to slow down. The lagoons were beautiful though (again, refer to pictures to understand).

At this point I started to get antsy and wanted to see just how thin the air was up there so I ran a few meters to test it. Actually I was surprised I wasn’t more out of breath than I was, I figured it was best not to push it any further though!

*Sidenote about the obnoxious Canadian. The man was around 50 and was traveling with his daughter who had just graduated college. They basically hit all of the big tourism spots in Chile on their two week trip and San Pedro was the last stop. Unfortunately neither of them spoke Spanish and our guide’s English wasn’t up to snuff according to the Canadian, so I spent a lot of time skirting so that I could take pictures instead of translate for him the whole time. And the best part was when at one point the father said how he would have to learn Spanish because they vacation in the Caribbean every year (poor baby) and his wife wanted to go to Barcelona this year...and his daughter responded, “but they speak Italian in Barcelona.” Oh, DO they now?
That’s news to me!

Anyway, after the Lagunas Altiplanicas we went stopped in a village called Toconao. The town was established because there is a tiny little stream nearby which allows an ecosystem to evolve. It’s amazing how much green can come from such a small stream in the desert. And how abruptly it ends also. Each family that lives in the village is given a small plot of land near the stream (outside of town) for their own use. Many of them farm the land, though some make more of a garden patio to enjoy. And the local kids all play in the water there. There is a typical white stone that comes from this area also, I can’t remember what it’s called. The locals are allowed to take as much stone as they need for their personal use so all of the houses are white. People who aren’t from the area though have to buy the stone and it is one of the sources of income for the town.