San Pedro de Atacama - On Saturday during Semana Santa holiday this little town was a beehive of people sharing the narrow streets with vehicles. It’s the first time that our GPS didn’t help us find our way around. Many of the streets are now walking streets and some are one ways. The GPS apps don’t seem to recognize one ways. This is also an international destination so there were lots of people here. San Pedro has one gas station on a dead end road. With lots of cars and tour buses needing gas at the same time you can imagine the chaos.
San Pedro is the best place to stay to explore part of the Atacama Desert. One area to visit is El Tatio. It’s is a geothermal area with small geysers and fumaroles. It’s best to go early in the morning in order to see the plumes of steam coming from the fumaroles. There’s an outdoor swimming pool that is heated from overflow from the geysers. We were able to have a quiet soak after all of the tour buses left. On the way to El Tatio there is a laguna with lots of very pink flamingoes. There’s also a wetland area that’s home to several kinds of water birds. There are vicuñas eating grass sharing the area with thebirds. In the distance there is a snow covered volcano with steam and gas and probably sulfur dioxide rising from the core and side. It’s an idyllic Andean experience. The road into El Patio is good. It took us about 90 minutes to get there. Another nice area to visit is Laguna Chaxa a preserve for birds including flamingoes. Valle de la Luna is another area that is nice.
San Pedro is the best place to stay to explore part of the Atacama Desert. One area to visit is El Tatio. It’s is a geothermal area with small geysers and fumaroles. It’s best to go early in the morning in order to see the plumes of steam coming from the fumaroles. There’s an outdoor swimming pool that is heated from overflow from the geysers. We were able to have a quiet soak after all of the tour buses left. On the way to El Tatio there is a laguna with lots of very pink flamingoes. There’s also a wetland area that’s home to several kinds of water birds. There are vicuñas eating grass sharing the area with thebirds. In the distance there is a snow covered volcano with steam and gas and probably sulfur dioxide rising from the core and side. It’s an idyllic Andean experience. The road into El Patio is good. It took us about 90 minutes to get there. Another nice area to visit is Laguna Chaxa a preserve for birds including flamingoes. Valle de la Luna is another area that is nice.