The start of the 4-day drive to Santiago

Yesterday, we spent a quiet day at the campsite. I got a few posts done, but I haven't really made a dent in my backlog!

The cook group dinner last night was tacos. They were very tasty, but there wasn’t enough food to satisfy everyone!

Later, many of the group went on a stargazing trip into the desert. We opted for a early night instead!

This morning, we were up before 7am to take our tents down and get packed up before breakfast at 8. We made sandwiches for lunch and were on the road by 9 to begin our epic 1650-kilometre drive to Santiago. It was due to take us 3 days!

We left San Pedro and drove through miles and miles of desert nothingness! We had a toilet stop in the middle of nowhere and a lunch stop at a bleak service station. We then drove on until 4.30pm when we had one of Ritchie's mystery stops at a sculpture by Mario Irarrázabal called the Hand of the Desert. It was created in the late 80s to remember all those who suffered under Pinochet's regime.

After our stop, we drove on, supposedly looking for somewhere to bush camp. We passed several promising places but kept on driving. We pulled into a garage with 24/7 toilets and a piece of waste ground that we all thought would have been ideal, but we didn't stop! Eventually, out of desperation and with the light fading, we pulled off the road onto rocky ground. It was 7.30pm, and this is where we were camping! My biggest issue was that it was very open with zero cover for going to the toilet! The sunset was lovely, though.

Anyway, we survived! We got our tents up and the cook group, led by Steph, produced a very tasty meal of spicy dahl, rice, and chicken. Unfortunately, at gone 9pm, it was rather too late for me to eat. After dinner, we admired the night sky for a few minutes and then went to bed.Read more