Zoeken resetten
The South American Odyssey
  • The Craze for Travelling
  • The Craze for Travelling

The South American Odyssey

Een 147-daags avontuur van The Craze for Travelling Meer informatie
+1
VolgenOverzichtOverzichtKalenderKalenderFoto’sFoto’sDelenDelenBucketlist
OverzichtKalenderFoto’s
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Dry river channel
    Dry river channelTres MariasDino

    Tres Marias

    2 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    After the salt cave, we went to the end of the Moon Valley to the rock formations called the Tres Marias. The head of one of the Marias has broken over time due to a tourist trying to climb it. The rest of the 2 are in good condition and now there is a barrier preventing people to approach the structure. Just next to the Tres Marias, is a rock formation that looks like the mouth of a dinosaur.Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling

    Sunset over the Moon Valley

    2 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    After the Duna Mayor, the tour proceeded to the Moon Valley viewpoint to see the sunset. We reached the spot by around 7:45 pm. The sun was still a bit above the horizon but the moon on the opposite side was up amd right next to the Lincacabur volcano. It was a fantastic view with the volcano looking golden in the setting sun's hues. The whole of the Moon Valley was visible from our vantage position and as the sun started going down, we saw different colors on the valley surface. From golden in the early stages to yellow and then orange and then light violet as the sun set. It was fabulous. As soon as the sun set around 8 pm, it became quite cold and windy. We all packed into our buses and were back in San Pedro de Atacama by 8:30 pm.Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Lincacabur volcano
    Lincacabur volcanoLaguna Verde and Laguna Blanca in Bolivia

    Off to Salar de Tara

    3 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    We were up by 7:30 am and ready by 8 am for our pick up for the Salar de Tara tour.

    Located at 4,300m, and 100 km from San Pedro de Atacama, this is a high-altitude Altiplano lake with a surface area covering 48km2.

    On the way, we skirted the Lincacabur volcano on the border of Chile and Bolivia. A short distance from there, we could see the Laguna Verde (Green Lake) amd Laguna Blanca (White Lake) inside Bolivia. We had been there just about 2 months ago. It was thrilling to see the view from the other side and from a slightly higher elevation so we could see the dirt tracks we had been driving on.

    The road is long, but well-paved, till the entrance to the most remote part of the Los Flamencos national reservation: Monjes de la Pacana (Pacana Monks). The place is well above 4,500m and it's not uncommon for people to get altitude-sickness. Since we had been living the last 2 months most of the time above 4000 mts and going down to sea level and then back to 5000 mts above sea level quite a few times, the body was used to the rarified air by now.

    The highest point of the excursion is almost 4,900m above sea level.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Pacana MonksObelisk with the Agua Caliente Laguna behindThe obelisk

    Salar de Tara

    3 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Our first stop in the Salar de Tara was at Monjes de la Pacana (Pacana Monks). Its a stone formation in the middle of the desert that looks like monks in their habits. Nearby is the obelisk formation. It is about 20-25 mts tall. We stopped there for a few minutes. It was quite cold and windy. We were slightly higher and we could see the Laguna Aguas Calientes below. The name of the lake literally means hot water but according to our guide, it is so cold here that any hot water coming out cools very quickly so there is no hot water in the lake.Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling

    Multi color organic fossil stones

    3 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Below in the valkey, we reached some very strange rock formations with white and yellow colors. They didn't taste like salt nor did we smell sulphur so we were puzzled at what could be the origin of this strange colors and formations.
    The guide told us that this was one huge base rock below an ancient lake that had plants and weeds or maybe marshland on the edge of the lake. Over millions of years, the lake eroded the rock into multiple small formations and the plant and organic matter fossilized between the layers giving it the yellow and orange colors. The movement of the land caused the water to be at different levels for many years. These are visible as horizontal lines at the same level on all the rocks.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling

    Catedrales de Cenizas (Ash Cathedrals)

    3 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    We then proceeded a bit further to the base of the viewpoint from where we had seen the Salar de Tara. Here too, we saw the yellow remains of organic fossil from the same lake that covered this region.

    Just behind the yellow colored rock are the Catedrales de Cenizas (Ash Cathedrals), geological formations made up by the ash coming from Llaima Volcano. They formed thousands of years ago during an eruption, and after years of being eroded they have acquired circular spiral shapes.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling

    Aguas Calientes lake

    3 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    From the cathedral formations, we drove over to the Aguas Calientes lake. It is also a salt lake with a lot of flamingos. At one corner of the lake, there is a lot of plant and algae growth due to a freshwater source below that makes the water in the lake less salty. This also encourages the growth of brine shrimps that in turn attracts a lot of flamingos.Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Looking for obsidian rocks

    Obsidian stones

    3 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    The way back to the entrance of the national park, passes through a flat desert landscape with lots of stones and pebbles strewn around. Our guide told us that one could find obsidian stones spread in the desert sand. Obsidian is a volcanic glass created as an extrusive igneous rock. Basically, the magma cools into a glass/rock form once it is outside of the crust to form obsidian.
    We stopped for a while to search for obsidian rocks. They were spread all over and were very easy to find. These are used as black glass in jewelery. After stopping there for a while, we continued further out of the national park back towards San Pedro de Atacama.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling
    Egg tortilla, potato puree and salad
    Egg tortilla, potato puree and saladThe whole gang

    Lunch at San Pedro de Atacama

    3 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    We reached back in San Pedro de Atacama by about 4 pm. The lunch was included in our tour today so the guide took us to a nice restaurant in the town. The food was nice and we enjoyed conversing with our companionship since the morning. It was a lovely end to a great day.
    We walked back from the restaurant to our hostel, but not before trying out some local flavors at the ice-cream shop. 😉😉    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling

    Geysers del Tatio

    4 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    We had 2 tours planned for today. The first half of the day was for the Geyser del Tatio and in the afternoon was the Tour to Escondidas lakes.
    Our pickup was at the hostel at about 4:30 am. We were up at 4 am and were ready before the van arrived. The eary departure was needed to be at the geyser field by 6:30 am since early morning, when the sun is rising, is the best time for the geysers to be active. It was still dark when we were picked up and most of us slept while on the way to the geysers.

    El Tatio is a volcanic geyser field with over 90 active geyser-water pools, located at 4,321m above sea level, in the heart of the Andes Mountains 210km from San Pedro, high in the Altiplano. The drive from San Pedro takes about two hours. We reached there by about 6:45 am. It was extremely cold but not very windy. From the parking itself, we could see many places where the steam was rising from the hot water pools.
    After purchasing the tickets for 10000 CLP per person, we drove in near the geyser fields.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • The Craze for TravellingThe South American OdysseyThe Craze for Travelling

    The main geyser

    4 december 2017, Chili ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    There are two main areas here, and you can see the water start to bubble out of the frozen surface of the earth as the sun’s rays warm it. There is a large geyser that shoots water some 4-5 meters in the air. It was here that we met some of our group mates from the previous day's tour.
    The water in the pool would start bubbling and then explode a few times before becoming calm again for 6-7 minutes. By now, a steady breeze had started and it blew away the steam so the exploding water and the pool below was clearly visible.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling