Ojas del Salar and Tebinquiche Lagoon.........the real deals!

Tebinquiche Lagoon

Before diving into the details of our afternoon I'd like to give you a little insight into the roads and driving conditions of the area.  The road from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama was a very nice, paved two lane road.  There was a little bit of traffic, but not much.  The only hold ups along the way were on a couple of uphill sections that large trucks were struggling to climb.  Because of the minimal oncoming traffic these were easy to get around.   Most of the local roads we have been on are unpaved and quite bumpy.  When we picked up our rental car at the airport we were a little surprised at it's condition.  There was a large dent in the rear passenger door and no hubcaps on the wheels.  After just one day we realize that it looks pretty similar to many other rental cars.  We're also glad they didn't give us a spiffy new one, because they sure take a beating out here.

After resting up from our Moon Valley expedition we were off for a late afternoon adventure.  This time we were in search of water.  We were hoping to find the real thing and not just mirages in the desert!
About 16 bumpy miles outside of San Pedro de Atacama we found some interesting bodies of water, Ojas del Salar (Eyes of the Salar) and Tebinquiche Lagoon.  The Ojas del Salar is actually two small lagoons, one on each side of the road. which make them look like blue/green eyes.  The water which has a very high salt content is also very clear and very deep. I didn't stick my toes in it, I'm sure it was also quite chilly (pun intended).  Just a mile or so further down the road is the much larger Tebinquiche Lagoon.

From a scientific standpoint, these bodies of water are very important.  They are one of only three places on the planet where certain single celled organisms can be found.  These organisms closely resemble what were believed to be the first organisms to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  This was the start of the build up of the protective ozone layer in the atmosphere.  
From a less scientific standpoint, they are popular late afternoon spots for watching the sunset over the mountains, as well as seeing flamingos that call the lagoon home.  The sunset show was spectacular.  The calm, mirror like surface of the water at both places gave Beth the opportunity to take some great pictures with reflections.  We didn't spot any flamingos.  I guess they were enjoying the last bit of daylight wherever they hang out during the day.

As we made our way back along the bumpy road we were a little concerned that we had lost our GPS signal.  Visions of spending the night in the desert was a little more adventure than we had planned on.  Thankfully after a few minutes we recaptured the signal and bounced along happily the rest of the way back to the lodge.

Searching for my GPS signal