 |
| Beth and I with our favorite host...…...Kate |
It's now Tuesday morning. We woke up this morning to a steady breeze rustling through the trees and a view of the Pacific Ocean. Yesterday was a travel day and the contrast in the locations couldn't be much greater. From a vast desert to a small island 2,339 miles out in the Pacific Ocean. There'll be plenty on Easter Island in the coming days. This blog is about wrapping up our time in San Pedro de Atacama.
Our final morning we were greeted to the same wonderful smile from Carla. Her fresh coffee, tea and breakfast spread had us pretty spoiled. Kate joined us around 8:00, just as she promised, to say goodbye and offer a final suggestion for our morning as we made our way back to the Calama airport. After a few pictures and hugs we were on our way.
 |
| Carla always greeted us with a huge smile and a great breakfast |
With a couple of extra hours time on our hands we made a slight detour off Route 23 to the Valle del Arcoiris, which is also known as Rainbow Valley. It's a valley that has earned it's name, as there were rocks of multiple shades of red, green, yellow and white under the blue sky. It was well worth the visit and left us just enough time for a quick stop at the very modern Jumbo Supermarket to pick up a few food items to bring on the next leg of the journey.
 |
| That's the Chilean version of the Rio Grande! |
We absolutely loved our time in San Pedro de Atacama. If somewhere down the road it's a destination of yours, here are just a couple of suggestions you might find helpful.
Rent a car! Juan, the owner of the Planeta Atacama kept encouraging us to rent a car instead of depending on airport transfers and guided tours. We can't thank him enough for his insistence. Driving was easy, it saved us a ton of money and we were able to do things on our on time. Many of the rentals were 4 wheel drive vehicles (much more expensive). For our needs, the small car worked just fine, even on the bumpy, unpaved roads that we often traveled.
If you do rent a car, it will probably be a manual transmission. Also note, at the present time there is only one gas station in San Pedro de Atacama and many of the surrounding villages do not have gas. Although we never ventured more than around 75 miles away, we kept the gas tank close to full.
With a GPS (I used google maps on my phone), you'll do just fine.
There are numerous hotels and hostels in the San Pedro de Atacama area ranging in price from insanely expensive to inexpensive. The Planeta Atacama was perfect for our needs. It is located less than a mile from the city center. That means it is quieter, but easy to get to the many shops, restaurants and tour companies. The views out our room and from the terrace were incredible and the hospitality of Kate and Carla was exceptional. If we ever return to the area, I couldn't imagine staying anywhere else.
We ate at a couple of places that I had mentioned in previous blogs. The food was very good at all of them. TripAdvisor, Yelp or your host will be very helpful. Please note that while some restaurants take credit cards, many of them are "cash only". Food prices were moderate to a little high. I would highly recommend stopping by one of the supermarkets in Calama. The Jumbo Supermarket was huge (very similar in size to a Super Wal-Mart, just not as many "interesting" looking people), with a wide variety of both fresh and packaged foods. You'll need plenty of bottled water!
 |
| The bakery section of the Super Jumbo |
We used the ATM at the Santiago airport to get Chilean pesos. I did see several ATM's in San Pedro de Atacama. The current exchange rate is 1,000 pesos = approximately $1.40 US.
Right now it is the "off season" in the Atacama Desert region. That means the rates are less, there are fewer people and the temperatures are cooler. We don't find anything wrong with any of those three things. One thing that you may want to be aware of is the winter road conditions. According to Kate, they do not have snow removal equipment. If it snows at the higher elevations some of the roads may be closed. We had one issue with this so we simply changed our plans for the day to a couple of other activities.
Speaking of activities, there is plenty to keep you busy for at least a week. Give yourself as much time as possible, you won't regret it!
