Bone dry, blistering heat, freezing nights... Sound good? Definitely fascinating, so we made San Pedro de Atacama our last stop in Chile. High in the Atacama Desert, it's also the spot from which buses leave to cross the wastelands and make their way into Argentina.
We kicked off our expedition with a mountain biking trip through the Valle de La Muerte, the Valley of Death. Not only did we escape with our lives, we got to check out some amazing terrain, pumping our legs to push through the sandy patches and stopping anytime we found a good shady spot. A few mindblowing hours was enough to wipe us out completely, convincing us to consider a tour that wouldn't require biking for hours in that heat for the next day.
The Atacama salt flats are the third largest in the world- Bolivia and Utah are still battling it out for bragging rights to the largest salt flat. Far from Utah and unwilling to pay for the Bolivian visa, we decided to content ourselves with the Chilean version. Amazing. We started our tour with a dip in a salt lake. Having swam in the Dead Sea before, Megan skipping covering her body in salt. I had to give it a shot though, and it's amazing to be in water so salty that it's close to impossible to submerge yourself. This is what I looked like when the water dried.
We spotted a few flamingos nearby, apparently unconcerned with their sodium intake.
I got to rinse off by jumping into a mysterious fresh(er) water pool in the desert. They think it might have been created by a meteor strike.
We next made our way onto a salt field, something we were both so curious to see. It looks like the ground is covered in snow and ice, which put a nagging feeling that I shouldn't be wearing board shorts and flip-flops in the back of my head...
Walking across the salt feels like walking through snow that has partially melted and then refrozen overnight. Parts are hard as ice, a lot of the ground is crunchy, and there are pools of water scattered throughout.
This is why Megan is worried about my sodium intake and future heart trouble:
2 comments:
wow guys... I've just found your Blogspot and am catching up... What fabulous photos and stories guys. you guys could shoot for national Geographic....have you thought about copyrighting your photos?
These pictures are absolutely beautiful!!! Is someone an experienced photographer or are you just learning on the way??? Gorgeous and inspiring. I'm glad you're uncovering the earths treasures and having such a wonderful time =). Keep the blog entries coming.
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