San Pedro de Atacama

After giving a talk at the Univsersity of Antofagasta, we decided to make the most of our time up north and visit the San Pedro de Atacama Desert, about 4.5 hours inland. Filled with tourists, shopping, and lots of good restaurants- the area reminded me a lot of Patagonia in the South when I visited to go backpacking in Torres del Paine.

Popular sites and activities include visits to hot springs, geysers, horseback riding, salt lagoons, archeological tours, and hikes out to gorgeous look-out point such as Valle de La Luna, Valle de la Muerte, y Valle del Arcoiris.

Although most locals were complaining about the colder weather since it is Winter, I personally loved it- in comparison with the wet and cold climate in Temuco, San Pedro de Atacama was very warm and I enjoyed getting the chance to walk around in short sleeves again!

Volcanoes on the Horizon

the view from our hostel

One striking feature of San Pedro de Atacama was the layout of the city- as reflected above, the majority of streets are walled-in by stores, hostels, and restaurants alike.

Sights around the Central Plaza

Valle de La Luna

Named for it's similar appearance to the moon's surface, this famous destination is run and protected by the Asociación Indígina (Indigenous Association) and located about 19 km outside of town. It features a variety of gorgeous dunes, caves, salt mines, and panoramic views.

Salty Rocks!

large salt deposits can be found quite easily while walking around areas like Valle de la Luna

Las Tres Marías

The Colors of San Pedro

One of the my favorite parts of visiting the desert was sunset- over a period of half an hour or so the colors of the gorgeous landscape change drastically. Here are some pictures taken from Valle de La Luna and Tebinquiche.

Harina Tostada, Charqui, Merkén, & Cancha

I'm flying out of Chile and returning to the United States in just under two weeks and starting to feel a bit sentimental. When browsing through my pantry the other day, it occurred to me that the amount of Chilean foods I'll be able to bring back home is very limited. (due to luggage space, customs, or both)

Here's a sampling of the treats I've been enjoying lately:

Harina Tostada

Literally "toasted wheat," harina tostada is similar to Cream of Wheat in the U.S. It's usually eaten for breakfast with boiling water or milk and some sugar. I personally like to mix it with oatmeal and a banana.

Charqui

Beef jerky (charqui phonetically sounds like "jerky")- usually comes from horse meat and can be found in the central Mercado's of most towns. Charqui is a bit too chewy and gummy for my likes, but I enjoy it once in a while.

Merkén

Traditional Mapuche spice made from roasted ají, or peppers.

Cancha

More characteristic of Peru but also popular in Northern Chile, cancha is toasted corn. I like to think of it as a cross between Corn Nuts and traditional popcorn. While the outside is crispy and salty, the inside is fluffy.

Yucca

Okay, this one is definitely Peruvian, but I couldn't help but include it. Peruvian restaurants in Chile serve yucca fried with a delicious garlic-based cream sauce (think french-fries and ketchup).

Lagunas, Artesanía del Norte, & Sandsurfing

Lagunas

About 28 km. outside of San Pedro de Atacama, these lagoons have such a high concentration of salt that you can float in them! Our tour included trips to Ojos de Salar, la Laguna Cejar, and Tebinquiche.

Artesanía

On a quiet Saturday morning, I stopped by the studio of the artisan who made the copper cello and rings pictured above. He showed me some of the tools and processes he uses to create pieces- the cello "strings" for example, are formed by rolling a flat piece of copper into a tube and then repeatedly heating the tube and shrinking it by pushing it through increasingly smaller templates.

Traditional Textiles from Northern Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia

The countries bordering Chile have much more developed textile industries. Because of this, Chilean pieces have trouble competing with their lower price points, and many of the textiles featured and sold in San Pedro de Atacama come from abroad.

Sandsurfing

Like snowboarding, but on sand. At first, I found the steepness of the hill we went down a bit intimidating, but quickly realized the sand has a lot more friction than snow so it takes more time to gain momentum and you have more control.

Antofagasta

Through a connection at Start-Up Chile, the VOZ team was invited to give a guest lecture at a University in Antofagasta, which is a 2-hour flight north of Santiago. In order to make the most out of the free trip up, we also decided to take time off and finally explore the northern part of the country over the last week.

Although most Chileans have told me that Antofagasta is nothing special, I was pleasantly surprised by the city. It borders the Pacific Coast and has a bit of a beach town vibe. The variety of brightly colored houses and older, more European-style buildings also creates an eclectic feel.

Antofagasta is one of the largest mining regions of Chile- popular resources of the region include copper, nitrate, and iodine. Since mining is so integral to the Chilean economy, the companies in the region are doing quite well. In fact, mining companies are sponsoring the Entrepreneurship lecture series and classes that brought VOZ into town.

Over the 3 days I spent there, I enjoyed the walking along coast, browsing through local copper and rock artesanía at the outdoor feria, sampling fresh fruit juices, and getting a chance to meet local university students.

La Costanera, The Coastline

Walking around town...

Cactus for Sale

El Mercado y La Feria

Copper Jewelry

characteristic of Antofagasta- while walking the central plaza around I came across several artisans creating similar pieces at their booths

La Huelga, The Strike

This topic certainly deserves a more detailed description in a future blog entry- but it is worth mentioning that students across Chile have been on strike over the past few months, demanding more rights and benefits from the government. As a result, most classes have been cancelled. Recently, I have come across graffiti and images of students protesting throughout the country, ranging from Temuco to Santiago, as well as in Antofagasta, as pictured below.

As a result of the strike, far fewer students showed up to the VOZ talk than in past months- in addition, we had to present in a separate community center building since the University itself was locked up. It turned out going well anyway- I greatly enjoyed meeting the students who showed up. For this particular class, each one is developing an idea to create a new company, and it was fun discussing plans with them.

VOZ Presentation at the University of Antofagasta