but wait... There's More! (on the Atacama)

We were only in the Atacama desert for 1 week, but we've got a lot to say!  Here's a catch-all post to cover the items we missed in the last 5 entries.

1) Valle de La Luna

The #1 classic tour of San Pedro de Atacama is a half-day afternoon tour of Valle de La Luna that ends with sunset over the valley at the Duna Mayor.  As the photos show, it is beautiful.  We went with a tour for ease of coordination, but would be tempted to rent a car and do it ourselves at our own pace the next time.

White streaks of mineral salts cover the valley, which create some striking patterns when seen from the outlook above.  

Striking people with a striking valley.

Valle de La Luna at Sunset- note the volcano on the left!

Karen watching the sunset here in 2011

Pretty much every tour of Valle de La Luna offered includes a stop at a formation called the "Tres Marias".  Karen specifically looked into tours that skipped the stop because she remembered it was notably unmemorable from her last visit in 2011, but was unsuccessful... dozens of tours flock to the site and you cannot escape!?  One of the Marias has been fallen over for years now, which is why you only see two towers in the photo.

Karen- unimpressed by the beauty of "Las 3 Marias", note "Pacman" on the left.

Karen happened to be eating a rice cracker on the tour.  When she looked down, she was pleasantly surprised to see it matched the ground! 😮

Rice cakes and salt deposits look the same!

On our tour through the valley, we also stopped at an old salt mine.  Note that in this case, the mine was for relatively pure table salt (NaCl).  Many other salts in the valley are a mixture of several minerals.  When we listened quietly, we could hear the salt cracking in the mine- it happens constantly and is pretty neat.  There were several basic structures built at the salt mine.  To create their walls, apparently miners just stacked the rock they were mining.  When it rained, it dissolved the salt to form a natural, effortless mortar and create a solid wall out of originally separate bricks!

Salt from a salt mine- it's the shinier/darker area in the photo.

Karen was lucky enough to be taster #1,000,000 at the salt mine.

2) Laguna Chaxa at the Salar de Atacama

Laguna Chaxa is most famous for its flamingos.  When we visited, 4 different flamingo species were present- some just arriving and some just leaving based on their different migratory patterns.  We probably saw about 50 flamingos total, and were told there are lots more in the early morning before tourists arrive.  The Laguna is a popular photography spot because the flamingos and mountains reflect crisply in the pools of water.  There's one iconic image throughout the Santiago metros that particularly motivated us to visit.  There are a couple of 10-minute walking trails around the reserve, which allowed for good viewing.

The flamingos walked in circles around their heads submerged in water to eat, which looked dizzying and fun.

Flamingos in front of a volcano- the next time I got to a flamingo-themed party I want them paired with volcano cut-outs instead of palm-trees.

If  you look close, the volcano has white steam puffing out

No large flamingos in this photo, but some neat colors in the lagoon.

On the drive to Laguna Chaxa, we stopped to photograph some llamas by the side of the road.  You can tell who they belong to (if anyone) based on the color of the ribbons tied to their wool.

On our way back from the tour, we stopped in a town called Toconao to check out some artisan stalls and the town square.  

Karen particularly likes the aesthetic of cactus-wood.  We saw it used to build several fences and doors throughout our stay

A clever re-purposing of 2-liter plastic soda bottles.

Hiking around Toconao

In Toconao, we first learned about a plant called Yareta.  We were told it only grows 1mm per year!  This kind of reminds us of rings on a tree.  A lot of Yareta was mined as a dense source of fuel not too long ago, so it's hard to find big pieces now.  When driving to the Geyers del Tatio we saw some small Yareta.  The image of this large one below is from Wikipedia.

Here's a close-up image of a piece of Yareta.  Our tour guide bought it from a specific person who is authorized to harvest it and sell for its medicinal properties.  It had a very distinct earthy/minty smell.

Matt relaxing in Karen's favorite lobby of the Atacama after a week of tours!