2nd Nov. 2016
Today we are signed up for the Piedras Rojas day trip to see the red rocks, salt flats, lagoons and of course mountains. As the day progressed we realised just how colourful pockets of the desert are in both the wildlife and the natural surroundings. Our pickup from our hostal is scheduled for 7 to 7:30am and we are the last to be collected at 7:45 so we bundle onto the back seat of the minibus and soon get chatting to Laura from Italy.
It is 50 mins to our first stop at Lago Chaxa. This is a lagoon in the Salar de Atacama, the biggest salted lake in Chile but most of it is underground. Lago Chaxa is a small area within the salar where the water is above ground. Our driver/guide explains everything first in Spanish and then English and I am impressed at how much of the Spanish I could follow and then confirm I understood by listening to the English. The small salt pool hides small prawns lurking below the surface. It is also frequented by the gaviota, a type of seagull.
Water from the permanent ice fields on the volcanoes runs into the valley and 95% evaporates leaving 5% concentrated brine. This is a constant process and over the years the minerals have been concentrated into weird looking calcified rocks, which are hard to the touch. A path has been formed through these rocks which makes walking around much easier. We also learnt that the haze we can see is from the evaporating water, which leaves small crystals in the atmosphere. (Yucky alert – these crystals get up your nose causing abrasions which is why blood appears in your nose – not pleasant!)
In the distance we spot pink flamingos grazing in the lake and see that other tourists are up close to them. As this is a national park there is a designated path us to walk on and must not deviate. As flamingos age they become a deeper shade of pink/orange due to the carotene in their body from eating all the little prawns.
Flamingos are birds that we never tire from watching and we are impressed as they fly in formation overhead. Quick camera work was require to catch a photo, cool head and do not panic and rush! Again the vivid colours of the pink birds with their black beaks again the royal blue sky make for a great picture.
As we head on to our next stop I comment to Dave how the small tufts of grass in the sandy soil look like Tribbles from Star Trek! The terrain is covered in these yellow grasses as far as we could see. It has been quite a surprise the different types of plant which survive in this harsh environment.
Leaving the salt lakes behind we climb higher towards the Argentinian border. We enter the Reserva National Los Flamencos to see two lagoons, Miscanti and Miniques in front of two volcanoes of the same names. They were formed following an eruption of Volcàn Miniques less than a thousand years ago blocking the river from reaching the Atacama salt lake. We are now at a height of 4,300m and find that the altitude no longer bothers us, but avoid walking too fast just in case.
By now it was well past the Hornsey official lunchtime but we still had the final piece de resistance, which gave the tour it’s name, the red rocks. As we head round a corner we glimpse a view of a vivid blue lake containing an outcrop of red rocks all set against they beige of the desert. Lunch forgotten we wander over the rocks and beyond to the lakeside as we are free to walk wherever we want. It is permanently windy here and I wish I had not removed the legs on my trousers to make them into shorts as that is not the right attire.
Returning to the minibus we begin to retrace our steps and see we are some 160km from “home” and the first stretch is over unmade roads. It is 4pm before we reach Socaire for lunch. The three course simple Chilean fare was much appreciated. Just time to head over to the cemetery as the bright artificial flowers are very photogenic against the dull sand and vivid blue sky.
By the time we left the lunch stop we still had some 100km to go back to San Pedro de Atacama and were ready for a shower and a beer. However there was one final stop in the colonial village of Toconao where the houses are built of volcanic rock, to visit the church and for some (not us) the Artisan market. I was quite taken by the door of the bell tower and the spiral staircase in the church which were made from cactus.
We were glad Alma had recommended this tour as it was our favourite trip out of San Pedro de Atacama, seeing so much of the surrounding scenery and what was on offer in this quite desolate area. After miles of driving through the dreary brown sand and rocks of the desert it is great to see so many colours.