We have now left San Pedro and are on a bus headed for Salta, Argentina. We are sitting in the front row on the top of a double decker bus driving through the Andes desert mountains, with salt flats and lagoons all around. We spent a total of six days in San Pedro de Atacama, and went on 6 tours in total: sand boarding twice in death valley, moon valley, cactus forest, a hot spring and a day long tour visiting salt flats, lagoons, historic Inca remains, and gorgeous sights within the Andes desert mountains.
Sand boarding again
Cactus Forest and Hot Spring
Our tour guide (the owner of our hostel) took us hiking through a spot in the mountains to a gorgeous spot considered to be a “cactus forest” . Some of the cacti there were over 20ft tall. The hike itself was amazing, we followed a stream which lead to waterfalls and some really peaceful and desolate spots. 
These completely natural hot springs were about the temperature of a warm bath, needless to say they were absolutely amazing.
Sala de Atacama tour
At 6am Monday morning Trevor, myself and two other girls left our hostel with Philipe, the owner of the hostel and our personal tour guide for the day, to go off roading through the Andes desert mountains in his 4x4 truck. It was an incredible 8 hour journey which included Incan empire remains, salt flats, lagoons, gorgeous views from impossible heights, flamingo reserves, many more desert animals (lots of lamas!), and much much more. The craziest part of the day was discovering that we were, at some points, over 16,000 feet above sea level, an altitude much higher than that of Machu Picchu (for which we were prescribed medication for altitude sickness at home) and which nears the height of Mount Kilimanjaro. Needless to say, Trevor and I experiences some symptoms of altitude sickness that night (I was bed ridden with the worst headache of my life). We could not believe it when we realized, but I guess now we’re acclimatized for our Machu Picchu hike!
No comments:
Post a Comment