Anyway, off we go. Fog, fog and more fog. Before too long, we are at the turnoff for the Paso Sanfrancisco, and yep, the fog is still quite thick here. We turn to the east and within a few kilometres, oooh, what’s that? Looks like… Yes, it’s a mountain in the distance, then suddenly, more of them, and lo and behold, there’s a bit of blue sky. Hooray, it’s thinning rapidly, and out the other side, another glorious day in the Atacama Desert! We celebrate the sun with a brief stop for photo’s, and to enjoy the view of the fog bank we’ve left in our wake. Given that we’re heading into the sun, we also take the opportunity to clean the windscreen…
Despite only having been on this road twice before, it is all still fresh in my mind, so I’m able to be the tour guide with some degree of accuracy. Coming up on the left is the … Oooh, watch out for the … and so on. As we climb up out of a canyon and onto a plain, everyone is surprised to see the amount of grass here, not to mention the couple of donkeys and horses. But wait, I say, there’s more ahead. We stop and take photo’s though, as they are an interesting sight, and certainly unexpected on your first visit here. Sure enough, as we drive further, there are no more animals… until we round another corner, and thankfully, there’s a heap of them busily grazing away, only looking up at the crazy touristas as we drive past, and occasionally stop for more snaps.
The landscape for me is still very interesting, as this is the first time I’ve seen the high altitude part devoid of snow and ice. Sure, it’s broadly the same, but is sufficiently different to hold my attention and fascination as we zoom along. It’s hard to imagine every seeing these mountains as mundane!
We make a stop as we commence our first real descent, down from a pass at around 4,000m down to maybe 3,500m or so. Last time I was here I did some “skating” on a frozen river bed! This time, there’s a small series of excavated holes, full of crystal clear water. I decide to skip a rock across one of them, which introduces me to the reason why they appear so crystal clear. There is still about an inch of ice on the top of this, and my rock makes a hollow “thunk” sound on it and then bounces off into the distance. It’s also hit the ice hard enough to crack it, and it’s fascinating to watch the way the air bubble generated by the cracking of the ice snakes its way around underneath the surface.
Alma is also excited to be out of the car and able to move around. She’s 13 years old, and all long limbs. She goes for a bit of a gallop, which earns her a quick rebuke from Victor and Claudia before I can get the words out. The oxygen levels are relatively low at this altitude and vigorous exercise is not a good thing for the unacclimatised. She’s a clever girl though, and doesn’t have to be reminded again. Back in the car, and it’s a short trip down to the Salar Maricunga and the border post. We call in at the caribineros office again to advise them of our plans, take a few photo’s and off we go again. The surrounds of the Salar are again magnificent. Still a bit of snow/ice around and just gloriously beautiful scenery. It’s hard to rave too much about it, but I feel I can hardly do it justice. Even the photo’s, which I reckon are pretty awesome if I look at them pretending that I’ve never been there before, don’t do it justice…
Still 100 k’s to go to get to Laguna Verde! We stop again at some cascades, driving off the main track and down to the edge of the small canyon in which the creek is flowing. I idly wonder if this is the right turn, as the ground seems very soft in comparison to my memory, but the view seems familiar enough, so I quickly forget the thought. I mention that I’d seen guanacos here on my last visit, but there’s initially none to be seen, but after a while, they suddenly pop into view. Not sure if they were there beforehand and we just didn’t have our eyes adjusted to be able to see them, but the more we look, the more of them there are. We know that today needs to be a relentless day, in terms of just keeping on going, but there are so many photo opportunities, it’s hard to say no to stopping all of the time and snapping away.
We head off, back up the hill and the first hint of trouble hits us. We’re driving a RAV4 – not the most serious of 4WD’s, and it’s an automatic. We lose traction/drive fairly rapidly in the sand, and look a little concerned. No problem, we’ll just back down the hill, slip into proper 4WD and then zoom back up. We’ll be right… right? Er… no. The engine is still revving away, but far more gently than it ought to be. We also are not going forward. Oh dear. Worried glances. Victor tries a couple of manoeuvres aimed at getting us up to our exit point, but we can’t get closer than about 15m. Worrying times.
In the back of my mind, I can’t help but think we’re at the wrong exit point, as I don’t remember Alexis and I having the same problems when we were here. We drive a bit further down the edge of the canyon, and relief, we spot a better looking exit point, and sure enough, we cruise straight up and out onto the road. Sighs of relief, all round. While there’s a bit of traffic on the road, none of us thought the idea of spending time waiting for someone to come and pull us out seemed like a good way to spend the day, especially one with a tight timeframe!
OK, so we carry on towards Laguna Verde. Worried glances are now being directed to the fuel gauge, and some mental maths is being applied to how many kilometres we’ve got left to go for the day, how many we’ve already travelled, and how much fuel we’ve used. I fall into the “fuel gauges are just approximate guides” category, and am far more interested in how many kilometres one normally gets from a tank of fuel (I’m an inveterate measurer of such things), and am quite convinced that normal cars these days should have a range of about 600km in country driving. Again, mental maths suggests that our total driving distance from Copiapo to the next fuel stop at El Salvador should be around 550km. Victor is driving quite economically, so we should be fine. No es problema! Fingers crossed…
Alma is feeling a little ill at this stage, poor thing. She has had a little “bucket” fashioned out of some plastic bags made for her and she’s cradling it in her lap. Here’s hoping she holds it together. Not the most elegant of possibilities, but she is bearing up stoically. Before long, her body resolves that little problem by falling asleep. Here’s hoping she’s OK…
As we’re reaching the midway point of our journey, in terms of kilometres able to be travelled, we’re all starting to get a little nervous, although suddenly I see some landmarks I recognise as being near Laguna Verde, and resume the “she’ll be right, mate” attitude. We round a corner, and suddenly the Laguna comes in to view. At the risk of repeating my previous entries from here, the Lonely Planet guidebook describes it as “glowing like liquid kryptonite”, and sure enough, there it is. Both of the girls scream with excitement – it’s such an unexpected colour to see here, and I haven’t said much about it. Victor also keeps repeating “Wow”. I’m feeling the same. I’ve got plenty of pictures of it, but the colour and landscape around the lake are still awesome to see “live”. We pull over, take a series of photo’s, but as usual, the wind is ripping along and is very cold – it isn’t a place to linger without heaps of layers, and very good coat, and gloves.
We drive down to the edge of the lake, and surprise, there’s another vehicle with tourists in it. Just a man and woman, but nonetheless, it’s a surprise to see someone else here. The only people we’ve seen on the road have been roadworkers doing maintenance. A quick visit to the thermal pools to appreciate their warmth, jokingly threaten to go skinny dipping in the lake, then pile back into the car. It’s getting on in the day, we’ve got a long way to go, and it turns out we’re due to have lunch with Claudia’s uncle and aunt in El Salvador. Not sure what time they are expecting us, but we’re definitely going to be late.
The road to El Salvador heads north from Salar Maricunga, so there’s a bit of back-tracking but the scenery in the opposite direction is still not boring! We head north now, aiming for Salar Pedernales, which again for me, is not so interesting as Maricunga. Next on the highlight list is the big canyon we drive down into to get down of the high plain. Again, heaps of ooh’s and aah’s and a stop for more photo’s. It also helps to conserve a bit of fuel, as we descend through it, and onwards down through the valley in neutral for the better part of 20 kilometres. Victor is even feeling so happy with the fuel situation that we zip along at 100km/h instead of the previous 80 that we’ve been travelling at to conserve fuel. The warning light is also on… For the life of me, I can’t recall how much further there is to go, but I do remember exactly the same situation on the bike when I bought it through here. Difference was, I had spare fuel… I decide not to mention the 10k’s or so of pretty much constant uphill that are between us and the fuel station in El Salvador!
We finally roll in to El Salvador at around 3.30pm or so, much later than expected. First things first, let’s get some fuel! As we head to Claudia’s aunt and uncles place, we drive right past Alexis’ brother’s place. I have a little flash of recognition, and then we’re past. “Oooh”, I say, pointing back behind us, but too late, the moment is gone.
Aunt and Uncle welcome us to their house with the kind of Chilean hospitality that is possible to find here, but not often on display in the streets and certainly not ever displayed in the queues at bus terminals while waiting to retrieve one’s bags! It looks like we’re going to be welcomed with a feast, not just a meal. Empanadas all round to begin with – home made and just excellent. There’s the usual consternation displayed when I try to politely refuse due to their containing shellfish, but it’s taken with good grace. Aunt disappears back to the kitchen after this while we everyone munches away and has a very welcome drink. She reappears after a seemingly short time, and much to my embarrassment, has quickly whipped up four cheese empanadas especially for me. It seems I’ll be expected to eat all of them by myself. It’s a mission I choose to accept! Not sure how I’m going to be able to eat anything else afterwards – I guess it is fortunate that salads don’t take up a lot of room. There’s a huge selection of them, and I’m told with a dead-straight face by Victor that they are all for me and I’m expected to eat them all. In the moment, I believe him for a few seconds, until the worried look on my face causes his demeanour to crack, just a little. I laugh. One day I’ll remember not to believe anything he says…
Dessert is a highlight. It features a fruit called chirimoya, which is about the size and shape of an avocado (although Wikipedia declares that it is heart-shaped), but has bumps on its dark green skin. It is peeled, sliced/diced, then drizzled with orange juice and subsequently eaten. The texture is rather like that of a pear, but the flavour is something else when combined with the juice of the orange. Delicious, but very sweet!
We eventually it is time to leave, having finished lunch at somewhere around 5pm! Off we go, but it seems that Aunt and Uncle are coming along with us (in their own car). They guide us through to the town of Diego de Almagro, up and over some hills and off into the distance as the sun is setting. We end up at something that I think is a kind of orchard or a tree plantation adjacent to what appears to be a man-made lake. I manage to miss understanding what it is about, but nonetheless have enjoyed the drive. Many of the trees lining the road are wattles, which are in full flower. All yellow pom-poms, and is an obvious reminder of Australia. I expect at any minute that a suicidal kangaroo or emu will come barging out of the bush in front of us!
We return to Diego, say our goodbyes, and it’s off into the distance, heading for the setting sun and Chanaral in the distance. We again are fortunate for the best view of Chanaral (I suspect the locals think that I’m a bit harsh in my opinion of it, but there you go…), passing through in the dark. Unfortunately it means that we can’t see the coast as we head south to Caldera and Bahia Inglesa. Having passed through only a month ago, it was really quite beautiful at the time and would’ve been nice for everyone to see. Still, it’s difficult to do everything in the one day!
We finally arrive at Caldera and go in search of a supermarket for supplies for breakfast etc. Dinner is to be at the El Plateao restaurant that overlooks the actual Bahia Inglesa. I’ve had lunch there before and enjoyed the crème brulee, so am looking forward to that. First though, we have to find the cabins we are to stay in. There’s a bit of mirth when we can’t find our way, but in the end, Victor sorts himself out and we find them. Turns out they are about 5km out of town, and it’s just a matter of finding the right road out of town!
The other four are staying in a family-type cabin, but I am fortunate. Victor has organised that I have a “romantic” cabin all to myself, which translates as suitable for two, and even better, it has a “romantic” bathroom, which turns out to mean an outdoors bathroom. There’s a toilet in the room, but the shower is outside in a little enclosed private garden attached to the main house. It’s actually very lovely, but given the breeze and the cool (not cold, given the proximity to the ocean) night, I ask specifically about whether there is actually hot water here. Yes, I’m assured, there definitely is hot water! The other thing about my room is that it is built for Chileno’s. The roof is only over 185cm (6 ft) in the very middle of the room, otherwise it is stooping and moving slowly for me, otherwise I’ll belt my head on the rafters! Fortunately the bed is nice and firm!
Dinner at the restaurant is lovely (again) – good food and good wine, capped off again by an excellent crème brulee. This time, the top is more caramelised than the last one, which makes it that bit better! Problem being that I’ve eaten so much during the entrée and main that I’m struggling. Andrea has done the same and hasn’t ordered dessert, but I convince her that she should have some because it is so delicious, and in short order, we’ve polished it off. It seems that Alma has never had crème brulee before, so we try to convince her to taste some, however that is like trying to convince little kids that peas are yummy, and when Andrea eventually gets some in to her mouth, the look on Alma’s face is priceless. I think it is fair to say that she won’t be trying another crème brulee for some time!
Back to the cabins, a bottle or two of vino and some chatting, and wow, it’s late! Time for bed. I crawl into my lovely firm bed somewhat after 1AM and crash out. I don’t think I hear any of the sounds of the beach at all.
A
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