Here we are on our last day in Buenos Aires, heading for the airport at 2 on Saturday to begin the long trip home (the plane stops in Santiago for about 2 hours, then the 10+ hours to Toronto, arriving just after 6 AM Sunday). We've been here less than 48 hours but we've seen a fair bit, thanks to a bus tour yesterday afternoon, then a 6 PM snack in the world's second most beautiful bookstore, which is only 2 blocks from where we are staying). Tonight we do the ultimate tourist attraction--the Tango Experience. Everything happens late here, we'll be picked up after 8 PM for dinner and then the show. Last night we went out about 9.30 for a bit more to eat and the restaurant continued to fill up after we sat down.
While Buenos Aires is fascinating, the Atacama Desert was unforgetable. We flew early last Saturday morning to Calama, 2 hours north of Santiago by air. We were met by our hotel, and with 3 other arriving guests we were driven for over an hour to San Pedro de Atacama, a very dry town of 2000 sustained by 2 rivers that flow from the Andes. It's at 2400 metres, but we went over 3000 metres on the trip from Calama. The resort, Tierra Atacama, was wonderful. We had a late lunch, planned the excursions we would do, unpacked a bit, and then we were off to see the salt flats and the flamingoes, returning about 8.30 PM (after dark). Meals were from 8-10AM, 1-3PM, and 8-10PM and often the dining room would still be almost empty until 9 PM. The food was excellent and the excursions kept us busy. We did a hike through the Valley of the Moon one morning, and the next morning the same guide led us and 6 others (2 from Toronto!) on a 3 hour hike at over 3000 metres. It was not an easy hike, but the reward at the end was being met at a set of thermal pools where they had water, wine and snacks available. We spent about 45 minutes in 2 very pleasant pools; there are about 8 pools fed by the same warm stream heading steeply down hill. We didn't say anything about the difficulty of the hike, given that it was labeled as "easy" but others suggested it should have been labeled "intermediate to difficult" (and we were inclined to agree). Late one afternoon we were driven to the Rainbow Valley where the range of colours was quite amazing, and then shown an area full of petroglyphs from thousands of years ago. Our final excursion was a hike that started on a cliff high above a dry lake bed; we descended fairly quickly by slipping, sliding and running down a huge sand dune. As we crossed the lake bed, we spotted footprints in mud that was 3 years old--the last time they had enough rain to make it muddy. The hike continued by following the river bed that would have drained the lake when, long ago, there was obviously more rain in the area. We all managed several rather steep descents and it made a great outing.
Last Wednesday morning we left at 7AM to be driven back to the airport in Calama for a flight back to Santiago. Then, after checking in with Air Canada, we were on our way to Buenos Aires. Immigration was very slow but our arranged ride was waiting for us. Checking into our apartment hotel took an hour, but our room is bright and big and comfortable and well located in Recoleta, the neighbourhood that has the amazing cemetery that includes the mausoleum where Evita Peron is now buried.
Now that I've updated our adventures, I'll try to find some photos!
