Galapagos and Chile 2022

 We had a couple of hours in the morning before departing for the airport.  We went out at about 8.00 am but nothing was open and the streets were very quite.  We walked a bit further than we had done previously and found a supermarket that had just opened so we went in and chose a bottle of Pisco and a bottle of Chilean red wine for Paul but as we went to pay we were told that they did not serve alcohol until 10.00 am so we had to put them back.  A bit later we found a liquor store where we could buy alcohol before 10.00.  We found what we wanted and had just enough money left with 180 pesos left (about 18p) .   Plaza des Armes early morning   Plaza des Armes early morning   National Museum of Chile   Another large church  (it hadnt been raining, they just wash the streets early morning)   Side view of the church above.   Pretty mauve flowered tree found all over the city centre The hotel had Christmas Decorations which were s...

 I kept waking up during the night and went outside to see the night sky.  The stars were very bright and I could see a shadow of the milky way although it could have been cloud.  It wasnt possibe to take photos of it but I did try.   We had the morning in San Pedro de Atacama so finished packing and then spent the morning at leisure looking around the hotel grounds and gardens.   Hotel Gardens   Hotel Gardens   Cactus in Hotel Gardens   Hotel Swimming Pool   Paul outside our lodge   Back garden of our lodge We were picked up early from our hotel and driven to the airport at Calama, which is about 100 km away.  There are a lot of little shrines along this road and each represents a life lost through a road accident.  It is quite thought provoking that so many have died on this road.  We were told that the shrine must always remain in the same location.  If the road is rebuild then the shrine is removed and preser...

  It was a very early start as we were picked up at 5.00 am to go to the El Tatio Geysers high in the mountains. This was our final excursion of the holiday. It was a 90 minute drive and was very cold when we arrived (around 0C) and we saw several frozen lakes on the way up. The reason they do this tour so early is because the steam from the geysers can only be seen while it is cold. It disappears when the temperature rises which happened today at 8.30am and from then on all that can be seen is the bubbling pools. We saw many types of geysers and hot springs. It is the highest geyser field in the world and the 3 rd largest after Yellowstone in the USA and another in Russia.   El Tatio Geysers   El Tatio Geysers and sulphuric pool   El Tatio Geysers and coloured rocks   Paul and a cone geyser   Hot pool of water from geysers   El Tatio Geysers   Selfie in front of one of the bigger geysers   Geysers erupting   Geysers   G...

  We were picked up at 6.00 am for a full day tour of the Salt Flats and the Altiplano (high plateau). Our first stop was in the middle of nowhere for breakfast. The tour guide and driver got a table out of the minibus and put out hot drinks, fresh bread, cheese and lots of other breakfast bits and then proceeded to make scrambled eggs on a camping stove. We were parked on a minor road with no vegetation around, just a flat ground made up of clay, salt and sand. It was very nice though.     The road next to which breakfast was set up   Breakfast location We then went to see the Flamingos at the salt flats at Chaxa Lagoon. Most of the flamingos were quite a distance away although we did manage to see some in flight and there were also a few other wading birds around the lakes. These are a different species to those in Galapagos and the species we saw were either Chilean, Andean or Puna Flamingos.   The Salt Flats - Chaxa Lagoon   Chilean Flamingo ...