Sabbatikos

The last day of our short stay in the Atacama Desert was spent hiking the steep-sided Vilama River Canyon. The canyon is lined with giant cardons cacti (Leucostele atacamensis), many of which may be nearly 1000 years in age.

The two mile hike started at about 10,400 feet. It was less “hike” and more a rocky scramble of traversing the Vilama as we followed her swift flowing waterfalls into the valley below.

The hike was absolutely stunning and spectacular in the early morning sun. It is hard to describe this oasis in the middle of an otherwise barren desert. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Our journey continued down and started to flatten out a bit, compared to the steep descent we started with. That made the river crossings wider and we did get a little wet with a few of our crossings. I’d recommend you bring water proof or water shoes if you attempt this hike.

We reached a stunning specimen of a giant cardons cactus and saw several mountain parakeets nearby. We also saw some Rica Rica, which has many different medicinal purposes. Our favorite use, which our guide (and several bars and restaurants we went to) used, was as a local agreement and twist on the Pisco sour.

Eventually we reached a point where the descent along the river was no longer possible and had to start climbing out of out of valley up into the desert. It was hot and the UV index was now in double digits. We started our ascent.

We passed some old rock pens and fences, which our guide told us have been there for potentially thousands of years, and were probably used to pen llama by ancient Atacameños who once populated this area. It was a sign we were closer to civilization and as we ascended to the top of the valley we could see our driver’s car in the distance.

We spent our afternoon trying to keep cool by the pool. We even had enough time for lunch before our transfer back to the mining town of Calama for our flight back to Santiago. Tawny was able to get several shots of the open pit mines, likely copper and lithium.

We landed in Santiago at night and checked into the Holiday Inn at the Santiago airport. While this hotel is convenient for the location, it turned out to be a run down hotel with low standards for cleanliness. Frankly, it was a completely gross. We didn’t want to step on the floor, even in our socks or slippers. And the grout in the shower left some of us unbathed. I would go out of my way not to recommend it. But it was conveniently located at the airport for our early morning flight to Rapa Nui (Easter Island).