More of San Pedro Roadtrip (read below first)

Geysers at 6 in the morning



A natural pool that we swam in. It was below zero outside, but the pool was heated by a small steam of boiling water!
Sunset at a salt lake with flamingos

San Pedro Atacama

Sandboarding in the desert







Roadtrip!!!
On the 12th a group of us rented a car and drove up the cost of Chile about 18 hours to the north to visit the area of San Pedro Atacama. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped at interesting places. The first night we stayed in La Serena and then did the rest of the drive the next day stopping to eat in Antafogasta. We arrives in SP and checking into our hostel where two other friends of mine were staying as well. 

The first day we went and rented bikes and sand boards and headed to the dunes. We ended up taking a wrong turn and biking quite a way in the wrong direction on some very rocky and sandy roads. When we finally found the dunes we took off out shoes and spent a few hours sandboarding down hot sand!!! It was quite fun and we met some other students who are studying in Santiago. After biking back into town we drove to a salt lake in the middle of the desert where flamingos live. We made it in time for the sunset which was very magical and calming.

The next day we took a tour at 4 am. to go to the geysers. They are at a high altitude and go off right as the sun is rising so it is the best time to go. It was below zero degrees when we got there and we would have to go warm up in the van every so often. We had breakfast by the geysers and then our tour took us to a hot spring that is naturally heated by a little trickle of boiling (literally) water. We were able to get into the water, but coming out of it in the cold was not the most fun! We met a couple from Israel and they made us Turkish style coffee on a small camping stove and gave it to us while we were in the water. We ended us camping with them and making dinner the next night because they were so friendly!

On Monday we got up early, broke camp, met up with some other friends and drove to Puritama which are hot springs that run down a valley in the middle of the desert. There are 8 pools and you can move wherever you want. It was really relaxing and pretty. After that we walked around the center of San Pedro taking pictures and stopping to look at the artisan shops before hitting the road and heading back south.

We drove to a national park called Pan de Azucar and miraculously through the dark found a little town (well, by town I mean probably 5 people lived there) and a drunk guy greeted us telling us where we could set us camp. It was right by the ocean and I got a good nights sleep listening to the waves crashing. The next morning we woke up and just relaxed and waked up some rocks to see the views of the ocean. We saw the largest pelicans walking around--they would come up to my waist! We had lunch at this little place and Becky and I split a seafood empanada and some fish that was called "pecado de los rocas" with rice and a Chilean tomato salad. It was delicious! You couldn't get seafood much more fresh then that. We were going to take a boat out to an island where there are penguins, but it was expensive and the other family that was going to go with us never showed up.

So we hit the road and drove another 5 hours until we were just outside of La Serena. We found a small beach and squatted there for the night. We got the car stuck in the sand because it was dark and there was some kind of vegetation that made the ground look firm--but it wasn't. It took a a good 15 minutes to get unstuck, but we set up camp without a problem. The next morning we drove the 6 hours home to Viña and I dropped everyone off at their houses before returning to Valparaíso. 

All and all this was the greatest road trip and I am amazed at how the group all got along the whole time. We learned a lot about each other and shared many interesting and funny stories. I'm sure everyone will remember our trip to the north of Chile!!!