Draw Conclusions on the Wall: March 2012

Monday, March 12, 2012

Racing the Planet Meets The Faux Dead Sea. Mar. 11

Another bright, sunny day greets us this morning in Terrantai Lodge. After a hearty desayuno, we start hearing a lot of drumming and cheering. Que the h____?

We start walking and following the sounds and it leads us to LLamas, a man wildly jumping hombre, and finally to the Inglesia. There are throngs of participants who have already finished the Atacama 2012 - a 250 km footrace over the Atacama desert in 7 days! And, each participant must carry everything they need on their back except for water and a tent.

It is muy excitante, with the drummer going crazy as each participant or team of participants approaches the finish line at the Inglesia. Some are walking, some are running. All are relived and overjoyed at having completed this exhausting and mind boggling event.

We learn that people from 45 countries competed - the most participants were from Great Britain, followed by Australia and then Los Estados Unidos (finally). The race began with 157 people and by the end, 140 intrepid folks finished. The oldest was from Luxembourg and he was 68. Quien Sabe? Who knew anything about this? Nadie sabia. Not us. Turns out this amazing event is sponsored by RacingThePlanet and there are 4 such 250km events in 4 different deserts throughout the year. Others are the Gobi desert of China, the Sahara and Antarctica.

Many of the entrants stayed at Terrantai. Never saw a group so tired, relieved and happy and who desperately wanted a shower!

I have some pictures, but the real excitement is captured in the video - promise to work on that soon when I get home.

In the afternoon, we went to Ojos de Salar - sort of a poor hombres version of the Dead Sea. Very small but you do float in the salt water. However, unlike the Dead Sea which now has resorts with indoor and outdoor salt water pools as well as the actual sea and with fresh water showers, the Ojos has no facilities, not even a place to change into bathing suit. Not so impressive. But, we did meet another young Chilena, who was working in the nearby Copper Mine company for a few days and came to San Pedro for the weekend. All these young Chilenas seem to glom onto us. Very flattering and they have all been so friendly and gracious. Her name was Daniela and she wanted us to take her picture in the water. Then, we became quick friends.

The Atacama Crossing Race

Ojos de Salar

Daniela

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Location:Tocopilla,San Pedro de Atacama,Chile

Valley of the Moon. First Day in San Pedro. Mar. 9

We awoke to a beautiful sunny day in San Pedro and enjoyed our first desayuno here in Terrantai Lodge, where we exchanged pleasantries and info with a delightful German couple. It turns out that this guy had been in Hawaii. Porque? To participate in the Iron Man Competition!! It's sort of the equivalent of 3 Triathlons rolled into one event with no rest between. No wonder he was up at the crack of dawn getting a run in at 8000 feet. They donated their stash of mate do coca teabags to us as they are heading to Bolivia tonight. Also, met a couple from Finland. Looked Scandinavian but the language - incorrecto. Very nice though.

We sort of putzed around the rest of the morning and early afternoon, visiting the local plaza and Inglesia, shopping for mate do coca lozenges, eating lunch etc. Barbara was definitely feeling the effects of the altitude more than me. I was taking the meds, but she couldn't as she had a reaction to them. I felt pretty good. San Pedro is what I think a small pueblo in Mexico might be like or maybe a quaint town of the old Wild West. Adobe brick is the architectural theme for most restaurants, shops and hotels. The streets are not paved - just dirt and a bit of dust, although the recent rains have tamped down the dust, but contributed to more ruts. I'd say the average of the turistas is about 27. We are definitley at the other end of that curve. But, all in all the town is very quaint.

At 3:45 we headed over to Maxim Experience to pagar for our set of excursions and to meet the group for excursion uno to the Valley of the Moons. Of course, this being San Pedro, their carjeta machine was not operational. "no problema - usted puede manana". Ok then. Liking the gratis tour idea. At the Maxim office, we met Anna from Belgium, who was traveling alone since her esposo had to go back to work. Very nice although a bit talkative in Espanol and Ingles. We became her companions for much of the rest of our time in San Pedro.

The Valle de Luna was no misnomer. It was pretty wild and eerie with ethereal landscapes. We did some trekking at a few spots to climb for views of the impressive scenery. We also stopped at the Tres Marias and then to a scenic spot for a beautiful sunset overlooking the mountains and the Lican Volcano. The Brazilians celebrated the Sol with song and music. You will have to wait for the movie for more about that.

Buenas Noches

San Pedro