San Pedro de Atacama

Our base of operations in the northern section of Chile was San Pedro de Atacama, about one hour’s drive from the mining town of Calama where the airport is located. It was in interesting entry into the airport in Calama as almost everyone on the plane fit into the category of male Chilean mining workers and a smattering of tourists. It was obvious that the regular flights from Santiago to Calama carry workers back and forth from their families to their jobs. There is really nothing of interest in Calama, so most all tourists rent a car at the airport or catch a bus to get to San Pedro. The town essentially exists to serve the tourist industry that provides access to the wonders of one of the driest places on our planet, the Atacama desert. It also is a bit of a layover for hippies and backpackers — I do believe that many get “stuck” here indefinitely. And honestly it is hard to blame them — the landscape, weather and vibe is pretty alluring. The dirt main street closed to cars in town is about 70% tour operator offices, 10% souvenir shops, and 20% restaurants and bars. The surrounding town is primarily lodging for tourists. Here’s a shot of main street San Pedro.

San Pedro, for being primarily a tourism town, is quite charming. There’s a central town square, which is required for any town in Central and South America, that of course includes a church and a tourist office.

As you can probably tell, San Pedro is a series of adobe buildings connected by narrow dirt streets. There is actually a good amount of vegetation, as it is an oasis with a water channel running through it. Otherwise it is adobe and super fine dusty soil. The other closest thing to a park we walked by was the main bus stop that was landscaped and will eventually give shade to awaiting peatones, although I think shade from the trees are quite a few years out.

You only need to drive or catch the bus if you’re going somewhere outside of town. Otherwise, everything is within walkable distance. In the five days we were there, we walked all over town to and from our hotel. Along one route, there was this handy road sign to help you get an idea of where you were in the world. Very similar to the sign post at the Center of the Universe in the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle.

I mention the sign post because we also went on a night star gazing tour, and the French astronomer who runs is was familiar with Fremont’s (neighborhood in Seattle) belief that it is the center of the universe and used it as an example in the history of our beliefs about the stars and planets and Earth’s place in the mix. Here’s a picture from that wonderful night taken at the observatory he runs. His front yard was basically a dozen permanently fixed telescopes and two large mobile ones we used stairways to access during viewing. This picture captures his largest telescope with the unbelievably vibrant Milky Way as a backdrop. The southern hemisphere sky really is all it is purported to be! His operation is called S.P.A.C.E. If you ever get to visit, it is one of the best tours in the area! And yes, it is incredibly cold in the desert after dark.

With the adobe theme, it is obvious that everything is about using the materials at hand in building the town. Nowhere was this more evident than in the walls that lined the streets and defined the property boundaries of the various lodges and houses of the town. Why use barbed wire if you need a security fence? Just sink some twigs in the mud while you’re building your wall!

You’ll also notice a flare of style in the construction with the addition of a stone border at the top. Just because everything is made of mud does not mean it can’t be decorative. That theme was also carried around the town. This wall lined the main car-free path for peatones that led from our lodging. The faux windows use twigs to give the impression of window panes.

San Pedro has a lot of charm. And a lot of hippies, although we mentioned that. It also has an unequalled feeling of hospitality. We spent five days at La Casa de Don Tomas, which we couldn’t have enjoyed more. They helped us plan our time there and find all of the local sights. They gave us advice on which routes to take and how much time to spend at each location. When we were too tired to walk into town and find dinner, we enjoyed either eat-in or room service from their excellent restaurant. When we arrived in our room the first night, we were greeted with this welcome gift. And they also did our laundry for free! What more can you want?

Then, when we spent a really annoying afternoon trying to book plane tickets out of Chile, the staff went way out of their way to help. Believe me, you’ll understand after I elaborate. Ande and I spent the better part of two hours on the computer trying to get the Latam website to take just one of our credit cards. After failing several times, the staff helped us call the airline and try to book our flights over the phone. This was another painful back and forth in which we got cut off at least once and had to call back. In the end, the agent on the phone couldn’t process our credit cards either. We were sure that Chile just wasn’t going to let us leave! Left with no options, Franklin at the front desk offered to pay for our plane tickets with his personal Chilean credit card and have us pay him back. It was a trip-saving gesture we would have never expected or asked for. We’ll be eternally grateful to Franklin for helping us get out of Chile! Here’s a lovely shot of Casa de Don Tomas at sunset.

With that, we’ll also sunset our post of San Pedro de Atacama. For being one of the driest places on our planet, it was also one of the most warm and welcoming. It was a great place to spend our last few days in Chile.