1. Tatio Geysers
2. Sunset in Valle de la Luna
3. Tour of Valle de la Muerte
4. Flamingo Watching at the Altiplano Lakes
5. Traditional Andean Villages
My Atacama Top 5:
1. The confidence boost to my Spanish--Since it's a tiny little town that survives entirely on tourism, San Pedro is absolutely filled with extranjeros. For this reason, I think the people of San Pedro, much more so than Santiaguinos, are used to, and even expect, the majority of people they encounter during the day to a) not know Spanish, or b) butcher it. It might sounds bad, but just walking around San Pedro and hearing travelers speak Spanish put me on cloud nine about my own language abilities. Add that to the compliments--yes, I actually received compliments on my Spanish instead of the blank, uncomprehending stares I get in Santiago--and the one case of mistaken identity (someone asked me what part of Spain I was from), and I was feeling pretty big-headed by the end of the trip. But, after five months of language insecurity I think I've earned a little pat on the back. Thanks for that, San Pedro.
2. Solar powered water heating systems--It sounds crazy, but this worked better than any other system I've encountered in Chile. At our hostel, as long as you did so during daylight hours, you could enjoy a long, consistently hot, high pressure shower. This is priceless in the desert, where you get dust and dirt everywhere, especially when you're there during an extremely rare weather system of insane wind storms.
3. Pizza--Once again, sounds crazy, but, when you're on a budget (and San Pedro is anything but budget-friendly) and traveling with a non-adventurous eater (shout-out Sarah), it's great that just about every place offers cheap deals on this staple. You can't go wrong with some crispy dough, tomato sauce, and cheese. Even better, most places threw in a free glass of wine with it. "What about taking advantage of the local cuisine?" you might say. San Pedro isn't the place for that. With any entree, even at the diviest place, costing upwards of 7,000 pesos ($14), you're better off checking out Chilean gastronomical offerings in Santiago where prices of food haven't been inflated for the tourist set.
4. Feeling like you're starring in a) Aladdin, or b) a John Wayne movie--If it's a middle eastern, Arabian nights vibe you want, head to the giant sand dunes of Valle de la Luna. We saw them by horseback, in the middle of a sandstorm (cool, but not so cool), and when we came around the corner and saw the huge drifts, it seriously took my breath away. If you'd prefer rugged, rocky plains to giant mountains of sand, they have that too. The Valley de la Muerte, the Cordillera de la Sal, and the entire drive to the Tatio Geysers are some of the harshest, unfriendliest looking landscapes I've ever seen. But it's incredible how their rocky, dusty, brown lifelessness, which sounds so ugly, is actually amazingly beautiful. Pictures don't do it justice, but if you've never seen a desert, it's definitely a sight I'd recommend at least once.
5. The uber-relaxed dress code--In the states, it's really no big deal if you head out to the grocery store or to do errands in a fleece and yoga pants. No one is going to look at you sideways. In Santiago, it's expected that you put a little more effort into your appearance if you're heading out in public. That's fine, but sometimes it's nice to just not have to care about what you look like. And that was definitely the case in San Pedro. I'd venture to say that, in our black yoga pants, sneakers, layers of fleece, and ponytails, Sarah and I looked downright cute by San Pedro standards (clearly, the locals who whistled at us were also impressed by our desert-chic look). Palm Springs it ain't, when the predominant fashion code consists of an alpaca poncho, various scarves, and a woolen hat, and jeans feel dressy. For a couple days though, it felt good to leave the makeup and all fashion sense at home.
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