So That's Atacama?
Posted by: ardco
Posted on: 2005-03-19 16:07:00
Posted by: ardco
Posted on: 2005-03-19 16:07:00
Posted by: atacama
Posted on: 2005-04-03 23:19:00
Indeed, the desert doth provide my alias.
Back in 1993, my fiancee (now wife) and I decided to travel in South America for 6.5 weeks and get married while we were there. The marriage thing is another long story, but suffice it to say that we were unsuccessful in getting married in Ecuador, so we ended up having a more conventional ceremony at San Francisco City Hall under the big dome.
A photographic accompaniment to this story is available on my website. There are a bunch of other pictures in that album and in the Bolivia one that I think are pretty interesting. Or maybe not. Some day, I will scan in the photos from Ecaudor.
During our two weeks in Chile, we stayed in the city of San Pedro de Atacama for a couple of days. On one of the days, we joined a small group that paid a tour guide (and I use the term "guide" here very generously) to drive us into the Atacama desert to see the geysers. When he picked us up, it was 5 am and the temp was 7 degrees F. We piled into the truck and crawled under blankets.
After an hour or so of driving, the driver stopped and got out. We were all too sleepy and cold to notice what he was doing. After the fourth or so time, we started to pay attention. We then learned that the lug nuts had been shearing off a wheel that was more or less coming off the axle. Our driver had been removing lug nuts from other wheels and replacing the sheared off ones on the bad wheel. He had finally reached the point where there were no more lug nuts he could remove without all the wheels coming off.
At that point, we were facing with hiking out of the desert. By this time, the temperature had reached 60 degrees F. We still had on clothes that were more suited to colder temperatures, and none of us were willing to abandon them in the desert. After all, we had no idea if we would make it back before nightfall. Our "guide" had no idea how far he had driven. On the way out, we had seen only one other vehicle going the other way.
We ended up having to hike about 7 miles with all of our cold weather clothing, as the temperature rose into the 70's. It wouldn't have been so bad if the road hadn't been covered in so much blowing sand and if our guide had brought along more than stale bread and cheese for our included "lunch".
Finally, the guy who had sold us the tour came out to look for us, saving us a couple more miles of hiking. But, he was driving a converted Lada taxi. There were eight of us, and yet he had brought along his 12 year old son. The seven of us on the tour crammed into the taxi like a pack of clowns, leaving our "guide" and the owner's son to be picked up on the second trip. It was only a couple miles back into town, but, as you might imagine, we were none too pleased with him at that point and refused to wait any longer.
After far too much haranguing of the tour guide office owner than should have been necessary (fortunately my wife grew up in South America as a child and speaks Latin American Spanish very fluently), they agreed to drive us out there the next day for free. In a different truck.
After an experience like that, Atacama has a special place in my heart. Heck, I've told this story at so many parties, the trip was worth it for that alone. The geysers actually were very beautiful and Chile is a wonderful place, so I would definitely go back if I had a chance. I would just keep a sharp look out for Lucky, our driver.
We nicknamed him Lucky, because we had actually gone on a tour with him the previous day and been stranded briefly at the Salar de Atacama. We finally got going again after he disconnected a hose from the fuel pump and he siphoned gas and sand out of the hose by sucking on it with his mouth. When he showed up for the geysers trip, his face was wrapped in a scarf, so we couldn't tell it was him until it warmed up and he had to take off the scarf.
Robert
http://www.wombatnation.com/