From the mine we depart to Chiu-Chiu, 2500m above sea level. This small town has 300 permanent residents. The Church, San Francisco, dates 1611. The roof trusses are made of cactus wood. The wood has the most wonderful grain and marks. This is the oldest church in Chilli according to the locals. Near the town there is a lake called Icacoia – a nearly perfectly round pond where we find a white egret and some ducks. I want to know which duck it is and the driver give me his bird book to look up the birds. The bird book is in black and white – weird isn't it???
 
 

 
 

 
We are all very tired when we arrive at the hotel. We are very high above sea level and I feel dried out- from a grape to a raisin to a peppercorn!

I increase my water intake dramatically – and therefore need the toilet all the time. After a long hot bath I am totally awake and watch a movie. We eat some two minutes noodles and then go to dreamland.


We have to get up at 4am to go to El Tatio.

 
 
 
 

 The El Tatio Geyser is at 4500m above sea level. They tour leaders warn us against altitude sickness and tell us to drink a lot of water. Symptoms of altitude sickness include: nausea, dizziness and headache. They tell us to try and move slower – as there is less oxygen in the air. Locals chew on opium seeds (not kidding) to cope with the sickness.

The geyser is impressive. It is bitterly cold here and the water makes steam clouds. I do have[ a slight headache, but the place is so interesting I soon forget about it. Our tour leader, Adriana, a lady from Mexico, is married to Adrian Germishuizen a bloke from South-Africa.
 
 



 The temperature at the heart of the geyser is 86 degrees Celsius – that is the boiling point for water at this altitude. The geysers are thus boiling and therefore there is such a lot of steam. In one of the pools we find people bathing....I would love to, but I cannot get myself to change as it is so cold outside! Unfortunately we also have no time for bathing.

Under the animal family Camelidae you would find two groups: Camels found in Asia and Africa and Llamas found in South America. In Chilli there are 4 species, two of which can be tamed (Alpacha and Llama) and two in the wild (Vicuna and Guanaco). We see a Vicuna the smallest of the camel family. It weighs in at 20 kg and lives at an altitude of between 3800 and 4800 above sea level in this northern part of Chilli. They are on the endangered list.



 Llamas weigh in at about 55 kg and can be tamed. They are used for the wool and meat. (But you will not find the meat in a butchery in Chilli). We also see a Vischacha – something between a dassie and a rabbit with extremely long whiskers and tail moving along on their back legs like kangaroos.
   

 At an even smaller little town (with only a church and about 5 streetlights all powered by one generator) we buy langos. It is a pancake made of only flour and water, baked in oil and sprinkled with fine sugar). The langos differ from those we bought in Santiago where they add pumpkin to the mixture before they bake it.

 

 

 From here we travel to San Pedro de Atachama a wonderful little town with a lot of character. We have lunch at a local restaurant (steak and maize bread). We go to the Musea Arquelogico and see how they buried mummies in the foetal position inside big ceramic pots. I amble around to a small flea market and find their weaving and doll making fascinating.



 
 
Valle de la luna (Valley of the moon is) our next stop. From here you are able to see a few volcanoes in the distance named: Licancabar (5916m high), Zapalere (5652m high), Poquis (5756m high) and Lascar (5154m high). At some time on the route we were only 8 km from the border of Bolivia.
 
 
 
We are not far from the airport and for the first time in my life we have a plane with individual entertainment centres. This is really changing flying for me!! As I cannot sleep in a plane so this is the answer.

We have a layover of 6 hours at Soa Paulo and then the flight is delayed by another 1½ hours. In those days there was not a lot to do on the airport...quiet a long time to wait for someone as restless as me.