Category: Atacama

¡Chile Sí! ¡Eclipse No! Day #9 “Home Sweet Home” 12/15/2022

by reissmd, posted in Atacama, Chile, Rapa Nui

Star gazing was fun last night. We got to see Orion up close and a great view of Jupiter and 4 of its moons. We also saw something else but please don’t ask me for details but the two staff members who led the activity were going crazy when they got it in view. To me it looked like someone had just dropped a salt shaker and the top of the shaker came off spilling granules over a beautiful black tablecloth. Sorry, astronomy is not my thing and that is as specific as I can get. I will leave this area to my friends Samir and Ralph.

Today we had a long trip home. First, we left Atacama for Santiago arriving on time at about 4:00 pm. We then walked a significant distance to check in for our next flight only to find out that American only has evening flights out of Santiago today so they don’t have any staff until 6:00 pm. I managed to use the self-check-in machine to get our boarding passes but we still needed to wait to check our luggage. We finally got everything set. We are taking this flight on miles and luckily it gave us access to the lounge for the duration of the wait for our flight (8 hours total but just 5 since we made it to the lounge).

To sum up this trip I have to say I am a bit disappointed. I really loved Rapa Nui and am so glad we went there. Atacama was a bit of a disappointment most likely because so many people had told me such glowing things about the place it was bound to fall short. Being at altitude was also difficult for this old body. The hotel is at 8,000 feet and the locations of the various activities ranged from 11,000 to 14,000 feet. That part was not fun. Of course my biggest disappointment was not taking the trip in December 2020 to see the eclipse.

As usual, I will leave you with some interesting photos taken during the trip. They are only meant to amuse or at least be of some interest. Enjoy.

When traveling I always like to seek out local cuisine and hangouts.
Dinner Menu: Before you freak out these prices are in Chilean pesos the conversion was 879 to 1 USD the last time I looked but it varies dramatically on a daily basis.
In Rapa Nui they had lots of these signs saying that jumping is not allowed. Just kidding, these mean do not enter.
My best guess is “No popcorn allowed”.
Glossary of terms at the Hanga Roa information Center in Rapa Nui. Notice the 4th from the bottom. What does that have to do with ancient ruins?
Apparently throwing paper AT toilets is a pastime that is very much discouraged by the government.
I love this translation regarding shrimp.
This was a film offered on our flight from Rapa Nui to Santiago. Do you think they are followers of my blog and read of my battle with the hormigas?
I am sure you are all aware of Juan Valdez and his advertisements for Colombian coffee. It looks to me as if Juan might have had some issues with the Colombian cartel because he is currently operating a coffee shop at the Santiago airport.

Apparently they charge $50 USD for a 2 hour stay in the airport lounge. I guess some people try to get their money’s worth by drinking. See below.

No drinking alcohol from 3:00 AM to 10:00 AM. That has to be someone with a drinking problem or VERY scared of flying.
I don’t go to McDonalds, but do they have this in LA? Order on a machine outside the restaurant (did I really call McDonalds a restaurant?). Tell them want you want, if you want to eat in or take out, pay at the machine, then go inside and collect your food. (Did I just refer to McDonalds as food?).

And finally, check out this video from the Santiago, Chile airport baggage claim area. I start by showing you the baggage carousels and then pan around to the other side where you can see planes at the gate. A very interesting setup.

I hope you enjoyed our vacation. Nothing planned for the near future but when we are on our way, we will invite you to join us.

Hasta luego

¡Chile Sí! ¡Eclipse No! Day #8 “Busy Last Day” 12/14/2022

by reissmd, posted in Atacama, Chile

When we first planned our trip to Chile it was with the sole purpose to see the solar eclipse. When we investigated it further we decided to add Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Patagonia. Then I got input from friends and situations changed due to Covid and other issues. We had been to Patagonia (Argentinian side) previously and heard lots about Atacama so we added it to our itinerary. I have heard so much about this area from a variety of people until today it has left me very unimpressed.

We got off to a rocky start today we when took a tour of the geysers. In order to travel there we were in a van for about 1 hour and 40 minutes on a very bumpy road. The geysers are at over 14,000 feet and I was mildly short of breath limiting my walking speed. The guides were great. They were very attentive and made sure I was not in any danger. Unfortunately, the major danger was boredom. People impressed by these geysers have obviously never been to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming or a multitude of locations in Iceland. Check out this video and pictures and let me know if you agree.

If this is impressive you better take a tranquilizer before you go to Yellowstone or Iceland.

After lunch, we headed to the Rainbow Valley tour and again had a wonderful guide. Before we got to the valley we stopped to see some petroglyphs. This is not our idea of fun. The guide quickly got our drift and we moved on to see Rainbow Valley. This was a lovely tour and on the way back to the hotel saw lots of wildlife. The guide and driver were happy to stop so we could take pictures.

Our guide captured this picture of two stunningly gorgeous people touring Rainbow Valley.

Just outside Rainbow Valley, we were able to get a video of Guanacos (llama variant). Check it out. Don’t worry, it is short.

We then got the opportunity to get some great shots of llamas.

Our guide took this picture. The llama was looking the other way until the guide yelled out, “Hey cutie!”. Obviously a bilingual llama.
“Hey, cutie” didn’t work on this one. But when the guide said, “Want to be on the REISSTRAVELBLOG?” there was an instant success.
We then asked for a profile view (I love posting pictures of people with noses bigger than mine) and the llama said, “Anything for Robert’s blog”

Tonight we are going star gazing if the skies clear up. We will be getting back to the room late and I am not sure if I will get a chance to post again before we leave so I did want to let you know one important bit of information. Although I loved Rapa Nui and was a little disappointed by Atacama (the sights not the hotel or staff) the one thing that has made me very happy is our travel agent. Malena Feijoo arranged this trip and we have been very pleased with her work. In addition to arranging our itinerary, she has followed the blog and helped with some minor hiccups. She also set up a “What’s App” group for Patrice and me. In that, we have been able to obtain some needed information. She has also texted us our boarding passes for all our internal flights which has been a huge help. So if you are interested in a trip to Chile I would recommend you contact her. She is based in Argentina so I assume she does trips there as well. Her email address is malena.feijoo@mai10.com.ar.

One other note the staff at the Explora Hotels in Atacama and Rapa Nui (Damn, I keep calling it ratatouille) have been great. Yesterday while walking across the courtyard the sole of my sandal almost fell completely off. I asked a member of the staff if they had some Krazy Glue so I could patch it. She said they didn’t but I should leave it with the front desk and maintenance would fix it in the morning. When we came back from our morning activity today, the repaired shoe was on the floor in our room, next to its mate. Very impressive!

We are off to look at stars. See you tommorrow for my collection of interesting photos I have collected this past week.

Hasta Luego

¡Chile Sí! ¡Eclipse No! Day #7 “Lucky 13th?” 12/13/2022

by reissmd, posted in Atacama, Chile

With today being the 13th I was hoping that it would be our lucky day but the morning did not bode well for that prospect. 

I had a wonderful night’s sleep so no complaints there but unfortunately sleeping in left me little time to get ready for our morning tour.  Breakfast was a buffet with very uninteresting choices. So it looks as if the Explora Atacama will not be providing us the same quality cuisine as the Explora Rapa Nui. 

After breakfast, we were driven to the hot springs.  It was a bit of a precarious ride with some bumpy roads and one narrow passageway.  Check out this video. 

This was a mild version of some of the areas we had to traverse. I was too scared to video the narrow one.

Our morning tour guide, Ricardo, was not anything like the incredible guides we had in Rapa Nui.  One of our fellow travelers, Roger from England, described him as “a bit acidic”.  Por ejemplo.  Oops, I’ve been here too long.  I mean to say, for example, Roger asked him how old the cacti were.  Ricardo gave him a dissertation about the cacti’s growth rate in rainy versus dry seasons. He went on and on about this process but never answered the question.

Excuse me, can you tell me how old are these cacti?

We arrived at the much anticipated hot springs to find an adequate facility for changing our clothes with bins where we could leave our belongings but no locks.  I suppose the theory is anyone willing to make the long trek to get there isn’t interested in taking an old man’s underwear as their pirate’s booty.  

The water at the hot springs looked lovely but unfortunately, it was only lukewarm.  Similar to my bathtub at home. Certainly not worthy of such an effort as the one needed to get there. 

“Hot Springs?”. Not so hot in my opinion.

Our afternoon tour was much better and exactly what I hoped for when we booked this trip.  The guide was great and we got to see some flamingos feeding and in flight. Check out this video. 

Unfortunately, there were many more wonderful videos that I was too slow to capture.

We also saw some other interesting wildlife including a sandpiper and a lizard. Isn’t this a great look at the lizard?

At a distance, these guys were well camouflaged making them very hard to see.

Dinner was again a disappointment and certainly not worthy of any food pictures. We did run into our newest friends, Roger and his wife Ann.  We exchanged stories about our afternoon tours.  Roger told us he had the same guide (Ricardo) as we had this morning but as Roger put it, “He was less arrogant and less bumptious”.  Don’t you just love the British?  Patrice and my New Year’s resolution is to have many more British friends. 

Need to get to sleep. Our morning tour starts at 6:30 AM. I thought this was a vacation. It is seeming more and more like boot camp.

Hasta luego.

¡Chile Sí! ¡Eclipse No! Day #6 “Happy Anniversary” 12/12/2022

by reissmd, posted in Atacama, Chile

Today is the 46th anniversary of Patrice and my first date. Yikes, that’s a long time ago.  As you might recall you were all given an assignment last week to sign up 4,000 followers by today so I could qualify as a professional blogger in the eyes of the IRS.  Unfortunately, some of you have failed me, miserably.  My numbers have grown from 250 to 297.  I did some calculations and at this rate, I will hit my target in 68 years.  

Moving on, today we head for the Atacama desert.  How appropriate since it was my friend Greg who recommended we include this spot on our trip.  Greg has been a friend of mine since we were in our early 20s.  He was Patrice’s boyfriend during high school and the person who introduced us. 

For those of you who don’t know the story here it is. In 1972 Greg and I went to a going away party for a mutual friend. Patrice was there and we spent almost the entire night talking to each other.  It was clear to me that this was the woman who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t so clear to her.  In December 1972 she got married to someone else (I agree, big mistake on her part).  I next saw her at a party at the newlywed’s house.  I had just broken up with my girlfriend and was feeling pretty low.  And here I had to see the woman of my dreams living with a guy who was so proud that his refrigerator was packed with beer. Ugh, such a juvenile!  Years passed and I’d always check in with Greg to see how Patrice was doing.  Then the phone call came. Greg told me that Patrice was getting a divorce and would be interested in going out on a date with me.  This was in late November 1976 at a time that I was planning a trip to the Bay Area to visit the woman I had been dating during my internship.  The romance Gods were active because I got ill with Chicken Pox (yes at 27 years old) and canceled my trip.  Instead, after I recovered from my illness I called Patrice and we went out for the first time (Old Venice Noodle Company which unfortunately didn’t last as long as our marriage). Yes, yes, I know this is a hokey story but that’s the kind of guy I am. 

The young lovers shortly after they started dating. Is it my imagination but does Patrice look like she is in pain?

As I said earlier we were on our way to Atacama today. We spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express at the airport and it was very nice. We slept well except for the 1 AM call from our grandson (8 pm his time). It was only a short walk across the street to the Santiago airport. The airport is also known as Arturo Merino Benítez airport (named after a Chilean aviator who founded the country’s air force in 1930) and Nuevo Pudahuel Airport (Pudahuel is the region in which the facility is located). The check-in process is highly automated. If you only have one bag to check you merely scan your boarding pass and receive a tag for your bag. You then go to the baggage drop-off area and once again scan your boarding pass. You then place your baggage on the conveyor belt, scan the baggage tag, and then it is on its way. Very simple, no? Well of course not in our case. We needed to consult with 3 different LATAM employees (one twice) in order to accomplish this “automated” feat.

While waiting for our flight I took advantage of one of the several charging stations located throughout the terminal. Free charging and free very fast internet service are available. This place is very nice.

Typing and charging while waiting for our flight.

We arrived in Atacama after a 1-hour and 40-minute flight. Things were going great until just before landing when we had a lot of turbulence. I was petrified but I made eye contact with a nearby flight attendant who assured me this was all routine. We were picked up at the airport and taken to the Explora resort in Atacama. This ride typically takes about 1:15 but in our case, it took close to 2 hours because of mining equipment that was partially blocking the highway. Since our arrival was delayed we missed lunch but they were nice enough to get us something very tasty from the bar (Hake and pureed vegetables). Then it was a quick change of clothes for our afternoon excursion. I was not very impressed at first when we were walking through a hot and windy area with salt deposits on the hills. It was interesting but 10 minutes of this would have sufficed for me. I was very happy to see the van which then drove us to a lookout that was very impressive. It was also incredibly windy. See below.

You can’t see much of the sight but you can see that we are holding on to our hats and I am bracing myself due to the steep hill. Are we having fun yet?
Here is the sight that you can’t see in the previous picture. It was a lovely view but not worth the effort. My back is killing me tonight.

I am hopeful that tomorrow will be more interesting but now it is time for dinner.

Hasta Luego