- Organize tour to Uyuni after comparing different providers
- Sunset tour in the Valle de la Luna
We spend the cozy morning in the garden of the hostel and use the - for once - good internet connection to update our blogs. Skype and provide information about the other tour offers in the region. In the early afternoon we ask some tour operators about the options for onward travel to Uyuni, Bolivia. There is still time to go to eat.
At 3:30 p.m. we arrive at the Atacama Connection tour office and arrange two more excursions for tomorrow and the day after.
Then our tour starts Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley). A few minutes drive outside of San Pedro, the earth's crust warps to this spectacular formations. The place in the heart of the Atacama Desert is considered to be the driest place on earth with an annual rainfall of only 35 mm (comparison Switzerland 1458 mm).
Our tour starts with the demanding tour of the Cuevas del Sal. The rare rains have washed a narrow gorge into the rock over the millennia, similar to the slot canyons in the American Southwest. Salt crystals have deposited on the surface and look almost like snow. The salt-coated earth's crust glistens in the blazing sun and it is around 30 degrees hot.
The next stop is at the bizarre rocks Tres Marias. The first sand dunes also appear here.
Continue to Anfiteatro with craggy red rocks and climbing a vantage point with a view down into the so-called meteorite crater.
Finally we go into Valle de la Muerte and then miss the sunset from Mirador de Cari Unfortunately by a few minutes. But even in the remaining light of the day we still have a great view of the bizarre landscape.
Back in San Pedro we go straight to eat and go back to the hostel. Annoyingly, we have to leave our double room one night earlier because the boss has no control over her reservations. So we are already packing our things now, because tomorrow we start early.
