Since early January Alto Atacama has a new expeditions guide. Paula Saint-Jean is a multifacetic woman, with 24 years as a business manager specializing in marketing and a passionate sportswoman who has been actively practice swimming, volleyball, hockey, longboarding, riding and has worked as a diving, ski and snowboard instructor with seasons in the United States.
A girl who definitely likes challenges and to be in constant contact with people of which she says she learns a lot. Cheerful and energetic Paula is in charge of registry, she will meet you at your arrival at the Hotel and make you aware of the many tours which you may be provided with and also is part of the youth group who will accompany and instruct your tours of San Pedro and its attractive surroundings.

A delicious syrup, sweet like honey, made from small-sized fruits from the Chañar tree, known for its resistance to drought that flourishes so well in this area of the country. Perfect is the syrup to sweeten drinks and yoghurts, and as sauces for various preparations, as a base for puddings and mousse, among others.

This delicacy that can be found at the fair next to the square in San Pedro is of great contribution to the Atacama kitchen. Well known to our chef Rodrigo Villarroel who daily stresses its flavor in a dish prepared either as steak sauce in parfait or my favorite, chañar homemade ice cream. This, served in a crispy sweet tulip becomes the icing on the cake …me, as a major fan of  desserts, could not stop asking for it at least once a day and neither should you! A unique taste, a jewel of the highlands.

Vacation is a moment needed to survive in the hectic modern life. It is the only fraction of time that allows us to really leave behind the anxiety and lower down our  revolutions, that prevent us from resting, to recharge and get back to the working year.
According to recount stories of European literature of past centuries, the doctor would not only be devoted to prescribing medicines, concoctions and infusions, but was also responsible for sending his patients on their major holidays to. He would carefully choose the most favorable destinations for the recovery of all those who were under his care. Hot springs, mountain villages, life in the countryside and distant lands were some of the options to enter healing physical ailments and psychological ones.

Something like that happened to me when I arrived in San Pedro. Quite eager to rest. I had had three weeks of light  sleep. Always aware of how the night progressed and it became day.

Pamela, the wonderful physiotherapist in charge of Alto Atacama´s Spa:Puri, immediately noticed my situation. Therapy was scheduled for 3 pm. I put on my robe and walked down the ramp leading to this paradise, unknown to me at that moment.
A faint light coming in through small air vents, a soft scent of candle and soft music made the place a default space for relaxing.
In the place were two couches for those who wished to relax with a partner. I took over and I lay face down while listening to the sound of running water in the huge jacuzzi in the room, which begins to form a whirlpool in my head and carried me to a new state of calm, then almost forgotten in my memories and concerns . Meanwhile Pamela ran my back with oil, releasing every muscle.
After that I went to my room and slept. I took an excursion, came home and fell asleep again without interruption until the next day, when the alarm rang to tell me that breakfast in the dining room was already served. The cure was done, I had just turned to the rhythm of my beloved San Pedro and enjoy my vacation to return to work fully recovered from the capital.
To Pamela: Thank you so much!

This February, San Pedro has a special show of Chilean handicraft, one awarded in 2009 by the UNESCO “Seal of Excellence” and “First Crafts and Design Competition CREA”.
ARTEMINGA and NGO TSA opens tomorrow Thursday February 11 the exhibition “Multiple Parallel ” in Caracoles 183, which I consider one of the most interesting shops in the area, the perfect place to go if you look for special pieces that combine  design with materials and traditions.
On my vacations I had the privilege of meeting  Silvana Martinez, manager of this initiative, a young law student who carries the art in her veins, which was motivated by her atacaman ancestors, and has developed a career as a goldsmith reusing old atacaman  tissues, combined with work in copper, which works in creating jewelry crudely carrying the history of its previous owners, in this case the Zutar family, (her paternal grandmother).

Everything on their collars emulates the desert, the red and earth colors of the tissues, the metal she uses, which together with the reuse of materials earned merits enough to be one of the winners of CREA.
The installation “Multiple Parallel” evokes in its structure the way our long country is transversally divided by parallels, imaginary lines that create divisions within our territory, where locations are also different and unique cultural expressions, which are part of a larger agenda: our idiosyncrasy

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The pieces presented in this exhibition are Loza Rings by Carolina Contreras Collao who presented framed fragments of pottery belonging to the ancient northern Chile saltpeter, wooden rings by Marcel Pinilla Cancino, native objects made with wood from old fallen buildings of Valparaíso, Loom Necklace by Nicolas Hernandez Meza and Juan Pinochet Acosta a pectoral ornament with saddlery and goldsmith techniques with ancient materials used in handicrafts; Manto Intervenido by Irene Vacaro Cuevas made from felt and multiple techniques; Kallwe Necklace by Valeria Martinez Nahuel a creation of silver, sheep and alpaca wool hand-dyed with natural products; Jewels of native wood and silver by Pauline Aranguiz Montesi inspired in Mapuche traditional ornamentation.