Of the many places I’ve visited around the world, of all those in which I felt deeply amazed by their culture and buildings, of those to which I returned, few of them, really, make me fall in love like San Pedro …
Our relationship is long, dating back to 1996, when I was 15 years old and it was undoubtedly love at first sight. I, a young woman from the center and south of  Chile, accustomed to cities, lakes and forests, araucarias and bold, green foliage, was stunned facing the vastness of the desert over the viewpoint of the Cordillera de la Sal, a new topography that no postcard of the north could have shown me. Dawn in the desert, and in the distance a highlighted green oasis in the immensity of the landscape that stood before my eyes. From the top of the observatory I could see San Pedro, there emerged the first feelings that bind me to this land forever.
Everything was fascinating, the little craft shops they had at that time, the museum, the Church, its square and fair,  I tried pululos and  quinoa, walked down Caracoles street and lunched at the existing Estaka … I wanted to stay in that town to enjoy its tranquility and be part of such a relaxed flow that occurs only when you are away from civilization!
Little in the middle of the great desert, on the dunes of the Moon Valley watching the sunset, a myriad of colors that increased in intensity as the sun went down, in that magical place in the evening I was watching the comet Hale-Bopp passing on the horizon. I swore to come back.
Years passed, exactly 9, until the force of destiny led me to investigate the religious festival Ayquina for my degree project to graduate as an architect. This time I returned  to dig deeper into their history, culture, traditions and behavior of its inhabitants and especially observe the relationship between man and his territory. I have never ceased to be amazed, over and over again, every trip, every one of my many returns. What emerged as a teenage idyll is now one of the most enduring relationships of love of my life.

The journey begins as you pack. Then come the goodbyes at the airport, getting on the plane, fastening your seatbelts and take off! Two hours of the journey will be spent on a plane from the centre of Chile to the Norhern airport of Calama.To the right, the magnificent Cordillera de los Andes. To the left, glimpses of the distantly present: Pacific Ocean.

First stop: The Loa airport, in Calama city. But the journey will still continue from this point on…an hour and a half through the desert, towards the mountains. Maybe even with the  stunning tones of the sunset! And finaly, the glory of arriving at the hotel, with the landscape and the overwhelming silence.

Yet again, the journey continues, because from the hotel comes another time to be filled by experiences and images. Most of it only possible due  to the great team of drivers at Alto Atacama. With them, and the guides, you will explore the most stunning places in the diverse Salar de Atacama valleys. The hights of the Altiplano and the Prepuna dips. Without them and their stories filled with local knowledge, little could be done…

Through the picture, meet (from left to right): Juan Carlos Mamani, Rolando Coronel, Patricio Choque, Daniel Puca, Juan Carlos Servantes,  Victor Araya, Marcos Mollo. (Part of the team is missing: lejandro Pastrana, Marcos Sotelo…and from us all: Thanks to all!!!!

Testimony by Chantal Mardones, hotel guide at Alto Atacama

When San Pedro was little more than a hostile valley with no inhabitants the roaming human of more than 4000 year ago, found in animales all the possibilities for survival. The llama was both the provider of textiles for warmth and a source of food. With their leather they made shoes and with the wool they made ropes to tie the bags that the llamas themselves carried.

200 years on, we still find the sheppers under the sun with their flocks, they go hours a day under the sun caring for their animals, finding sources of water for them and food, sometimes walking many kilometers between one placeand the next, until the day ends and they head back home. At the break of dawn they start this journey all over again.

Yesterday, as I cycled to work, I bumped into a sheperd lady, who takes her llamas from Quitor to the water in Solcor. The sixty something sheep and the three llamas she walked with, had the path blocked and the few cars trying to get by where stuck. She, taking all the time in the world, did not rush her animals or hurry her pace. We could only wait. The tourists however, as tourists do, took out their cameras and photograhed the place to record that memorable moment. It was hard to imagine that in the middle of the desert one could get stuck in traffic and have such a laugh!

Testimonial by Chantal Mardones, hotel guide.

The idea of reaching the hights of the mythical Putana volcano, with its five columns of sulfur fumes, at 5.900 MASL, had us taken for several months and after quite a few failed attempts, dew to mechanical draw backs, earth tremors and such. We finaly got to the top of it on the 28th of March at 09:15 pm.

We set off the day before at 10:00 am and after a detailed organization, towards the Putana Vado, which are on the way to the Tatio Geysers, up the Cuesta del Diablo. At 14.00 pm hat day we had set up camp, at 4.72o masl, and had an outstanding view of the valley where the Putana river runs and the volcano was behind us.

That same day we did a route to recognize the place as best we could, becaause the next day we had the intention of reaching the top. And we did just that! After not much sleep, because of the altitude, we got up at 4:30 am and with minus 18 º C, we boiled some water and drank mate, finnished packing and started climbing.

1 hour and 15 minutes later, we were at the old sulfur mining camp, abandoned in 1965, in which the barve miners challenged life on a daily basis, extracting sulfur from the volcano crater and then drive it in trucks to San Pedro. From this point you can see the sulfur marks, which we followed to the top and so we were suddenly surrounded by green and yellow smoke- the colours vary according to the purity of the sulfur. Once at the top we drank water in abundance to stay hydrated and had a bite. We took the time to thank the earth for allowing us to reach the top safely and made our own personal requests. We also called the general manager at Alto Atacama Hotel, to let them know we had reached the top.

We set back to base camp, took the tents down and made sure  we left the place without a trace and once again thanked Mother Earth (Pacha Mama)

Team members:
Joel “Billy” Colque  /  Arturo Reyes  /  Matias Alamo