Below: A few more cameras Victor???; Feral donkey tracks; Feral donkeys
On to the petroglyphs where we learned that many different people would have completed them as they passed by, each taking their turn in scratching the image deeper into the rock.
At the end of the morning, Victor had a surprise for us. Wine and appetizers in this magical place. Salut!!!
On the return trip to San Pedro de Atacama, we stopped to capture this incredible image of the salt lakes we had visited on Day 1 of our visit to the desert.
We had until 5 pm to ourselves and following lunch with our friends, Bob and I wandered the streets exploring and slipping in and out of shops. Most of them interested us little however there was one little shop at the end of the main street that seemed to draw us in. We have found some very unique people on our travels and in this shop we met one of them. His name is Wamanche, he is a Quechuan (pronounced "chechwan"), descended from one of the oldest Incan tribes of Peru and from the Sacred Valley near Cusco. Our Spanish is pretty bad and yet, with his limited English and our few words and hand signals, we understood that he spent time in Whitehorse, teaching troubled aboriginal youth the art of mask making. He said that he loves Canada and Canadians. Bob wanted a photo of him however was hesitant to ask, in case he interpreted the request as an insult. After lunch, Christine, Margaret and I visited his store and he happily gave us a photo. I got a photo AND a big hug. He modelled one of his Alpaca hats for the pic.
Below: Anyone guess what this is??
We were picked up at 4:30 for a visit to Valle DeLa Luna (Moon Valley) to walk through the valley and to watch the sunset. The valley is famous for its resemblance to the surface of the moon, owing to its different stratifications and the salt formations that are caused by natural environmental factors.
From west to east a high mountain range can be seen, known as the Cordillera de Domeyko. The peak (Kimal) is 4,278 meters above sea level. Next is the Salt Mountain Range and finally the Andean Mountain Range, which is made up of a plateau and a chain of volcanoes, which divide and create the present system of rivers and gorges. Crystals of gem salt can be seen hyere, caused by the effects of high pressure and the absence of humidity.
For thousands of years, strong winds have created huge fields of sand dunes. The winds were so strong that the sand pounding into our faces and bodies convinced us we'd had been at the devils spa and had a complete sandblasting. Formations are the result of intense erosion processes. They are composed of gravel, clay, salt, gems and quartz and are approximately one million years old.
Look closely below and you might see sandboarders (a favourite sport among backpackers)
We hiked the gorges, I tried sliding on my butt down a sand dune and it didn't work. The rest slalomed to the bottom.....clever move 'cause their drawers didn't get filled with sand! Walking barefoot however, was a treat!
..and then we drove to the top to pick our spot to enjoy the sunset over the valley, with a fine glass of wine.
Returning to town we discovered that Festival had begun. How appropriate for our last night in the desert. We freshened up and joined the crowds in the main square. We realized just how organized we are when it comes to celebrations. Our parades separate floats from the bands so that we can actually hear the individual bands. Not here! Dancers and bands are given an area in which to perform, right next to other bands and dancers who perform at the same time. Chaos! Beautiful chaos! All we could do was laugh and acknowledge how straight we are in North America. There must have been 20 groups and they danced and performed without any street lights. I almost stumbled over some dancers, dressed all in black, weaving along the street.
Bob and I agree that San Pedro de Atacama is a place we would visit again.
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