One Heck of an Adventure (San Pedro & Bolivia)

Calama Airport

 On October 31st, five of my closest study abroad friends and I traded in candy and costumes for an adventure of a lifetime.  We landed in Calama at about 2pm, surrounded by nothing but tarmac and dirt.  We took a taxi to the heart of town (about a 5 minute drive), and tried to get bus tickets to San Pedro...a lot harder than it sounds.  We walked around Calama for at least 30 minutes, stopping in every bus station we came by, only to read a sign saying: "sold out" every time.  Finally, we reached a station that had tickets, but the the lady at the desk wouldn't let us buy them.  She kept mumbling the word "arriba" and none of us had a clue what she was talking about.  Turns out, you have to stand on the corner, flag the bus down, and then pay for a ticket once you're on the bus.  So we did exactly that, and got the last 6 seats on the bus.  After about an hour and a half, we arrived in San Pedro and checked into our hostel.  We walked into town, paid for our tour to Bolivia, and then rested up!

      

The Bolivian/Chilean border

 The next morning, the tour company picked us up from our hostel and we headed to the border....which turned out to be a shack in the middle of nowhere.  We were advised to use our Chilean ID's and pretend to be Chilenas so that way we wouldn't have to pay the $165 USA entrance fee.  Too bad our Chilean ID's say "EXTRANJERO" and "de USA."  Border control wasn't too pleased with us, and told us we had to pay a $50 entrance fee.  None of us were expecting to pay, so we had to pool all of our money together, and we had just enough!  We paid, and continued on without a stamp in our passports (aka: they pocketed the money) and broke.  

We met our Bolivian guide, Ever and hopped in the jeep.   

Laguna Blanca

 Not even 10 minutes later, we arrive at the entrance to the national park...where we learn we each have to pay an entrance fee of 180 Bolivianos.  Funny, because none of us have money.  We tell our guide we can't pay the fee.  He shakes his head, laughs a little, and offers to pay for us.  

Finally, we make it to our first destination: Laguna Blanca.  It was gorgeous, and there were so many flamingos! 

Laguna Verde

We then visited Laguna Verde.  It was pretty, but the water wasn't very green. 

Aguas Termales

 We got back in the jeep and headed to las aguas termales (natural hot springs). 

Geiser Sol de Mañana

Then it was off to los geisers! 

Laguna Colorado

We then ended our day with a visit to Laguna Colorado...named for the red color of the water.  

Ever strapping our bags to the top of the jeep

 We woke up early the next morning, had a nice breakfast, and hopped back in the jeep.  

Arbol de Piedra

Our first stop was the "arbol de piedra" - the tree of stone. 









     Then we saw a few more gorgeous lagoons and of course, more flamingos!

Laguna Honda Hedionda

Laguna Ramaditas

Volcán Ollagu

We then stopped to stretch our legs, and admire Volcán Ollague.

 Finally we retired for the night in el Hotel de Sal...probably the coolest place I have ever stayed in because EVERYTHING was made out of salt.  The tables, the chairs, the bed frames...it was crazy!

The next morning, we woke up at about 4, packed up our things and hopped back in the jeep.  We drove to the middle of the salt flats to watch the sunrise...and to lick some salt. 

Isla Incahuasi

We then went to Isla Incahuasi, which was basically a small island filled with cacti in the middle of the salt flats.  It was pretty incredible.  

 Finally it was time to take some funny pics on the salt flats!  No horizon = no depth perception = I can hold my tiny friends in my hands!

Cementerio de Trenes

To end our trip, we visited el cementerio de trenes (the cemetery of trains) in Uyuni.  A little spooky, but still very cool.  It was also here that we came across the first ATM we had seen the entire trip.    We took out money and paid back Ever.   

We then spent a night in a little town called Villa Mar, and headed back to the border the next morning.  We walked into the shack, handed over our papers, and crossed back over to Chile.  We stayed one more night in San Pedro, and then it was back to Valpo.  


Just to sum up: There were six of us girls, wandering around Bolivia with absolutely no money for three full days.  I also think I forgot to add in ealier that every public bathroom cost money and toilet paper was scarce.  We also had to pay to take a shower at the hostels.  Needless to say, we did our business outdoors and didn't shower for 3 days.  

In all, it was an incredible experience and an unforgettable adventure.