ATACAMA DESERT—SALT FLAT & CHAXA LAGOON
On our last full day in the desert, we took a late afternoon into sunset excursion to Salar de Atacama and Laguna Chaxa, the Atacama Salt Flat and the Chaxa Lagoon. Our group was to be four guests plus a driver and two guides. The second couple bowed out and so the Chief Penguin and I had the full attention of both guides, Karina and Claudio. She comes from farther south in Chile and has been here for a year, but just a few months with Tierra Hotel. She loves the job and speaks fluent English and German in addition to her native Spanish. Claudio has worked for Tierra for 10 years and loves the quiet of this part of the world. They were both excellent and made it a most enjoyable and informative outing.
The salt flat is about 45 minutes south of the hotel and we made two stops along the way. The first was a very brief stop at Tambillo, a planned forest that was developed in the 1960’s to encourage ranching. It was a popular spot for picnicking and still is to some extent, although any regular maintenance of this grove of trees ended with the 1973 coup. Green trees are so rare here that such a place has appeal in a way we probably don’t fully comprehend.
Our second stop was in the small village of Toconao where we wandered through an extensive linear garden filled with fruit trees (oranges and pomegranates), a looming tall eucalyptus tree, and fragrant pink rose bushes. The garden is nestled midst large stone formations and an aqueduct system. We then checked out the town square and its historic 18th century church. I popped into a local handicrafts store to buy trinkets for my granddaughters.
Continuing on to the salt flat, the landscape changed and the sand was covered with small tufty plants (made me think of a similar plant in New Zealand). The sand itself was coarser, more pebbly and grayer in color.
This salt flat is part of the Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos, a national flamingo reserve. Chile boasts three species of flamingo: Andean, Chilean, and James’s, but this time of year the Andean is the one most observed and that’s what we saw. The salt flat is gray and spiky with paths running through it that look like packed whitish gray snow, but are easy to walk on and not slippery. Scattered throughout the flat are small lagoons varying in size. This is what attracts the flamingos who come to feed.
We couldn’t really get very close to them, but seeing them from a distance and watching them fly overhead was an impressive sight. The Chief Penguin has a serious camera and so he was able to get some great photos (see his two shots below). We spent about 45 minutes walking the trail and watching where the flamingos landed or looking up as they flew by almost in formation.
Just before sunset, we returned to the visitors’ center for snacks and drinks (thanks to the hotel and our guides) and then waited as the sun began to touch the horizon. To the east, the Andes Mountains, always pretty, turned pinker as dusk approached. This was a memorable excursion for sure!
Note: Most photos ©JWFarrington; flamingos in flight and lone flamingo ©GCFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo is from the salt flat looking toward the Andes Mountains at sunset.
