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Tag: atacama

  • How to Tackle Chile in a Week

    How to Tackle Chile in a Week

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When we jumped on the $200 error fare to Santiago, I’ll be honest, I had NO idea what we were going to do for a week (okay, eight days) in Chile. I assumed we’d have to stick to a bunch of day trips from Santiago (which, upon my research, really wouldn’t have been such a bad trip at all!) and that getting down to Patagonia was going to cost an arm and a leg.

    Luckily, once I put my travel research hat on I realized that wouldn’t have to be the case at all.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”876″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you’re not one for action-packed trips and like a more leisurely pace, this itinerary may not be for you, but hopefully anyone reading gets some good tips and ideas out of here anyway![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Day 1: Arrive in Santiago. It probably depends where you are flying from, but we took an 8-hour redeye flight from Mexico City. We’re both lucky enough that we sleep relatively well on planes, and always try to hit the ground running after an overnight flight. We spent the afternoon exploring Santiago – eating, drinking, and taking it all in.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Day 2: Day trip to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. We were flying out early the next morning so an overnight trip wasn’t an option for us – it made for a pretty long day but I knew we wanted to fit in a trip to the graffitied city. This happened to be on a Sunday, and if that happens to you be forewarned that many restaurants will be closed, but we found a hilltop spot and then enjoyed wandering around the streets and checking out all of the art. We also weren’t sure when we would want to head back to Santiago so did not buy a bus ticket in advance – typically not an issue but at the end of the weekend everyone else was heading back to Santiago as well – we opted to take an Uber home rather than a bus that would have gotten us in after midnight. You live and you learn, right?[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Day 3: Travel to Puerto Natales in Patagonia. Be prepared for a long day. This involved a 3-hour flight south to Punta Arenas (hello, 600-miles from Antartica!) and then another 2 1/2 hour bus ride north to Puerto Natales. We opted to fly their budget airlines, SKY Airlines, which got us there safe and sound, and then Bus Sur for the comfortable bus ride. Tip: You can buy your tickets online beforehand and choose your seats. Once we arrived, we settled into our hotel and then took a taxi over to The Singular Hotel for a relaxing late afternoon bottle of Chilean wine and snacks.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Day 4: Today’s the day! You’re going to spend the entire day exploring Torres del Paine. Obviously, due to our time constraints, we did not have time to do any of the 5-day treks, so we opted for a full-day tour allowing us to check out many amazing sites along the way and go for short walks and hikes as well.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Day 5: After your full day in Torres, followed by another delicious dinner in Puerto Natales (seriously – head over to our blog about Patagonia to check out where we ate!) you’re back on the bus and headed to the airport. While another long day, we were scheduled to arrive back in Santiago around 5pm, giving us a bit of time to relax before dinner. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed for a few hours so we didn’t end up arriving in Santiago until 8pm. Luckily I had made dinner reservations a block from our hotel and they still seated us an hour after our reservation time![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Day 6: Back at the airport. Yeah, I know! But there are no direct flights from Punta Arenas to Calamia so we were stuck with an overnight in Santiago. There are a couple of flights a day to Calamia but we chose to take the earliest one to maximize our time in San Pedro de Atacama. The flight was much shorter (under 2 hours) but make sure to maximize anytime you have to nap! Once we arrived in Atacama we dropped our stuff, headed to the hot springs, and then Valle de La Luna.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Day 7: Exploring Atacama. We had rented a car which gave us the flexibility to sleep in a little bit later than if we had booked a tour. We spent the day driving around, basically following the tour route that looked the most interesting to us, while avoiding all of the tourists. Want to learn more about what we did? Read more here![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Day 8: It’s time to start the long journey home. It’s still dark out when we leave our hotel – we’re catching the earlier flight to avoid any potential delays that could force us to miss our flight back home. When we arrive in Santiago we still have about 8 hours to kill so we head to the fish market, the yarn street, the historic center, and pretty much just walk the city until we’re in need of pisco sours, Chilean wine, and snacks to get us through. The sun sets and we are on another redeye back to Mexico City.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Once I started researching Chile I realized there was so much greatness all over the country – while we saw A LOT we barely scratched the surface of mountains, lakes, and wine country to see!

    Where should we go the next time we make it down to Chile?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • High Altitude in Atacama

    High Altitude in Atacama

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Before we booked our flight to Chile, I had honestly never heard of the Atacama Desert. It wasn’t until I started researching what there was to do outside of Santiago that I learned about this crazy, but awesome place.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]We spent two days and two nights in Atacama and accomplished A LOT. While our itinerary was nonstop on this trip, it’s definitely proof that you CAN see it all – at least the mountains, desert, and city, all in one trip. Side note: while researching Chile I learned that there is SO much more of this beautiful country left to visit and I hope to make it back one day to continue exploring.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”844″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We took the first flight out of Santiago that morning and arrived in Calama around 8am. We opted to rent a car for this portion of the trip as most of the activities you want to do and sites you want to see really don’t require any kind of tour, or even four wheel drive. We hopped in our SUV and made it to the town of San Pedro de Atacama in under an hour.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

    Where to Stay

    We decided to stay in the sister hotel of Altiplanico Sur – Altiplanico Atacama. It was a short, easy walk into town but at night quite dark – I highly recommend bringing a flashlight if you’re staying here and planning to head into town for dinner and drinks. The rooms were nice and we had private patios and an outdoor shower. Don’t worry – there was an indoor shower as well.[/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1501211934193-4993bb5a-2983-2″ include=”855,854″][vc_single_image image=”843″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

    What to Do

    Valle de la Luna – probably the closest thing to town to do is visit the Valle de la Luna. We had read that sunset was the best time to go so we made the drive over just in time – we paid a few dollars and drove to an area where a decent sized group of people were parking. Due to the time we didn’t get to drive all the way around the park, but luckily we captured a pretty great sunset.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”857″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_single_image image=”856″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_single_image image=”852″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Salt Flats & Lagoons – again, one of the benefits of renting our own car meant going at our own pace (aka doing everything we could have done on a tour, but sleeping an extra hour and ending up having parts of Atacama all to ourselves. We stopped by the Atacama Salt Flat, hung out with flamingos (or desperately tried to be quiet enough to get close to them), had a delicious $7 lunch in the village of Socaire on our way to the lagoons, and then visited the Miscanti Miniques lagoons.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”847″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_single_image image=”848″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_single_image image=”850″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_single_image image=”863″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Termas de Puritama – when we arrived at our hotel our room wasn’t ready so we decided to head to the hot springs for the afternoon before settling in and then heading to Valle de la Luna for sunset. If you like to relax in natural hot springs I definitely recommend! You drive to a pretty high altitude, walk down into a canyon, pay a small entry fee, and relax! Tip: I don’t care how warm or cold out it is, you’re sitting in crystal clear water at 14,000 feet – wear sunscreen.[/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid grid_id=”vc_gid:1501211934203-aa6e08c7-584b-5″ include=”838,840,839″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

    Where to Eat

    Adobe – while we didn’t have time to eat many meals in Atacama, Adobe was by far the best place we ate. Be prepared that there may be a fire going so it might get a bit smoky, but the food is delicious and the live music is a lot of fun. Definitely make sure to head here for dinner one night.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”853″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_column_text]Mal de Puna – a spot we passed on the walk from our hotel into the main part of town, this place was a great spot to stop for a drink and snack of ceviche or one of their wok dishes.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”845″ img_size=”500x” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]La Estaka – honestly, not our favorite meal of the trip, but the ambiance was great, the location was right in the center of town, and hey, there are plenty of other dishes to try – I just didn’t find my curry bursting with taste.[/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1501211934206-e813156a-c5e1-4″ include=”858,859″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]While Patagonia has a huge draw, I wouldn’t write off visiting the desert if you have some time – especially if you don’t spend much time in deserts, it feels a bit out of this world.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”862″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][/vc_column][/vc_row]