Chile 2016

Friday18November

Back to Chaxa Lagoon. After enjoying its sunset the day before, here we are this afternoon in the scorching sun in front of a true sea of salt.

Here, salt has truly taken over the territory. Without the marked paths, not a piece of land would have been left exposed. This lagoon is part of the Salar de Atacama, the largest in Chile.

This pseudo layer of snow is actually hard as stone. These are mineral salt crystals mixed with dust brought by the wind.

In this basin, microorganisms and microalgae have found the ideal place to develop, giving the water this pronounced green color.

The Licancabur volcano always on the lookout.

Until now, we felt much more in a salt flat than a lagoon... but we quickly arrive at the body of water where a colony of flamingos is actively searching for food...

An Andean flamingo (Phoenicoparrus andinus) drowned in the ocean of salt...

The flamingos here can be of three different species: the Andean flamingo (the one we seem to have encountered most often), the Chilean flamingo, and James's flamingo. I'll let you discover the subtle differences on this site: eldesiertoflorido.over-blog.com. When we talk about the pink flamingo, we are referring to a single, very different species, which is the one most often seen in Europe.

While moving forward and stirring the mud, the flamingo passes its beak through the water to filter its food, made among other things, of tiny pink crustaceans (brine shrimp) which will give its plumage its color...

All of this is superb. It's amazing what a desert can hide!

The day is well advanced but we still have time to visit another equally astonishing site, right next to San Pedro de Atacama...

No need for an Apollo or a Sputnik to reach our satellite, as just a few minutes from San Pedro, we are told, we can walk in the Valley of the Moon...

I don't recall seeing Neil Armstrong wandering through this kind of fault, but it's high time to send someone up there to check all that... As for us, we conscientiously follow the signs to pass through the "cavernas de sal", the salt caves.

Flashlight recommended...

We emerge unscathed, but still have to climb these pseudo open-air stalagmites. And that's where I caught my shadow taking a picture of me...  

Next is the Duna Mayor which we follow, leading us straight towards the sunset.

From the top of the Dune, panoramic view of the North side of the valley with the Anfiteatro in the background to the right.

South side, here we are. Not on Earth, and ultimately not on the Moon either, but rather on Mars and its red colors...

There's even the Opportunity robot in full exploration. Oh no, wait, just a tourist...  

The Anfiteatro. The amphitheater.

The Great Dune. The Major Dune.

The relief of this planet is breathtaking... How lucky it's our own planet!!!  

We would stay there for hours but alas the park rangers are pushing us towards the exit... But it's a promise, we'll be back in two days! Especially since tomorrow, we'll stay in the astronomical field as we'll visit one of the world's largest telescopes in Antofagasta!