tl;dr Flew to the desert, took a bus to San Pedro de Atacama, booked some tours via my hostel – Hostal Mamatierra, grabbed some salmon for lunch and watched the World Cup, toured Laguna Cejar, and had a crap dinner – 6 activities; 22,276 steps
I had an early morning flight to Calama (CJC) from Santiago (SCL). The hotel I stayed at provided a to go breakfast for me – a cheese sandwich, yogurt, and juice – but it was too early for me to eat so I stashed the cheese sandwich for later.
Quick note on San Pedro De Atacama – it is over 3,100 meters (10,000ft +) above sea level and the impacts of altitude are very real. Some people were feeling it right away.
Activity 1 – Latam flight to Calama
Latam has a cool feature where you can make a bid for an upgraded seat – when I made the booking, I put my bid at the lowest possible amount $15 thinking that the extra space from a Premium Economy seat would help me get some additional sleep considering the early flight.
I stopped by the Priority Pass lounge in the SCL domestic terminal for a snack and to refill my water bottle before my flight.
The flight was relatively uneventful and I did catch up on a tiny amount of sleep (maybe 30mins). The flight itself is less than 2hours in the air. Latam gave me a nice egg sandwich for breakfast and a bag of chips.
Activity 2 -Transvip bus to San Pedro de Atacama
Once I landed, I found a Transvip.cl stand and booked a one way transfer to San Pedro de Atacama. I could have used a local bus service, but that would have required me to uber to a bus station and all that extra time and effort did not outweigh the convenience of door to door service.
The cost was $15,000 CLP one way (~$17 USD). I could have booked roundtrip and saved $1,000 CLP each way, but considering I didn’t know my exact return plans I decided it would be smarted to book two one-ways.
The transport was a comfortable van and had me at my hostel within an hour and a half.
Activity 3 – Hostal Mamatierra checkin and tour bookings
I stayed at Hostal Mamatierra – a hostel I found using hostelworld.com. The reviews were great and the location was 3 minutes from the main street of San Pedro de Atacama. I booked a private room, which had two beds (meaning I ultimately paid the price of two people to reserve the room for myself). I did not have an en-suite bathroom, but that didn’t matter to me.
The hostel provides breakfast every morning and if you have an early morning tour, they will package the breakfast in a to go bag. They would even do this for the 4am tour I was arranging!
The hostel had a TV with DirecTV so we could watch the World Cup and a hammock to relax in. The hostel manager quickly checked me in and asked what activities I wanted to do – we formulated a plan and booked me a tour for later that day (Laguna Cejar). The tours are all planned so that you either do a morning tour and an afternoon tour or a whole day tour (and they ensure to get you back from your morning tour with enough time to eat lunch and get ready for your second tour).
I could have walked into town to find tours using any of the dozens of tour companies that line the streets, but I decided to trust my hostel manager’s recommendations and the people she likes to work with.
Activity 4 – Lunch at La Picada del Indio
On the hostel manager’s recommendation I went to La Picada del Indio for lunch and had salmon with a fried egg on top. It was actually pretty decent. The restaurant has two areas – an indoor seating an area and a backyard that is partially covered. I opted to sit in the backyard and enjoy the cooler air.
After lunch, I strolled through the town a bit and bought a lot of water. I quickly realized that the town is tiny and 100% catered to tourists. The town is very expensive and there isn’t much local culture. I did stumble across a sports bar and popped in for a bit to watch some World Cup soccer at ChelaCabur.
Activity 5 – Laguna Cejar tour
This was my first tour – a trip to the Atacama salt flats, a lagoon you can float in, and viewing the Tebinquinche lagoon. Really cool trip. My favorite part was floating in the lagoon; it was super relaxing. Quick note, the water in the lagoon was actually really really cold. Getting my body submerged was not the easiest activity.
After floating in the lagoon, you can shower outdoors in cold water to get the salt off. FYI, there is an attendant that will limit how long you can shower because they only have water tanks and need to ensure there is water for everyone. They will usually give you up to three minutes to shower, so be quick!
When we walked by the Tebinquinche lagoon, my tour guide grabbed some salt and offered it to everyone to try. It tasted salty, but surprisingly not nearly as salty as I expected. Apparently there are other minerals in the salt piece, which impacts the saltiness.
The tour ended with a snack and Pisco Sour as the sun began to set over the desert – a great way to end the first tour.
Activity 6 – Dinner and sleep
The tour got back to San Pedro at 8:30pm and I desperately needed a shower. This meant that by the time I was cleaned up and found a place for dinner, it was already after 9pm.
I stopped by a pizza place that was decently crowded. It was beyond terrible. Inedible. I tried to eat it since I was so hungry and needed to get to bed…but couldn’t. I found an empanada place and had that instead. I decided not to go to one of the few bars because I wanted to continue adjusting to the high elevation since tomorrow would get up to over 4,000meters.
Andrew's Activities 