SPdA day 3: Altiplanic Lakes, Salares

By far the highlight of my visit to San Pedro de Atacama, and one of the highlights of the trip overall, the "Red Rocks" tour of the altiplanic lakes and salt flats was incredible, with one remarkable vista after another, in full panoramic beauty. We traveled in a small group of about 8 people, and surprisingly had all of the sites we visited completely to ourselves. By the end of the journey it was as if we were old friends. Every other tour I had done in the area was overloaded with other tourists ogling the same sights, but here we were just solitary specks in the vast landscapes. The tour guide was very enthusiastic, and you could tell that both him and the driver were genuinely interested in the tour, and not just completing a routine task for their paychecks. In fact, it seemed like the particular route of the trip was somewhat flexible and would change from day to day according to new spots they learned about etc. 

It was another early morning, preparing for an 11+ hour tour:

Our first stop was towards the beginning of the Inca Trail, an infamous historic route which the Inca traveled to arrive to Machu Picchu. The route extends all the way down into Northern Chile:

Next we would visit some spectacular high-altitude lakes, and see some wild flamingos:

Interesting rock formations overlooking an expansive valley:

A person in the next photo gives an idea of the scale:

More vast high-altitude lakes:

Salt flats with interesting reflections and more flamingos:

It looked to me like these nuns in the middle of nowhere were about to walk right into a Monty Python skit:

Hey you llamas get out of the general store!!

I returned to San Pedro de Atacama with just enough time to grab a bite to eat before a long bus trip to Arica, my last destination in Chile.