We all felt
a bit down after the lack of cacti on the previous two days and a night in a
no-star hotel.
Progress
had been faster than anticipated, as we had not needed the 'reserve' days that
we had built into our plans. We could travel further north (through even
drier areas) and look for Eriosyce laui, but instead decided on a
'tourist' excursion to San Pedro de Atacama, high up in the Andes and close to
the Argentinean and Bolivian borders
We had a
beautiful day travelling through some breath taking scenery with a small
number of scenery stops, but only one cactus stop (S040)
for large cushions of Cumulopuntia sp. S040a at Valle de la Luna, just
before San Pedro de Atacama presented a fascinating scenery of salt sculptures
with snow-capped volcanoes as a back drop, but no cacti.
It did not
take long to find and book into accommodation on the outskirts of San Pedro de
Atacama and with plenty of daylight hours left, headed in the direction of the
Bolivian / Argentinean border, climbing higher and higher. Marlon spotted some
llama crossing the road ahead of us and Leo found a place to pull up to see if
we could capture on film. As we crossed the low ridge over which they had
disappeared, we were confronted by a completely unexpected view - a field of
blue lupines with the 5,916m high Volcán Licancábur dominating the landscape
against a clear blue sky. The llamas had disappeared, but who cares with a
photographic subject like that? (S041)
We were
still out breath (even walking across the road is a very tiring experience at
4,113 m altitude) as we drove off to find a suitable place to turn around and
head back for San Pedro. As Leo completed the turn at 4,152 m altitude there
was a bang from underneath the car and Marlon and I recognized the familiar
smell of a burnt out clutch (the same thing had occurred during our 1999 trip
through Brazil).
How we got
off the hill (with snow forecast that night) and had the car fixed would take
too long to tell. Catch me at the bar at a cactus
convention and I'll tell you the story!
All's well
that ends well, although I can't help but think what might have happened if
the clutch had burned out a day earlier, on the way down from the Mantos de la
Luna.
