On July 27, 2022 by keirobyn
[July 2022] We had a one month holiday between school years. I spent a week in Madison with my mom (91!), which was nice. Then I returned to Chile. We spent 3 weeks driving a 6000km “look through”. We drove through northern Chile, into Bolivia and then south to and through Argentina and finally back to Santiago. Northern Chile and Bolivia were beautiful! So many amazing National Parks and wilderness areas: Atacama in Chile, Parques Lauca and Vicuñas in the far north.
In Bolivia, the Uyuni Salt Flats were amazing and lots of fun to drive on. We spent time exploring the high desert just over the border from the Atacama area we had been in, in Chile. Lots of beautiful places and fun!
Our entire vacation took a turn for the worse as we left the Salt Flats. We had 8 days of drama in our travel home. Our very computerized pollution emission system failed at 4300m while we were 200kms from the closest town. We managed to get back to Uyuni (town), but we couldn’t find a mechanic, at first, that could fix the electronic problem. When we finally got that resolved we drove for the Argentinian border. We encountered a ‘blockade’; the residents of the border town were blocking all entry points to the town with shattered glass, fireworks, bats, etc… After about 6 hours we managed to get through that only to encounter a 7 hour border crossing that was completely painful.
Then we drove in the dark to the closest Argentinian town to discover that it was school holidays and there were zero hotels available (seemingly in Argentina!). So, we camped in -8C weather, nearly freezing to death. The next few days we drove quickly through some beautiful towns and areas that we struggled to find hotels in. Then we tried to return to Santiago but discovered that the border pass had been closed for 10 days due to snow, and might be closed for weeks! After waiting unsuccessfully for 3 days, we bought plane tickets back to Santiago for the day before school started, planning to leave our car in Argentina. However, on our way to the airport we got a message that the border had just opened! So, we cancelled our plane tickets and drove straight home! We were very glad to be home!
Click on any image below to expand.
Parque National Pan de Azucar, north of La Serena.
We had a beachfront domo in Pan de Azucar.
Some artwork in the desert, just south of Antofagasta.
Lots of solar and wind power all over northern Chile.
Robyn was able to do a controlled(ish) descent through Rainbow Valley in her “Grit” wheelchair.
Tatio Geysers at Atacama – at 4300m.
Vicunas everywere.
Rainbow Valley in Atacama.
Thermas at Monumento Natural Salar de Surire. Free. Empty. Perfect!
Ojos de Atacama.
Petroglyphs abound in Atacama.
Rhea – small ostrich type birds.
The geo glyph in the top left is called the Atacama Giant. Lots of geoglyphs in the area, similar to the Nazca lines in Peru.
Near Iquique -supposedly the 2nd largest field of geoglphys in the world (after Nazca).
The mummies of Arica. Older than Egypt.
Monumento Natural Salar de Surire, south of Reserva Las Vicunas. We spent a day driving around this remote reserve and saw just a couple of cars. Spectacular scenery!
Vizcachas.
Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia. Surreal!
Isla Incahausi in Uyuni Salt flat.
Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa. South of Uyuni in Bolivia and just across the border from Atacama in Chile (where we had been two weeks earlier). Reminded us of Egypt- lots of open expanse and great 4 wheel driving.
Train graveyard in Uyuni.
Drama at the Chilean/Bolivian border. I misinterpreted the signs at the border, triggered a gate to drop – which cracked the windsheild of a bus and broke the gate.
Downtime in Uyuni Salt Flats.
Our hostel on the edge of the salt flats. Way too cold to camp – below freezing.
Bolvia, south of the salt flats.
This is the moment our vacation took a turn for the worse, 8 days from the end of our trip. The pollution system (DPF) was challenged by the inefficient engine operation at 4000+m and threatened to shutdown – 200kms from the closest town! Yikes. It made it back to Uyuni (which is not a big town!)
In Uyuni, I tried about 10 mechanics, most of which didn’t have any idea about any car computers or pollution control systems. This mechanic said he couldn’t fix it, but then amazingly did. I was so happy!
Date night at some of the great local places in Mendoza Argentina.
Camping out for 4 days in this hotel in Mendoza Argentina, trying to get across the border.
