Back to the sea

After a couple of days of dizzying high alpine exploring and its accompanying altitude sickness, we descended once again to the sea. Leaving behind the llamas and alpacas, the verdant valleys with Andean geese and giant coots, snow-capped volcanoes, and Aymara speaking villagers, we again entered the sea of sand, the unbelievable expanse of brown. Back to the Atacama Desert, and its weirdly wonderful sandscapes.

The picture below is of a tractor, pulling some kind of wagon behind him. Off to his corn field? I don't think so! Where is he going?

Below, that speck out there is me, having a grand time making sand angels! You can see my footprints in the sand, leading to my body.

How I loved this expanse! Here is where you can feel your soul set free. The soft sand cradled my body, the sun gently warmed me, and the endless blue sky and the endless sand set my mind free of distractions. As is often said, here in the desert you can hear yourself think. It's quiet. There is only you and the earth, nothing in between. And lots of space! It was an exquisite meditation to be here; a blissful experience.

And these amazing oasis valleys. I've shown pictures of these valleys before on this journal, but here is one again, because I adore them: the contrast of the brown and green is so striking. All thanks to Andean snowmelt.

In a matter of minutes, we traveled from the endless, desolate sand, to this:

Orchids! Flowers galore! Profuse gardens and exquisite fragrances!

Our Alaskan naturalist friend Barbara, living in Putre, gave us directions to a special not-too-secret spot of hers: a beautiful hummingbird garden, in the village of Azapa, just south of Arica. She told us the family who owned the land had converted their olive groves to this splendid garden about 20 years ago, and planted many specific flowers that attract hummingbirds. It's a must-visit on the itinerary of any birders or hummingbird lovers visiting Chile, or just those who want to be amazed at the beauty and life that can be sustained in this arid wasteland.

The garden was about six acres of winding paths, amongst exuberant and riotous vegetation. All paths had many shady resting spots, like the one above. Our guide, the teenage daughter of the proprietors, could name every flower and identified many hummingbirds and birds who visit her earthly paradise. Once I overcame my shock at finding this Garden of Eden in the middle of the Atacama Desert, I asked the girl when was the last time it rained. "Nunca," she replied. Never. This 16-year-old girl had never seen or experienced rain. Now, I know a lot of people who have never seen snow, but....rain? Unbelievable. This beautiful garden was being carefully watered from the melting snow of the Andes, about 100 miles away. 
Later that day, back in Arica, we found a small hostel to stay in for the night run by a New Zealander named Ross and his Chilean wife. This was to be our last night in Chile before crossing the border to Peru, and we got a lot of tips from Ross on how to proceed with this potentially challenging and confusing border crossing. Just to be safe, before dinner Audie got an extremely trimming haircut and beardcut, to look as presentable and less like an outlaw and revolutionary as possible. South Americans, especially border agents, do not always look favorably upon what can be standard hairstyles for Alaskan males, namely beards.