Sleep-in day! Still had to wake up around 8:45 am-ish in order to get breakfast, but that’s a far cry from many of this trip’s early starts.
It’s not entirely a day of rest, however – we still want to head into town to mail our remaining postcards, and to visit the local ice cream shop.
Off to Reception to see if we can confirm the address for the post office, only to be told that there is no post office. Huh. Google does not agree, so we’re going to chance it. Also – there’s no way to change US dollars into Chilean Pesos here at Explora, though we should be able to find a bank machine without too much trouble.
We punch the Correos Chile location into Google Maps, and we are on our way – once more grateful that our Airalo eSIMs continue to work well.
There aren’t a lot of sidewalks in this part of San Pedro de Atacama, but we manage all right. Cars (mostly) travel at a reasonable speed, and we have a decent amount of shade. There’s a brief detour due to construction, but then we’re able to make use of the sidewalks:
We soon reach the more picturesque portion of town, which includes this beautiful church:
And a lovely town square:
The post office is close by – and open! But as expected, they do not take US dollars or visa so I head to the bank machine next door to withdraw some Chilean Pesos. There’s a bit of a line – and the machine is difficult to navigate in Spanish – but I eventually make it work. Back to the post office to pay 3,000 Pesos (roughly US$3) to mail the post cards.
We wander back through main street and poke our heads into some of the shops, but there isn’t really anything we want to buy. Though we do come across a pharmacy sign that includes an adorable viscacha wearing a lab coat:
But mostly we make a bee-line for the ice cream:
Quite the range of flavours available:
It’s a bit confusing as the waffle cones we want are only available for double scoops, and I have an extremely difficult time communicating that my daughter wants two of the same flavour. (Eventually I say, “Menta chipa y enotro menta chipa.” which gets my point across.)
They prefer taking credit card to me handing over a large bill, so that’s exactly what we do – though I have to use the card’s chip, rather than tap or Apple Pay.
Back to the Explora lodge, where we do a bit of reading, writing and homework – plus a little bit more wandering and photograpy:
Off to lunch. Today’s menu:
I am boring and opt for the ham and cheese sandwich (not pictured).
Today’s lunch buffet:
Which my wife uses to build this healthful lunch:
We ask for some extra french fries for our table – and get more French fries than we can eat in a week:
Ah, well. Sometimes these details get lost in translation.
Off to the pool this afternoon – I reach out to Reception to ask them to turn on one of the steam rooms, but receive no response. Not a problem, I can ask the bartender – except there isn’t a bartender out there yet. So I head inside to speak to Reception in person. They offer to staff the bar for us, but claim that all of the saunas and steam rooms are currently down for maintenance.
This seems a little suspect to me, so I find someone a bit higher up the food chain – and mention it to the bartender as well. Sure enough, the steam room is started up soon thereafter. Irritating that this took multiple attempts, but not a huge deal considering this is Explora’s first misstep since we arrived.
5 pm rolls around, and it’s time to head off on our Gran Solar exploration to Chaxa Lagoon. There’s a brief moment of panic when we check the exploration on Explora’s website and see that it clocks in at a whopping 4.5 hours but then are reassured when the guides assure us that it should be 2.5 to 3 hours max.
Eight guests in total today, and the remainder arrive within a few minutes of the scheduled start time. 45 minutes in the van – mostly on smooth tarmac – and we arrive at a lagoon in the middle of a massive salt flat.
Cloudy today, which only heightens the otherworldly feel of this place.
The facilities aren’t quite as fancy as some that we’ve visited, but they are entirely functional with well-maintained bathrooms:
On to the lagoon itself. A huge part of why this place is so special is the presence of massive amounts of the Artemia brine shirmp:
Which is the primary source of food for the many flamingos in the area:
The beta carotene in the shrimp gives the flamingo their pink colour
The flamingos are perhaps 100 to 200 metres from the viewing platform, but thankfully I brought my chonky boi – the 180 to 600 mm telephoto lens.
We continue further along the path, and spot some other flamingos closer to the path:
Some of which are acting like complete derps:
But they are photogenic derps, I’ll give them that.
And they are surprisingly graceful in flight, despite their lanky build:
Eventually the sun comes out, and we’re able to get a few ‘golden hour’ shots:
I completely manage to miss the sandpipers, but my wife gets a beautiful photo:
As well as some great video of the flamingos:
After 70 minutes at the lagoon, it’s time to pack up. We take one last look at the sparsely-lit hillside:
And then head back to Explora.
The return trip passes quickly, thanks to a stunning sunset:
The total exploration runs around 3 hours, as promised. We get back at roughly 8:20 pm – just as the kitchen gets slammed.
The menu is a repeat from the first day we arrived. I get the pork again, while my wife gets the beef risotto:
Some of the custom orders took a bit longer than we’d hoped, but that should be expected when trying to order off-menu – particularly in another language. And ultimately we’re all in bed at a reasonable hour.
Which is a good – because we have another morning excursion planned for tomorrow!