I love meeting new people. And on day 29 of 35 with the same 17 people who wouldn’t be eager to make newer friends?!

Anyhow, it turns out that there’s an amazing group of women traveling together here in Chile. They are the invited guests of a blogger specializing in solo female travel. The women had applied for one of only 10 spots on the trip. One particularly outgoing woman is a specialist in compensation and organizational structure at a FinTech firm; another an outdoor enthusiast working at North Face; another at American Heart Association with an expertise in development/fundraising. So, yes, I am glad we skipped that day’s hike and sat by the pool to enjoy their company. (And no I didn’t take one of my bad selfies with them—you’re welcome.)

The prior day we made two short hikes – the first to Moon Valley and the second to Rainbow Mountain.  Geologically this area was an ocean that was created when two of the earth’s plates separated.   As the water evaporated the area became a salt plane so while the ground might look like it recently snowed, what you are seeing is salt.  I tasted it.  Harvested sea salt is better. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The activity I was most looking forward to was stargazing. The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth which means that there are no clouds to obscure your view of the night sky. Our guide gave us an introduction to the high school science many of us had forgotten (speed of light, time it takes for us to see the light given by stars and their distance, size of our galaxy). It was a good reminder of how small we are in the universe. Being in the Southern Hemisphere means a different view of the stars and constellations. The southern cross is the prominent navigation technique. The Big Dipper was barely above the horizon. I had to mentally imagine myself as a figure standing on a globe to turn the sky around in my head to match what I was seeing. (That doesn’t sound like it makes sense; maybe it doesn’t.)

Night sky photography is not a skill in my wheelhouse but our guide took a group photo which I have posted (with permission) and then I got a good one from the lounge chairs at the hotel with my iPhone.