A-C-B: Mountain Passes, Salar de Olaroz, and an International Border

October 26th was a day with a long drive, but lots to see. Carlos would drive us from  Purmamarca, Argentina, to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, where we would spend the next three nights.

Highway 52 took us west. Our first stop was for birding at a likely looking spot; Carlos was eager for us to see a giant hummingbird.

At first we were merely pulled over on the side of the road.

From here we could look down into a small valley on the right, barely visible in the photo above (click on the image to enlarge). Also in the photo's left are switchbacks with cargo traffic.

Joan and Carlos peer down into the wash.

A wren was nesting in the arms of a cactus.

On the other side of the highway, a weathered corral.

Carlos took his Toyota down a dirt road into the wash. Perhaps he'd been here before, or perhaps he'd spotted foliage that hummingbirds favor, but while there we spotted our giant hummingbird.

 Another brown-backed mockingbird, to bookend the one we saw yesterday.

We also saw the glittering-bellied emerald hummingbird, and the sparkling violetear hummer! These were flitting about too fast for me to grab a photo, but in the binoculars they were spectacular.

We had a long way to go and it was time to shove off. Ahead loomed the long, switchback climb to the next pass.

Those light-colored terraces are our route!

We pulled off at an observation point, not yet quite at the top, looking back the we we'd come.

On the narrow road you have to respect the truck traffic.

Think twice before trying to pass one.

Arrival at the high point.

We paused while another group alternated taking pictures at the marker. Finally, Joan and the piggies had their turn, catching their breath at 4170 meters / 13,680 ft.

Joan and I gave the souvenir table a cursory glance; we're not in acquisition mode these days.

Minutes after we left the pass our first vicuña posed near the road.

What a delicate physique!

The vicuña is an ancestor of the domesticated alpaca, and prized for its wool. Poaching caused a decline to only 6,000 animals in 1974, but the population has rebounded to about 350,000. A roundup is held every year, and animals with more than 2.5 cm / 1 inch of fur are shorn. (That amount of growth takes about three years.) These wild critters travel in small groups.

It's amazing they can sustain themselves in this landscape.

More driving followed, and the clock ticked into the afternoon. When the salt flat Salar de Olaroz came into view,

our stomachs were reminding us that lunch had been delayed. Carlos pulled into the last opportunity to grab a bite before entering the salar, despite not being familiar with the establishment.

It turned out to be a great place. The food was excellent, homemade and fresh, and the tables in the shade were comfortable. The owner had recently installed modern restrooms, very welcome even if the water pressure was feeble.

Many groups had stopped here; unknown to us, this is a popular motorcycle touring route. Many visitors had created a custom decal honoring their trip and these blanketed the windows of the restaurant.

Those blocks are made of salt.

Fortified, we made a quick visit our first salar. (Later in the trip we will spend days on salars.) A thick layer of salt creates a solid ground, but underneath is an inland sea of brine.

Salt sculptures rose here, including this llama.

The salt on the surface is dirty from windblown dust and detritus, but evaporation ponds

turn the brine into tidy white granules.

In the last few years a plant has also been operating at this salar to concentrate the brine made available by the salt drilling, which is then processed to generate lithium carbonate, a precursor for lithium-ion batteries.

The next stretch of time was spent driving; we were not quite halfway to San Pedro. At one town we stopped for some brief birdwatching, including Andean geese,

and replenishing our gasoline before entering Chile.

These poles are also plastered with tour decals.

Driving on we finally reached the Paseo de Jama, a broad pass (we're at 13,000' again) on the Argentina/Chile border. The border stations of the two countries are combined into one indoor facility here. The three of us visited one window for the paperwork to exit Argentina, then another to enter Chile, and then a third for Chilean customs.

Fourth, there was vehicle and luggage inspection. Chile is very stringent about avoiding the importation of pests or invasive species, through agricultural products or otherwise, from the other side of the Andes. No animals are allowed, but fortunately the inspectors grinned when they saw our pigs. I had some chocolate-covered coffee beans in a baggie, which had to be explained. Joan was quicker on the draw than I was, and described them as "chocolate candies," thus avoiding any mention of coffee beans.

Just before or after entering Chile we saw our first flamingoes (there are several species in the Andes.) Click on the image to enlarge.

Our route wiggled, ascending and descending between 14,000 and 15,000 feet through a lunar landscape. When the line of volcanos including Licancabur came into view, Carlos knew we were getting close to our destination. The volcanos straddle the border between Chile and Bolivia.

The summit is 5916 meters or 19,409 feet.

The sun was low when we began the long descent into the town of San Pedro de Atacama, down to 7,900'. Such an altitude difference is a struggle for trucks going up, and a hazard going down! We arrived at dusk, to discover that Carlos' GPS was confused by the maze of narrow and one-way streets. (San Pedro was founded in 1450.) He persevered and found our hotel, the Terrantai. In this old part of town the front doors were practically in the street; parking was a block away, in a fenced and locked plot. We later learned that the Terrantai was opened in 1996, the third hotel in San Pedro de Atacama.

It was dinner time. We three couldn't quickly find the restaurant Carlos had in mind, based on second-hand directions, and chose one close to the hotel. It was somewhat noisy and tourist-y, but the food was OK and we were tired enough to be fine with it. Joan and I collapsed into bed.