(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XXIII - Show's Over

We awoke in BA, fairly well rested, nearly all packed, and ready to set out on our final day in South America.  The glorious ride of the pre-wedding honeymoon, slowly coming to a gradual stop.

Our plan for the day was to wander Palermo, do some shopping, have a good meal or two, relax and then head off to the airport to being our long journey home.

I'm happy to say, we accomplished all these items.  The spoils of the day included...

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XXII - The Longest Day Ever...

445am wake ups on your honeymoon are not so fun.  We slowly peeled ourselves out of bed, finished the packing and got dressed for an excursion that promised freezing cold morning conditions at the Geyser and bathing at the hot springs.  Tough packing.

We met up with everyone at 530 and made sure the guide knew we had to be back by 12:10 to catch the transfer to our flight.  They did not say no problem right off the bat which made us a bit nervous.  But we forged ahead regardless.

The trip to the El Tatio geysers, at 4400M elevation, was about 2 hours.  GG and I dozed en route.

We arrived into a field with tall plumes of steam escaping all over the place – the releasing of magma-heating pressure with the cold air above (at sunrise it's actually only in the upper 30 degrees Fahrenheit). 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XXI - Salty Lagoons and Salt Flats

Today we were up early for our 16KM mountain bike ride to Laguna Cejar, a very salty lagoon where we could attempt to swim but would really just float at the surface due to the high salt.  Allegedly it's got a higher salt concentration than the Dead Sea.

The bike ride was a long one and a challenging one – at least more so than we expected.  The real tricks were several stretches of sand dunes on the dirt roads that you had to drive over perfectly in the right gear or you would definitely fall.  And falls did happen in dominoes – if the person before you goes down, you go down.

We made it!

 Upon arriving at the lagoon, it was worth it.  A random, deep crater, filled with clear blue water that had been heated partially by the sun, but still quite chilly.  I ran in, goggles on, and floated about. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XX - Back in the Saddle...

Time for our morning horseback ride.  This was sold as an excursion that would allow for beginners and experts to go together and break up over some long stretches.  Seemed perfect for us.  

Unfortunately, with a group of 8 people of mixed skills and one guide and one gaucho, we weren’t getting far in two groups.  We walked a lot.  There was a brief moment where they let us trot and canter but I had no idea how to stay stable so I was hanging on for fear of falling out of the saddle.  GG was a bit dismayed as well since the expert break off ride never happened (probably because of me and my scarily limited skills).  For the moments where I wasn't focused on how to survive the ride, I looked around and reflected.  It truly was amazing to be riding this beautiful Arabian horse around a surreal desert.  Unfortunately, those moments were fleeting as reality set back in and I had to not fall off my horse.  Tough morning.

I look much more in command than i actually was...

Our afternoons were lovely – plenty of time to swim, nap, eat lunch, email, etc as the afternoon excursions don’t go out until 5p at earliest.  Any earlier and the desert heat, sun, and wind would ruin us.

That afternoon, we did the “Cactus” hike – it was special as we would be hiking along the one main valley that has a supply of Andean water and therefore has green bushes, trees, and, unsurprisingly, many cacti. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XIX - Atacama Desert: Our Final Frontier

En route to Atacama, the driest desert on earth, via a flight a 2 hour flight to Calama.  We didn’t know what to expect but felt quite comfortable that the Explora experience would take care of us.  The flight was easy – about 2 hours to Calama – and the transfer to Explora was only about an hour and 15 minutes to San Pedro – the town outside of which the Hotel de Larache is located.

On our shuttle we were joined by a couple from Boston – scientist/academics who had done both Patagonia and Easter Island Explora on this trip and another couple from Germany.  A much different group than we had en route to Patagonia.

We blazed over dirt and paved roads in the middle of nowhere - a crazy desert with mountains, volcanos, salt flats, oases, cacti, and pink flamingos.

Unlike Patagonia where there are set enter and exit days, in Atacama guests come and go daily. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XVIII - One Day in Santiago

Our one and only full day to explore Santiago and we were in the business center approving proofs for our invite.  From there (and after some sniffing around on chowhound with a corroboration from our concierge), we took the subway over to Mercado Central – the central seafood market.  One of my favorite ways to see a city is to explore their local food market and this was the place to do it.

The cleanest part of the market...

The lovely sites and smells...

Our friend, the Congrio

Unfortunately, we were utterly spoiled by our royal treatment and experience at Tsukiji Market in Japan (more on that at another point) so this was a bit of a disappointment. 

(Pre-Wedding) Honeymoon, Part XVII - Goodbye Wine, Hello Big City

We awoke and soon were greeted by Oswaldo and a maid from the vineyard who proceeded to the kitchen to cook us breakfast – eggs, fresh bread, juice, etc.  Also, cocoa puffs.  An al fresco meal on our patio seemed perfect, until the swarm of bees descended upon us, so we finished up inside.

Pre-Bee Swarming

After packing up, we headed back to Matetic for our horseback lesson/ride.  We were not sure what to expect, but upon walking back in, we met Emilio, our guide and we were off.