Toconao and Laguna Chaxa (Flamingos)

On Thursday, July 12th, our journey took us to Toconao (38km south of San Pedro). The village square is worth seeing in this small village. There is a church tower with an entrance door made of cactus wood🌵 (which is commonly used in this region). There are some artisanal markets (called "souvenir shops" for tourists) on the village square. The specialty in this village is the processing of the following "plants" into mousse or ice cream: Ricarica (a Chilean medicinal herb), Quinoa, Algarrobo, and Chañar (plants from the Atacama Desert).

As we strolled through a street, we were waved into a house by an approximately 80-year-old woman 👵🏽 because she wanted to show us her sheep and her llama. She also pointed out the tools she used to make her products (clothing, scarves, blankets...). She also proudly told us that she appeared in a German magazine 20 years ago. ☺️

Passing by this house, we came to a path that led us to a river. It was beautiful to hear birds and see orange trees 🍊.

Afterwards, we drove about 20km further with Dagi 🚘 to Laguna Chaxa, where flamingos can be seen.

This lookout point is located again (like Laguna Cejar) in the Salar de Atacama.

It was phenomenal to be able to enjoy the sunset 🌄 with a panoramic view of 360° (because it was already late afternoon - around 16-17h). We saw the flamingos from a distance. There are 3 different species of flamingos (see photos).

On the way back, we were able to admire a beautiful sunset.

Arriving in San Pedro, we went to the gas station ⛽️ and had to wait for about 30 minutes because all cars and buses wanted to refuel at that time (as there is only one gas station in San Pedro).