Day 16 - San Pedro de Atacama

The next day, the taxi was on time in front of the hostel and despite rush hour, we arrived at the airport early. With only two gates, the airport is relatively small, which meant that the luggage drop-off and security check were done quickly. The previously booked extra luggage was canceled by the provider and we only paid a quarter of the price at the counter, not bad at all.

It was only when we were already at the gate that our plane landed, and the whole refueling process and takeoff were delayed by about 40 minutes. Quite bad, as our connecting flight was supposed to depart just over an hour after landing in Santiago. Accordingly, we were nervous during the flight, but the pilot made up for some time and theoretically we still had 20 minutes until the gate closes. Disembarking felt like an eternity, and our seats in the last row were not quite strategically advantageous. Just in time, after a sprint, we reached the gate. Properly sweaty but happy, we sat on the plane, hoping that our luggage was also on board. In the end, everything worked out, and picking up the rental car went smoothly.

During the one-hour drive from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama, we felt like we were on the moon, as the Atacama Desert is considered the driest desert in the world. The town of San Pedro de Atacama is located at over 2,000m, with over 10,000 people living there, many of them mainly living off tourism. It hardly ever rains here. We arrived at our accommodation in the early evening, for which we dug a little deeper into our pockets. For dinner, we went to the center to enjoy local specialties and Pisco Sour to end the evening.