SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA 25.01.2023

Today we wanted to have a quiet day. Although you only sit in the bus during the tours and are hardly physically challenged, we were always somehow exhausted at the end! It happened quite often that we went to bed around 9pm, even though the heat really accumulated on our sleeping gallery. A fan stirred everything up nicely and after a few pages in the book, our eyes closed.

So I decided to do some card writing and blogging, a kind of home office! Time passed by quickly, especially since the internet in San Pedro didn't always work properly. Karin went on a trip to the 'city', because we had repeatedly seen a colorful chain that she wanted.

In addition, we wanted to check our flight. The departure time had already changed once. But once it was fixed and I checked us in personally via the internet, I went out. I wanted to go to the bus station, because I couldn't find a clear indication of when the first bus from San Pedro to Calama would leave. The first departure at 7:10 am seemed too risky to us! Adding 1:30 hour, but probably not at the airport, but in the city at the bus terminal, made it 8:40 am!? At 9:48, the plane (airline 'Sky') was supposed to take off to La Serena. Unfortunately, I realized again at home that I hadn't explicitly asked about the route (airport?), because it was on the way from us before Calama. But since it was mentioned online that passengers should be at the airport 3 hours before departure, the bus was no longer an option. Through our landlady Lidia, we got a shuttle, which was three times as expensive as the bus, but would definitely get us there on time. It would really drop us off that early, unfortunately there was no other option in terms of timing. What could we do? We booked!

Reading and writing, this day passed by as well, and towards the evening we started using our food supplies, because we didn't plan to take much with us. Oh yes, that also included the collection of beers that Karin had added to our shopping for me. When she bought the bottles, she wasn't allowed to pass through the grid door, which a saleswoman had always opened for us without any problems. So a woman brought her different small bottles to the pass-through opening and she had to decide as the 'beer connoisseur'. So far, we had always come out of the store with the cheaper, very cold large bottles!? By the way, I remember that I still wanted to clarify why there are 1-liter bottles, 660 cc bottles, 330 cc bottles, and 470 cc cans! Strange units of measurement that we notice in South America?