Day 3: Saturday, 24 January Atacama Desert

A drier day today, but only because our tour guide had to mind the weather and adjust our schedule accordingly.  These storms blow in from Bolivia and they are suddenly upon you.  It has been an unseasonally wet summer.  Today was quite an adventure.  Our tour was to Rainbow Valley. 

On our drive there, the bus came to a sudden halt. A herd of llamas was ambling across the road.  They definitely have right-of-way.  We were all cooing over their cuteness.

 

                              Rainbow Valley - the stark beauty of the lunar-like landscape.

A visit to Yerbas Buenas to see petroglyphs. These are rock carvings of various animals - the photos feature a dog, a monkey and a two-headed llama - thought to be a llama giving birth! These carvings are at least 3000 years old.

                                       A relative of our emu - a rhea - was spotted from the bus.

Some of our tour buddies went for a float in one of the Baltinache Lagoons in the Atacama Desert.  The water is much saltier and more buoyant than even the Dead Sea.