San Pedro de Atacama, November 2011
Friday 18
On Friday we went on a bike ride through San Pedro. I had never gotten on a bike before so it was really hard for me, and i didn’t want to slow anyone down since i did not know how to ride a bike… But everyone wanted to help me learn, thankfully our guide, Vale, stayed with me to teach me how to ride a bike properly. I tried many times until i finally got it, the first time i rode a bike correctly i was so happy, because i finally learned, it was my favorite day. Then when i reached the others i was riding my bike so i felt accomplished, and everyone was exited for me since i learned. Then we had to go back, and return our bikes, and go to lunch. Eventually it was time to say goodbye to San Pedro, we all had a lot of fun. I already miss everyone on the trip, and going out for a walk around San Pedro. I am very thankful to Vale, and everyone that helped me that day, they all made me feel very happy, and proud of learning a new skill. Posted by Adriana Guzman
Thursday 17
Today the students in San Pedro got up really early to visit the impressive site of the Tatio Geysers, later they went on a scavenger hunt and on an expedition to learn about the archaeology of the area. This included a visit to a Pucara de Quitor, The Devils Throat, Tambo de Katarpe and Tulor. They had a lot of fun discussing rock stories in the scavenger hunt, took many funny pictures with the teachers, and the whole group was singing songs on the bus.
“[We] saw a lot of beautiful geysers and llamas! Not only that, but the scavenger hunt allowed us to interact with the townspeople. [We learnt about] Inca / native history on top of a breathtaking mountain… [and my] favorite thing of the day was dressing up with my friends!” Posted by Nicole Fontan, Camila Mayol, Amanda Carbajal.
Tuesday 15
Today was the first full day in our stay in Atacama. In the morning we went to the museum and learned about the culture of the native people to the desert. It was very interesting and we could learn about the culture and how it evolved through time due to the different influences from other civilizations such as the Inca´s and even the Spaniards. After having lunch and resting we headed to the Valle de la Luna. Here we could observe and explore the different rock formations that the desert offers and even got to see the sunset and how the change of light from the sun also changes the colors appreciated in the landscape.
Then we had dinner where we had the opportunity to share as a group. Overall we had the chance to meet new people, subsequentially make new friends and share an amazing experience with our peers and teachers. My favorite thing of the day was thesunset because of the beautiful colors the sun created on the rock formations and the chance we had to take some amazing photographs. It was a great day and right now before going to bed we will have the chance to be with our friends and share stories. We are all ready for tomorrows adventure! - Posted by Camila Bertranou
Monday 14
Well being in school at 5:45 AM wasnt very nice, but it set an early start to our journey. We took a bus from school to the airport. There we took a plane, to Calama. The flight was short and we had lunch in Calama. After a good long lunch we went Chuquicamata, a mine, and also visted a ghost town. In overall we all seemed to have a great time and it was very intreasting to see the infrastructure of a mine and an abandoned town. After all that we took a bus to the small city of San Pedro, the place where we would be staying. Once there we checked-in to our rooms and had some rest time. Obviously though to end a good but tiring day requires dinner! We ate in a rustic local resturant, which had a very, very, tasty food. Good food presentation, taste, fresh vegetables and the desert was excellent. Good first day to our WWW trip day. Posted by Matheus Abud
