Iquique & San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Having recovered from the Inca Trail with a good night's sleep and some well earned KFC in Cuzco, we decided that it was time to head south to Chile - our last stop in South America. 

Crossing the remote deserts of southern Peru, it was to take 26 hours to reach our first Chilean destination: the coastal city of Iquique. It was astonishing just how quickly things changed once we crossed the border into Chile - houses, cars roads... it was clear from the outset that Chile was much more developed than many of the countries we visited previously.

It's a strange but enchanting city to walk through: on one hand you have Miami-esque luxury apartments and beach side houses, and on the other beautiful wooden board walks, abandoned villas and town houses left crumbling after the collapse of the regions booming mining industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

There was also a stark warning of the dangers facing the Pacific coast



There's no better way to see a city than from the air, and with Iquique considered the world's best place for paragliding there was only one thing for it...

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It was from up here that you could see the huge sand dune that runs between the narrow cityscape and the Atacama desert.

Having landed in one piece - only just in Sarah's case! - we felt the only sensible thing to do was drink lots of rum and beer, and BBQ some steak with our fellow paragliders, Brian and Kate Lemay from Colorado.

The next day we continued the sporting theme with a touch of body boarding (or was it just the chance to put on a tight wetsuit again...?).

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However, we quickly realised that the waves were insanely high and best left to the pros... Some of the surfers had to be towed out as the current was too strong to paddle against! To give it some scale, try and spot the speck of a surfer on the right hand picture below...

After a few days of sun, sea and sand, we headed west for some... er, sun, rocks and sand in the driest place on the earth, the Atacama desert.

San Pedro de Atacama

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Matt: When we were in the north of Argentina and Bolivia, we heard so many horror stories of people being hear for day after day as the passes over the Andes were blocked by snow. It was described as hideously expensive and not much to look at, so we hadn't built our hopes up too high. It just seemed a shame to miss it on our way south. I must say, it was a really pretty and relaxed little town surrounded by some breathtaking scenery. 

We took a day trip into the famed Moon Valley in the heart of the desert itself. I know this is an incredibly snobby thing to say, but after the incredible mountain ranges and valleys of Bolivia, it was difficult to be too blown away despite such breathtaking views.

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That said, there was certainly an 'other worldliness' about the place and, with a bit of imagination, you could just about be taking a stroll on Mars...

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However, once the sun began to set the desert and surrounding mountains erupted with a dazzling display of colours which left one speechless...

Our next day trip was to the Laguna Cejar - a salt lake with a higher level of salinity than even the Dead Sea!

The water was bloody freezing, although not as cold as the fresh water sink hole that we visited shortly afterwards... Needless to say we stayed in the water about 5 seconds!

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After drying off and warming the blood with a few Pisco Sours (nowhere near as good as the ones we made in Peru!) we watched another gorgeous sunset...

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Atacama desert - done! And with that, we prepared for our LAST long-distance bus journey. It seemed only right that we should splash out for some pimped out seats that reclined fully into a bed. SO nice! Why didn't we do this before?! Next stop, the Elqui Valley.