Day 39– 13/09/09
SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA – CHILE

This was a day for the men!!!!! Myself (Rob) and Richard rented out GT bikes and headed off deep into the desert and moon valley for a day of biking. An hour into our journey we were off our bikes hiking through water to get across a river.

getting through the river!!

Once across, we entered the Moon Valley that was exactly like a maze, lots of different paths and only 1 way out!!The maze!

The 20foot high walls didn’t help. Obviously we got lost after 3 hours of cycling around in circles. So we had to climb a mountain to see where we actually were!!! Yep!!! In the middle of f**king no where!!!!! The sand got so deep at this stage we were hiking with the bikes on our back!! All we were worried about was being home before sunset or else we would have frozen to death!!

Richard hiking over the mountains.

After hiking for hour and a half we came across a trail that was probably used 100 years ago, we followed it to freedom with 20mins of light left!!! Believe me; we had it all under control!!! A big feed was needed after this epic journey!!!!
Local Epenada!

Day 40– 14/09/09
ANTOFAGASTA Shopping!!

Nice and early again, off on our first of two buses today. 7am bus to Antofagasta. It was the perfect bus; the seats were like first class in a plane. Fingers crossed we get the same bus this evening! 4 of a Kind!!

6 hours later we were in Antofagasta, we had a quick orientation tour of the town, leading us to a big shopping mall…. Yes! I (Danielle) was in my element!
So after days of trekking and living in my runners, they were now well worn in and smelly! Plus my other shoes (flip flops) were a bit unpractical for the cold weather I was experiencing. So I decided a pair of shoes was in need! After many shops searching for a pair and trying to explain to the shop guys that I wanted to try on both shoes (they only let me try on one shoe) I finally decided on a pair of runners that would suit a city better then my trekking runners! (Ideally my Rocket Dog booties, that I live in would be perfect! But I didn’t pack them did I!?)
So off we headed on to our next destination. We left Antofagasta at 11pm for a 12 hour bus journey to La Serena. And no it wasn’t the same bus, but almost as good! So we slept the whole way through the night!

Day 41– 15/09/09
LA SERENA

We arrived at 1pm. All a bit groggy, but once we had showers we were ready to go again! An orientation tour led us to a few markets and shops where a lot of us bought a few items for our costumes. (We’re having a fancy dress party on the last night!)
That evening we headed off to The Observatory. It was pretty amazing! As most of you know I (Danielle) love star gazing, so this was pretty special. (Dad you would have loved it). Driving up to the observatory all lights had to be turned off, no car lights and obviously no street lights. We all huddled in a huge dome and took turns checking out stars and planets (well just Jupiter) through a massive telescope, worth €20,000!

In the dome, you could hear someone whisper on the other side of the room, it picked up on the smallest noise perfectly. So of course Rob tested this and let one rip…. Ha Ha! I think everyone knew it was him, cuz our group is all girls and of course we had to point out that it wasn’t one of us!! Then from another telescope outside we got to see the Milky Way and Star Clusters. The night was freezing, so we were all happy to climb back into the van to head back to the hotel.

Day 42– 16/09/09
LA SERENA

Had a wee sleep in today, got up at ten, it’s becoming a bit more regular which means the tour is slowing down and coming to an end! Half of the group headed off on a vineyard tour, and the rest of us walked to the beach. Something we had been dying to see after almost 3 weeks of high altitude! We got to see the light house and play on the canon!! Then we got the best lunch ever in a little sea side Arabic café! Yum!
In the evening we headed back to the beach for dinner. We took the local bus… we’re such rebels! We were all jammed in like sardines! After our seafood dinner we headed to the local karaoke bar! Where Alex sang his heart out to one of the traditional songs! As all the songs were in Spanish no one got to hear me sing... what a pity, voice of an angel!! Ha ha! All their ears were saved! Karaoke time!!


Day 43– 17/09/09
SANTIAGO
The Group!! Fancy Dress Night!!

This was the last full day as a group together, so we decided to make it a little interesting by making the night fancy dress!!!! Each one of us dipped into a hat with 12 fancy dress ideas, Rob the unlucky one got a Geisha!!!!!! And Danielle got a Mime!!! What made the night even better was that it was Chile’s Independences Day! So all the streets were blocked off, and a huge stage was put up on the main road for bands and singers! We spent the day getting bits and bobs for our costumes. We went to a market to get Rob a dress!!!! And white face paint for Danielle!! When meeting in the lounge at 7.30pm none of us could hold back the laughs!!! Some of the other costumes were Michael Jackson, a South American Native Mother, a Rock Star, Fluro (bright neon colours), ‘you in 50 years’, a Roman, A Clown and many more!!!!

So imagine all of us walking through a big street party dressed like this!!! Also with a few too many drinks on us!! The locals had mixed reactions some giving us high 5’s and some just not interested! We went to a diner were Michael Jackson (Abby) happily performed a solo dance to “The way you make me feel” she had the place in stitches!! We ended up in a club and from there we finished up in the hotel lounge at 7am, well the 3 Irish did!!!!! Good Times!!!!

Day 44– 18/09/09
SANTIAGO

Today was our last day in South America…Awwww! We got up at about 10am to check out and head out for brunch. Our last meal with the group! We had Italian! Mmmm! Pasta for breakfast, ha ha! Then the Good Byes started, the first few of the group headed off! Bye to Abby, Sharne and Monique!! We’ll miss you guys but we’ll see ya so soon! Then we hung out for the afternoon before it was our turn to head to the airport. Bye to Sarah & Richard, Eileen, Dianne, Sian, Ashley and Susanna and a big bye to Alex our guide!

South America has been an amazing trip, totally unforgettable! We’ve made so many new friends and seen such amazing places that will stay with us forever!
BYE SOUTH AMERICA!!