Went of short hike (2.4 miles) after siesta to an area where there was an old salt mine. The van went through an area reminiscent of a Martian landscape in the Salt Mountain Range, where we had a walk with views to the different mountain ranges in the region and the strong wind of the area. Along the way we saw our first guanacas grazing by the side of the road. The weather was sunny and warm with a very strong wind.
Two tires blew out after we left paved road and we walked most of the rest of the way through the very bleak landscape. We had to stay on road because there were left over land mines off the road. No one really knew where they were anymore and they are made of plastic, so hard to detect and remove. As we walked along we went into an interesting dry salty landscape with lots of gypsum. We came up to an area that was an old salt mine. When you put your ear near the wall, you could hear the salt crack as it contracted from the day’s heat. There was a very strong wind when we got up at view point. As we gained altitude we really started to feel that we were at about 8000 feet.
There was a long bumpy ride back without much to look at. The sun went down as we were returning. Had quick shower and not very nice cocktails before dinner.
I had guanaca for dinner - it tasted like venison. Chris had chicken. Mine was great but the Chilean Syrah wine was too dry for my taste. Chris had pisco sour to drink. On way home we saw the Milky Way!
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