Only 16km from San Pedro de Atacama, the Valle de la Luna (or Moon Valley) is named appropriately so, due to the strong resemblance to the surface of the moon. Much of the dramatic landscape has been created over time from erosion. There are sand dunes, surfaces that look similar to Cappadocia in Turkey, and interesting salt/dirt caves.
We also stopped at Laguna Chaxa, where the surface of the dry land is composed of salt crusts, and flamingos feed in the salt lakes.
From Santiago we took a 22 hour bus to Calama. The trip should have been 20 hours, but the bus broke down adding another 2 hours to our already long ride. The Bolivian Consulate in Santiago ran out of visas (the actual sticker that goes into the passport), so we headed up to Calama to get our visa. Obtaining the visa turned out to be a pain, and we later learned that you can bypass the system by booking a Uyuni tour, and the tour operators will get you the visa at the border. I wish we knew that before we went through all the trouble.
I wish we had more time in Chile to eat…Chileans love seafood. It’s no wonder as the country is basically all coastline. Mussels, crab and fish are on most menus. Congrio, a white fish similar to kingclip (or cod), is national favorite prepared a number of different ways. The stew version is delicious–onions, tomatoes, potatoes. The other ingredient that is commonly found in Chilean cuisine is algae or seaweed. This is mostly used in soups and salads. When I first saw these dried bundles of algae at the market, I thought it was raw hide.