San Pedro is located in the Atacama desert, which is the driest place on earth. So dry that when we saw it rain the locals were taking pictures because it was the first time it had rained in San Pedro in five years. The town is a little oasis of one-story adobe walled buildings hiding beautiful courtyards filled with low shade trees and hammocks. Our hostel had one really nice hammock under a shade tree with spiraled seed pods. The city market is covered in a straw roof and linen fabric and dogs, people, and chickens roam around freely on the dusty red earth roads. The main square rests under a canopy of tall old shade trees and is surrounded by whitewashed colonial buildings and a beautiful adobe church whose adobe roof is supported by planks made of dried cactus. As you can probably tell, I really like this town. In appearance, the town makes you feel more as if you are in Northern Africa than in South America and is filled with lovely artist shops, relaxing cafes, a really good pastelria, and one really really good gelateria. The pear gelato is particularly good. It tastes so real! The town itself is only a few square blocks so you can't go anywhere without seeing the same people. It is a really good place for making friends and we made many.
Our primary mission in town was arranging a trip to see the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, which we found can be somewhat difficult for Americans because it is hard for us to get visas. The company we chose assured us they could get us one when we got to the border, so with that out of the way we were able to enjoy some of the sites. Located really close to San Pedro is the Valle de Luna, the valley of the moon. We took a trip there in the afternoon to see the sun set over the valley. What an incredible place! We saw a meteor impact that looked as if a giant 20 foot wide drill bit had bored its way into the earth, huge salt pillars, and chocolate colored sand dunes rising 100 feet into the air. The landscape itself was composed red, cream, and orange sedimentary layers covered in white salt deposits looking like snow. It did look very much like you were on the moon. I bet it sparkles at night just as well as it shimmers in the daytime with all the salt crystals. The highlight was hiking to the top of a large ridgeline looking very much as if it were the back of a dragon, sitting atop in the strong wind and gazing at the sunset.

Next stop Uyuni, Bolivia