The Driest Place in the World (originally published on Feb. 27)
From the snowcapped peaks of Torres del Paine, the Chilean Global Learning class of 2014 journeyed straight up to the north of Chile, and in less than a week, we were in the driest place in the world: the Atacama Desert.
The best way I can think of to describe to you what sort of adventures the Atacama holds is to simply take you through what we experienced while we were there, step by step.
What I first noticed about the Chilean desert is that it is a place with almost as much topographic diversity and variety as the country of Chile itself. In some areas of the Atacama, all you can see is brown; brown and flat and complete desolation of life (or anything terribly interesting to look at for that matter).
In other areas, little bits of plant manage to sprout up in seemingly spontaneous locations until you finally reach the actual oasis, where green is always greener. These are the rare jewels of the desert where exotic plants and thirsty, bright flowers flourish healthily in between the sweetest little villages that provide homes to the human population of the Atacama.
Then there are the mountains and volcanoes; beautifully crafted monstrous sculptures that loom in every horizon.
The two desert valleys we were privileged to visit during this particular visit to the Atacama were Death Valley and Moon Valley. Both valleys were expansive and had rolling dirt mountains that looked like a frozen sea of sandy brown waves. (Although I’ve never had the opportunity to travel there, I imagine Mars might look remarkably similar).
In fact, it was from a ridge-top lookout over one of these valleys where we were blessed to witness an Atacama Desert sunset. (Sunsets are almost always brilliant, but in my mind, there is nothing and will never be anything quite as spectacular as a desert sunset. They are by far my favorite.)
Something unexpected and unusual that our desert journey seemed to center on was salt. That’s right, sodium chloride, flavor-we-have-at-our-table, salt. This is because the Atacama Desert in Chile produces a whopping 40% of the world’s salt. We got to walk on salt flats, climb around in salt caves and float (notice I used the word float, not swim) around on salt lagoons. Everywhere we went, the desert floor seemed to be sprinkled with salt, just as the mountains of Patagonia had been sprinkled with snow. It was truly fascinating.
The wildlife was another truly fascinating aspect of our visit to the Atacama. Inside of the salt lagoons, Brine shrimp flourished and provided food for the Andean flamingos that thrive there. Of course, we were also able to see quite a few llamas and alpacas, wild as well as domesticated. (I even tasted llama meat, but don’t tell anyone that I actually really liked it…)
Something else we were able to see was the Atacama geyser field; the third largest geyser field in the world. We arrived there early enough to watch the boiling steam/water shoot up out of the ground silhouetted against the desert sunrise. It was incredible.
By far, the highlight of the trip for me was getting to experience sandboarding for the first time. For a girl who has never even been snowboarding, that must sound like a pretty absurd claim. However, sandboarding has now gone from a bucket list check mark to a passion of mine. It was such an adrenaline rush!
Honestly, the most difficult part is carrying your board up the sand dune. Coming down is fairly easy, and I only wiped out once! (Nevermind the fact that I only came down three times… but still, I feel that’s a pretty decent record).
The Atacama Desert is a mystically wild, treacherously dangerous and stunningly gorgeous space that provides an escape and an adventure like no other place on this earth can.
Nocturnal Chile (originally published on March 4)
Chile– and in particular, Santiago – is a land that truly comes to life at night.
Even the most seemingly mundane, monotonous places (and people) seem to light up with an energy that only the bight Chilean stars and moon can account for every time the sun goes down.
No matter what night of the week it is, there is a hotspot made to fit every personality at every level somewhere in the Santiago jungle of streets, buildings and nightlights.
- Miércoles Po
Speaking on behalf of my own generation first, there is an organization in Santiago called Miércoles Po that caters to the nightlife whims of every foreign young professional who comes to Chile to study abroad, for business or just on vacation.
“We met a lot of different people,” said Lipscomb global learning sophomore Adriana Leon. “Nationalities from German to Asian. You name it, they were there. And we all got in for free!”
It’s a safe program, and the idea is to make every dance venue or late-night eatery free for anyone on Wednesday nights who has a foreign identification card of some kind. Its purpose: to introduce traveling young people to the highly-cultural nightlife that Santiago has to offer.
- Universidad Católica
I’m honestly not sure what to call this little spot, so I’m just going to give it the title of the name of the metro stop you have to get off at in order to get there; Universidad Católica. If you are looking for a well-lit, quaint little corner with restaurants that allows for ample outdoor seating, a fountain in the middle of the main square and artisan marketers selling their handcrafted merchandise on the moon-bathed street, then this strip of restaurants with umbrella-covered tables and glowing Japanese lanterns is exactly where you should be any time after 10 p.m. in Santiago.
“That whole entire strip is super cute at night,” said Lipscomb sophomore Julia Allen. “It’s really fancy and would make for a good date night.”
Since I’m not sure this uptown area even has a formal name, I decided to just write down directions for my Lumination readers, in case any one of you ever fancies a visit:
1. When you get off the subway at the Universidad Católica stop, exit to the right of the station.
2. Go up the stairs and take a right.
3. Take the first right down the street that will take you to the beginnings of this hot little spot.
4. Explore! There is so much to taste, experience and see!
- Pretty much any restaurant, anywhere!
In Chilean culture, people typically eat 4 meals per day. Breakfast is served around 8 to 9 a.m., and lunch is usually between 1 and 2 p.m., then comes the meal Chileans call “once”.
Once is typically served around 5 p.m. and is basically the Chilean version of “tea time”. It’s a small meal (or snack, really) that normally includes a cup of coffee or tea with a small sandwich or pastry.
In a cultural Chilean society, dinner doesn’t usually happen until 10:00 or 11:00 at night. Dinner is the big meal of the day, and for this reason, the nightlife at any restaurant in Chile is tingling with much more vitality than most restaurants in the U.S. would be at that time. In fact, most restaurants in Chile don’t even begin serving dinner until at least 9 p.m.!
“If you decide to go out at 10:00 at night, there will still be restaurants open and even street performers around,” explained Lipscomb global learning senior Kristine Rishel. “It’s an Italian-style atmosphere in that a lot of people eat outside because the nighttime weather is just so pretty here since there’s no humidity.”
And any time Chileans go out for a meal, it’s not just for the purpose of eating; it’s a social event. Chileans will seldom go out to restaurants alone because, in their minds, going out to eat is a two to three hour ordeal in which there is much more emphasis placed on socialization and togetherness than there is on actually filling one’s tummy with scrumptious foods.
Whether you’re like me and you’re more interested in a laid-back, relaxing night of dining and lounging, or you’re more attracted to the higher energy activities that the big city has to offer, I highly encourage you to ditch your American watch or cell phone, forget about what time it is and get out into the Chilean nightlife!
While you’re abroad, immerse yourself into the culture as fully as you can because life is short. Who knows if you’ll ever be back in that place again? So, make the most of it!
In Chile and in a lot of countries, the nightlife is truly a big part of the culture for everyone, so find something to experience that fits your personality and energy level and go do it!
What nocturnal hotspots would you be interested in finding in Santiago?