Into the Desert

Our flight left for Calama today. Hotel Orly graciously arranged a taxi for us, and again, it only took about half an hour to get to the airport. The airport is so clean and easy to get around. I was very impressed with Santiago and how easy the public transportation was to use. LAN Chile again impressed us with the easy automated check in process. We left a bag at the Hotel Orly in storage, and only had carry on luggage. Our flight to Calama took about three hours. We were met at the airport by the Terrantai Lodge, and drove about an hour to get to San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro is certainly an oasis in the dessert. We did not really know what to expect at the Terrantai Lodge. When we arrived, we were amazed at the beautiful architecture and simple elegance of the place. I could not believe we were able to stay here for three full days. We arrived around 8:00 PM. The staff showed us our room -- again, amazing -- and told us our table was ready for dinner. We sat down to eat some of the best food I have ever eaten in a restaurant. (I like food and was continually impressed with lunch and dinner at the lodge.) We were told to get a good night sleep because we had to get up early for the Geyser excursion in the morning.