"I'm chillin' in Chile...

...big up for me family" - or so the song goes.

After crossing the border and a day or two by the beach in northern Chile, we hightailed it inland to San Pedro de Atacama, a tiny oasis town in the middle of the world's driest desert. We planned to stay here a day or two, only to find that the next bus out wasn't for four days - but we've got a pool and there's great food, so what's the rush? The town is made up of single-story red mud adobe buildings, nestled in a dry, flat valley ringed by Andean volcanoes. You can walk to the desert in 10 mins and being such an arid area it has the most amazingly clear starlit nights.

Against our natural rythms, we got up before dawn today to take a tour out to watch wild flamingoes at sunrise. The picture above doesn't do justice to how close we got to these amazing birds (did you know that the female pelican lays two eggs: one containing the pelican chick and a second 'dummy' egg to feed it with?). Even though he was shivering with cold, Kim pronounced the sight as 'magnificent'.  
Although it's not a cheap place, I can't help feeling that the beauty and tranquility of San Pedro, combined with it's dramatic setting, will make it one of our favourite stops in South America yet.

(Though I seem to be saying that about everywhere lately).