Peaceful lagoon in the Atacama salt flats
At Pura Aventura we try to do things a bit differently, that’s why we have our Pura Handmade range of holidays.
Chile’s Atacama Desert is a prime example.
The Atacama is a popular destination with a well-worn checklist of excursions. Whilst these are beautiful, we prefer to stay off the beaten track. We think that it’s better to be outside in the fresh air with a few people than travelling in a crowd.
Sunset in the desert
The usual way is to drive out of town to the rim of the Valley of the Moon, then walk just to the edge from where you watch the sun setting over the desert. On a busy day there can be over a hundred people sitting in a long line.
Our way is to drive out of town to the rim of a valley; walk down across a sand dune; over a short stretch of salt flat and into a narrow gorge in the salt mountains. As you follow the gorge, the air cools and the rocks crackle, with bats and owls flying overhead. Emerge into a natural amphitheatre hidden away in the middle of the hills, from where you watch the sunset.
The salt flats and lagoons
The usual way is to drive a dirt road to the large lagoons in the heart of the salt flats; have time to wander, take in the scenery and watch the large colony of flamingoes before returning by vehicle.
Our way is to ride bikes straight from your hotel to a series of small lagoons towards the northern edge of the salt flats, close to San Pedro where you have time to wander, swim and watch a smaller colony of flamingoes.
Special places
We also take you to places with nothing comparable on the usual tours. Walk down through the mountains from high oases to low villages following ancient Inca pathways. Most spectacular of all is the walk up to the heady heights of Toco volcano.
Tatio geysers
The one ‘checklist’ place we do take you to are the Tatio geysers. Whilst spectacular, you can expect really quite significant visitor numbers you can expect. This photo was taken in November which is not the busiest time of year.
Early morning crowds at the Tatio Geysers in Chile's Atacama Desert
We really think that our exploration of the Atacama desert is different and better than that offered by anyone else.
“The Atacama surpassed all our expectations, summiting Toco in glorious sunshine with snow on the ground was brilliant.”
Read more about our Atacama Patagonia walking holiday in Chile.
The Drake Passage: keeping Antarctica pristine
To get to Antarctica by boat, you have to cross some of the roughest seas in the world and that’s the way it should be.
On September 6th 1577 Sir Francis Drake had just cleared the Strait of Magellan on his second circumnavigation of the globe.
He was blown south of Cape Horn by a storm into the area where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans met.
This turbulent stretch of sea was a new discovery and proved that Tierra del Fuego was not connected to the southern landmass as previously thought.
The passage was named after Drake and has since earned a reputation among travellers and explorers as being one of the world’s toughest stretches of water.
We often get asked about seasickness. Even if it is a very calm crossing, the roll of the boat will be an unfamiliar feeling at first.
You are likely to feel nauseous for a couple of hours but you should then get your sea legs and be fine for the rest of the trip.
There is no particular time of year when the sea is calmer. It is widely thought that the end of the season in March is the roughest time as winds are typically stronger.
But March 2009 saw the calmest crossing the crew had experienced in years and they temporarily renamed it Drake Lake.
Either way crossing the Drake Passage is part of the adventure of visiting Antarctica.
At Pura we are strongly of the opinion that flying to Antarctica is not acceptable as it will quickly lead to unsustainable increases in visitor numbers.
The boat crossing maintains the White Continent for those dedicated enough to make the crossing.
You can see the current sea conditions by looking at this wave map of the southern oceans.
Or you can read about our Antarctic cruises.
A hummingbird feeding
I’m a sucker for hummingbirds. Not something we have in the UK, they are such wonderfully pretty creatures and a sure sign that you are somewhere exotic.
The numbers involved are incredible. It does depend on the species but hummingbirds flap their wings anywhere from 700-5400 times a minute. That’s anywhere from 12 – 90 times a second. It’s mindboggling. Their wings actually beat in a figure of 8 shape – something you can actually just about make out in this photo.
The noise their wingbeats generate is quite something too.
This particular chap lives in the gardens of the Finca Rosa Blanca hotel near San Jose. The hotel is a wonderfully comfortable, quirky place with extensive gardens and a coffee plantation thrown in for good measure.
I got up in the morning and saw a hummingbird dart from plant to plant and decided that I wanted to get a picture. It wasn’t long before I realised that you can’t take a photo of a hummingbird by following it, they are just too fast.
What you have to do is pick a flower, focus the camera on it and sit still, hoping that the bird eventually chooses to come and taste that particular plant.
It was 10am when I sat down on the grass, camera poised and ready to shoot. Every 10 minutes or so the hummingbird would dart down, do the rounds of the flowers and head back into the undergrowth. It never came near my chosen flower.
By 10.45 I was getting a little numb. By 11 I was thinking that I would have to give up on my attempt. By 11.15 I was getting delirious. Then, at 11.25, down it swooped to my flower and I got the shot.
It took 1.5 hours to take this photo, it was worth every minute.
Find out more about our Costa Rica holidays.