Thomas
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.
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.
The wonderfully colourful police station at Punta Islita
The remote Hotel Punta Islita is a remarkable place for what appears to be a genuine and deep-rooted commitment to sustainability and social responsibility.
When the hotel was set up the small village of Punta Islita was dying on its feet. Today it is a tiny yet vibrant place.
The village itself is very colourful indeed.
The road surface is decorated with representations of traditional dwellings, there are carvings on the corner of the village green, the nursery is painted in a bright, naïve style. Even the police station is clad in a bright mosaic.
The hotel commissioned five Costa Rican artists to come in and decorate different parts of the village to improve the surroundings. My favourite is the police station which has to be the prettiest I have seen anywhere in the world.
The hotel also needed materials. Sewing kits, butter pots for the restaurant, paintings and sculptures for communal areas, decoration for rooms.
The same artists they brought in to liven up the village worked with several local artist co-operatives to create materials for them using local materials and ideas but helping them to sharpen their techniques and styles.
This training continues to this day with regular workshops provided by the hotel for one of the six or seven co-operatives who work locally. One group does screenprints, another ceramics, another paints. One works with driftwood to great effect as you can see above.
As a result, the quality of the artwork and handicrafts in the tiny giftshop in the village, is beyond anything you are likely to find elsewhere in Costa Rica.
Punta Islita forms part of our Costa Rica Honeymoon holiday but you can visit there from Nosara and Samara which feature in most of our self drive Costa Rica holidays.