Over the past 7 years Camilo has proved to be one of our most popular guides so we think it’s time we introduced him properly.
Camilo is an expert in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, a beautiful area of high desert plains, salt flats, volcanoes, Andean peaks, lagoons and sand dunes.
As he himself puts it, “The Atacama is a unique place in the world, full of genuine Andean tradition, with spectacular landscapes, views and walks. Every spot in the desert and the mountains are something unique, difficult to describe with words. As long as you walk in San Pedro, you are discovering new things”.
Given that altitudes range from 2,000m to nearly 6,000m and the road infrastructure is very limited, it really isn’t the sort of place you would want to be without a guide to show you round. We think Camilo is the best of the bunch.
Incredibly calm, he exudes a relaxed authority which allows you to just hand over the reins of your holiday. As you dig a little deeper though, you might discover a bit more about how much he has done in his time up here. For instance, it was he who was chosen by the government to establish the Camino de Chile (a massively long footpath which will eventually link north to south of Chile) across the Atacama.
He also seems to know all of the many, and increasing, number of observatories up here. He also knows about the wildlife, the culture, the stars, I could go on. He’s a sort of outdoor renaissance man. My mother still goes a little dewy eyed at the mention of Camilo after her trip to Chile in 2009. She isn’t the only one by all accounts.
Camilo’s always up early as he doesn’t want to miss any minute of the day. Most days are spent touring the Atacama whether walking, mountain biking, riding horses or something more relaxed like visiting cultural sites near San Pedro.
For Camilo, the most important thing as a guide is to impart an appreciation of the culture and history of San Pedro de Atacama. He is also passionate about respect and care of the Atacama’s exotic and fragile ecology.
When I asked Camilo about what makes this area different form the rest of Chile he said:
“The Atacama is the driest desert in the world with a unique and fragile ecosystem combining amazing mountains, lakes, little Andean towns and wildlife. And unlike the south of Chile, the sun always appears!”
If you would like to be guided by Camilo then have a look at our Atacama Patagonia walking holiday to Chile, alternatively we offer an almost limitless range of tailor made holidays to Chile.
Traffic on the road to Rincon de la Vieja, Costa Rica
This is rush hour on the road to Rincon de la Vieja. After the turn-off at the town of Liberia a good hour and a half previously, this was literally the first sign of life we’d met on our dusty way to the lodge. That’s if you don’t count the staring match with the rogue black bull several miles back – a battle of wills that had ended rather uneventfully, with the bull getting bored and trundling off into the next field. Probably a very good thing the car wasn’t red.
Rincon de la Vieja is actually the cattle ranching capital of the country, which does go some way to explain the ratio of cows to people. By my very unscientific methods conducted over a period of two days, this seemed to average about 50:1 in the cows’ favour (I lost count after a while).
This is not to say that all there is to see in the region are cows; after all, you could go to Cornwall for that. What makes Rincon particularly special is that it is one of the few remaining areas in the country to still feel “Costa Rican”. And by that I mean locals outnumber visitors, and you will have more luck rustling up a glass of guaro than a can of Diet Coke (although you would be ill advised to operate heavy machinery after the former).
Most of the locals don’t speak any English and my schoolgirl Spanish was completely obliterated by the thick regional accent. In spite of this, the people I encountered whilst staying here were some of the friendliest of my month-long trip. Interactions were generally conducted with a liberal amount of gesticulation and wild head nodding, but always with incredible patience and good grace on the part of the local, most often accompanied by an engaging smile (though this may have had something to do with my flailing hands).
The day after I took this photo we rode from our lodge into the National Park to visit Rincon de la Vieja volcano. It got to about 40 c by ten o’clock in the morning and stupidly I had not brought any water for me. As much as I hate to admit it, I began to feel a little woozy (and no, I hadn’t been drinking the guaro). Our guide, an incredible chap in his 60s whose face was as tanned as his moustache was white, obviously clocked my ashen complexion and immediately leapt off his horse to guide us into the shade.
Here I was propped against an obliging tree and plied with water from his own stash until I felt human enough to carry on. He even leant me his hat for the rest of the ride, a small gesture but immeasurably comforting in my feeble state. Needless to say, he spoke no word of English.
This story does not even touch on the incredible scenery we encountered or the vast cloak of stars, unhindered by man-made light, that we saw that evening. For all these reasons, I can’t wait to go back – perhaps with my own hat this time though.
You can visit Rincon de la Vieja on our Costa Rica Uncovered holiday.
Read about our Costa Rica holidays or read our guide to Costa Rica.