The Atacama trip

This is the driest place on planet earth.

The soil looks wrinkled and some minerals of copper/sulphur break the surface of earth and come to the top. This gives a unique look to the Atacama landscape and it feels like the surface of Mars or Moon. Even the air is free of moisture and this gives an excellent opportunity for star gazing. Many countries have built their astronomical observatories at Atacama.

The nearest airport is Calama and you have frequent domestic flights flying from Santiago to this airport. The town of San Pedro De Atacama is around 90 minutes drive from Calama and it costs around $ 20 for a one way trip. It’s a pretty little town and every evening you can just walk to different bars, enjoy the delicious south American food & music and shop from the street markets. It felt like a town from the western cowboy movies.

The seemingly endless roads between Calama and San Pedro De Atacama.

The town.

A typical restaurant.

People usually book short trips through the various available tour operators to cover the places of interest around the town. They have a driver, an expert guide and includes food/water during the trip. The picnic lunch/breakfast offered during the trip are fun and everyone in our group thoroughly enjoyed it. In total you need 3-4 days to explore the areas around San Pedro De Atacama.

Valle de la Luna (Lunar Valley): This is usually an afternoon trip and people watch sunset from there. The formation of the surface gives it the name of Moon Valley.

We also explored some caves.

There is also one place where they have sand desert and some people do sandboarding in that place.

The other part of Atacama is visiting the mineral lagoons cruising through the desert. The lagoons are pink/blue in color because of the high mineral content. In one place we also saw a lot of Flamingos. After many years we saw such clear blue sky and infinite number of stars at night. 

Some pics from that trip:

The picnic lunch:

Based on above the additional advice will be:

• Take a lot of very good quality sunscreen lotion.
• Stay hydrated.
• Book in advance.

Picture Courtesy : Shilpi Samantray

The trip to Machu Pichu

For me it was a long pending dream that finally came true.

The best way to reach Machu Pichu is from a small town in Peru called Cusco. It won’t be directly reachable from the place where you are reading this answer. Most of the international flights to South America outside of the Americas go to Sao Paulo. And then you have to go to Lima and take a domestic flight to Cusco.

It’s ideal to keep aside two days for Cusco in the beginning. You can simply walk around this pretty little town and have very nice food near the town square. We tried Guinee Pig for the first time J (and it was tasty). There is also a street market in the evening and you can find really good handicrafts made by the locals at a very good price.

Few pics from Cusco:

Aerial view of the city before our landing

Sacsayhuaman

The town square

The narrow lanes of Cusco

From here to Machu Pichu you need to book through a reliable tour operator. A typical full day trip starts at morning 4 AM and you are back late at night to Cusco. The fully covered tour includes your drive, train tickets and guide. For the first time I saw a train with glass roof and the view was superb. We took their bus to the top and hiked our way down. The hiking routes are very clearly marked and you can easily find your way to the train station at the base of the mountain.

Once you reach the top you are simply blown away by the view and couldn’t help appreciating the people who built this city at the top of the mountain. The most agreed upon hypothesis is that the Incas abandoned the city centuries ago. They were afraid that the Spanish people will reach there and take away all their secrets and occupy this sacred town. So they evacuated the city and blocked all the entries so that its hard to find. The city itself was only for the elite and the common citizen of the empire just used to come here in the morning to work and climb down from the mountain in the evening. A good guide is the key here as there is so much of history to Machu Pichu that only a professional can explain in detail. You will see a lot of interesting things around you related to their daily habbits and the guide will be there to answer all your questions. Even a mummy was found in Inca empire which is not far away from Machu Pichu.

Pics from Machu Pichu:

On your way back you can stroll around the market close to the train station. It is again a good place to purchase souvenirs.

You reach late night at Cusco and just keep wondering about the great civilization that occupied this land hundreds of years ago and cherish the memories that you have brought from Machu Pichu!

Picture Courtesy : Shilpi Samantray

Better late than never

They spent their childhood living up to their parent’s expectations.

They spent their adulthood living up to the society’s expectations.

They spent their youth slogging for money.

They spent their middle age living for their children.

They spent their later age living for their grandchildren.

When they were old, they were looking for the time which they had kept for themselves and they realized they had already lost it.

Take out time for yourself. And do it now.

The African Safari

Been to both Masai Mara and the endless plains of Serengeti. And this is the kind of view we were able to capture over there.

Once you go on an african safari, you won't feel like visiting any other national park to see these majestic wild animals. They are in their natural habitat and are not afraid to come close to the vehicles. You can see them hunting, playing, eating, sleeping, mating and fighting. I will give details of both the national parks along with some photos that my wife clicked. And needless to say, this is a paradise for photographers in general and wild life photographers in particular. The whole area is a part of the Great Rift Valley which extends 6000 Kms from Lebanon to Mozambique. It provides a safe harbour for the wild life and has a balanced ecosystem for all kinds of predators, prays and birds to flourish.

Complete Itinerary with places we visited:

Masai Mara:

This is in Kenya and most of the tour operators have their base in Nairobi. You need to have a good guide else it can completely ruin your trip. We booked through Karibu Safaris and our guide was amazing. He kept telling us about the history of the tribes and was quick to spot wildlife. He was able to answer all our questions and took the effort to refer to his book wherever he was stuck. We were on a 4 day trip and covered Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara.

The positive things of Masai Mara:

• Its smaller so it is densely packed with wild life. So chances of seeing the big 5 are higher.
• Greener compared to Serengeti.
• Cheaper than Serengeti.
• There is no defined path for the vehicles and you can drive really close to the animals.

Negatives:

• If you want to stay inside the national park then there is no option for that. You have to camp outside and check in each day.

Now time for some pics.

Lake Nakuru:

Masai Mara:

Serengeti:

There is a reason they call it endless plains. Its huge. Its much bigger than you can imagine and wherever your eyes go you will see the plains with rarely any trees. These bushy forests without big trees give a good hunting ground for the predators and hence supports a big number of wild cats. We booked through Ancient Wild Safaris. Here we had a bad experience as the Driver/Guide was too busy chatting with his buddy in a loud voice and least interested in interacting with us. Still we managed to see 20+ lions in a day. The trip also included Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara.

Positives:

• The entry to Serengeti involves a drive through a long dusty road which feels like the scenes from Mad Max - Furry Road.
• You can camp inside the national park. (Could be a negative for some as we were warned not to keep any food items inside the tent as it attracts Hyenas :) )
• More wildlife as it is huge.

Negatives:

• The size ensures that the chances of seeing hunting and other behaviour are less likely.
• The rules are a bit strict and the vehicles restrict themselves to the roads built for them.

Pics:

One thing that I could have changed in my itinerary was to skip Serengeti and spend some time in Zanzibar instead.

Hope this helps the fellow travellers!

Picture Credits : Shilpi Samantray