It has been raining the whole night!!! People at the campsite and from the village are all so surprised about the heavy rains. This time of the year it can happen that you have a few drops of rain….little rain drops but no more…It is called the Bolivian winter…But these rains are unheard of here! Climate change?
The roads are all flooded with water and mud. Our tents are waterproof but for how long I wonder? Clothes are all damp and I am eagerly keeping our bags of clothes from the floor. The forecast doesn’t look good either. More rain is predicted and some national parks are officially closed. A few of the people here are leaving. Miguel and I wonder what would be best to do. We were so keen to see the Bolivian salt lakes.. but the border is also closed.. What next? This is our last night at the camp…
Miguel has gone with the boys to extend the lease of the car for one more day. He is eager to explore the surroundings and see for himself. Guido decided to stay with me and so we went off for a walk to the village for a nice lunch and some last minute souvenir shopping. We might need to leave…
The village of San Pedro de Atacama is adorable with his tiny little streets, squares full of little restaurants and bars. The market looks so colourful with handicrafts and you can tell from the people that we are not far from the border with Bolivia. It fascinates me. It has always been. The textiles, the different smells of far away unknown places. Still to be discovered….
Guido loved it too and I promised that after our little bit of shopping we would go for a nice lunch. Unfortunately, there was a power cut and it started to rain heavily again. We could only wait till the rain would stop or we would find a car that could bring us back. In the end none of this happened. We had to walk back in the pouring rain, jumping at times in the bushes if a car or truck would pass by. We had fun despite being wet. Our tummies were full and we knew it wasn’t that far.
I have never been short of adventure in my life and this made it all the more exciting! X
The Five Gypsies 