"Hey don't lick that, it's a souvenir."

Rugged roads, 4 x 4 SUVs, and a dusty landscape. Follow the flamingos.

This is it. The last stretch of my long journey and Riley's. Riley flew out of Antofagasta, Chile a few days ago while I took a bus straight (literally) down to Santiago where I began my four-month internship working for The Santiago Times. I'm here now in Santiago (actually in the countryside an hour outside of the city...I'll elaborate later) and have already been quite busy with the internship, so I apologize to my modest handful of sporadic readers for having taken so long to post. But here it is. Pictures of an end and a beginning.

Three-day road trip though the Atacama Desert
From Uyuni, Bolivia to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

morning dip in thermal baths after a cold night in the desert

Mars? No, Mother Earth.

She breathes...

New friends. Matthieu (France), Lidia (France), Brigit (Netherlands), Olivier (Canada)

How we tore through southern Bolivia

one of many bizarrely serene, flamingo-dwelling lagoons that sprinkle the desert

Oh look, a volcano

Potosi, Bolivia

Cerro Rico, not as rico as it was five centuries ago

Riley and I took a tour of some cooperative mines.

separating minerals

Miner's delight: coca leaves, unfiltered cigarettes and quinoa powder

dynomite.

Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

walking on salt blocks carved out of the flats to make motels

playing with photographic illusion = endless fun

During our tour of the salt flats we stopped by a "train cemetery". I found the sky more interesting.

Blocks of salt. Each line indicates a year. They're like trees!

Antofagasta, Chile

hello ocean, it's been a while

San Pedro de Atacama

"Where there is injustice, a rebellion is born"