December 5, 2007

A Restful Day in Calama

Today is a rest and recuperation day. We were both suffering from the effects of dehydration and the struggles of the past few days. However, we were delighted to notice that we could breathe again. At 12,000 feet we had been continually gasping for air. But now at about 6,000 feet, oxygen was plentiful.


A bit of shopping to replace the items lost in our stolen backpack, some catch-up emails and blog work, and the day was over before we could believe it. Tomorrow we must make tracks south toward Tiera Del Fuego. How far is it anyway? Most of our maps lack mileages, so we can only guess.


Some more observations about South America:

In Lima, Peru and La Paz, Bolivia the traffic looked absolutely crazy. But we realize now that all the drivers in those cities are professional drivers, and they all follow the same protocol. In Chile, opulence means many individuals are able to own cars, so the traffic really is crazy! It’s kind of like Calgary, one can’t anticipate what the other drivers might do next.