DAY 35 - SOUTH OF SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

San Pedro de Atacama is set on an arid high plateau in the Andes, 1400 miles north of Santiago. It's 1400 miles north of Santiago, with landscapes totally different from anything else we've seen so far in Chile: dramatic deserts, lunar-like rock formations, sand dunes, pink-streaked mountains, salt flats, volcanoes, geysers and hot springs

 

And, just beyond the salt flats is Tambillo

not far from theTropic

and the small towns Tocunao and Socaire, on the road to a pretty pair of salt-ringed lagunas, Miscanti 

and, over the way, Laguna Miniques 

After passing the little town of Socaire, Laguna Chaxa

boasts flocks of flamingos - three types: Andean (with black tail feathers), Chilean (very pale), and James's (much pinker)

 

A gloriously still day, perfect for reflections

 

Info boards too about the brine shimp on which they feed:  they can tolerate salinity levels up to 250g per litre of water (looking at the salt flats, it's just as well)

which allows them to inhabit pools with very few predators - obviously, no one warned them about flamingos...  No idea what this little chap eats