Ooh La La

It felt glorious to sleep in until 7:15 this morning. Especially since star gazing last night meant a later bedtime than I’d prefer. I had time to get most of my packing organized and actually order breakfast at the restaurant, an omelette and pancakes because I had to try them both. With all the fixings!

At my appointed time I was greeted in the lobby by Carolina, my guide for the horseback ride. She introduced me to Nicholas, one of the horsemen, and they led me down to the stable while Carolina explained the extensive equine history around Explora and how they’ve bred their unique breed of horses combing the best traits of the Chilean, Arabian, and some other type I can’t remember. Carolina fitted me with chaps and a helmet before introducing me to Edgardo, the lead horseman who helped me into the Chilean style saddle on Ooh La La, my trusty steed for the morning . The horses were all hardy, well fed, and seemed very happy. It always breaks my heart when I’m in other countries and see scrawny overworked horses being used for excursions, that was not the case here. I was surprised when Nicholas also geared up to go with us, for just me there was one guide and two horsemen for our casual ride to the salt mountain range.

Carolina explained to me that Ooh La La was the foodie of the group, “she loves to eat and she’s a little fat.” Sure enough, Ooh La La tested me to see if she could get away with munching as we rode and was rightfully annoyed when I didn’t let her. Carolina told me stories about the different horse’s personalities as we rode. Her horse is the alpha. When they are fed she has to go sample a bite from each horse’s meal before the other horses are allowed to eat. Edgardo’s horse is funny about having his saddle strapped on. If you try to strap it on near the mounting steps he’ll flatten himself on the ground. If you walk him over to the water trough and then strap it on he is fine. Another horse is a master escape artist. When they were in their individual stalls before a ride he figured out how to open the lock on his stall. He now does it regularly but also releases his best friend Zorro’s lock and opens his stall as well so the two of them can go on adventures together, it is always Zorro he takes with him. He has also figured out how to open the gate to the pasture and on a couple occasions has let the whole herd out to go adventuring. The stories from Carolina were as fun as the ride.

I had heard from multiple guests that the horseback rides at Explora were a little boring and if it weren’t for the conversation with Carolina that would probably be the case, but I was enjoying myself. After riding through residential parts of town, we got to the salt mountain range. Carolina declared it picture time and had me lead Ooh La La to her favorite backdrop. We shared a laugh as Ooh La La managed to find the only living plant in the desolate range to munch on. We couldn’t even figure out where it came from but she was enjoying her little snack. Had she squirreled it in her cheeks like a hamster?! She was a master in front of the camera though and posed beautifully for Carolina to take our picture.

On the way back we passed by Edgardo’s home; he whistled to his own horses but they didn’t come out to say hello. He was disappointed in them. It was a relatively brief 90 minute ride but long enough for me to feel it when I dismounted and had to be helped down, practically falling into Edgardo’s arms, because I could barely walk until I stretched! Between scrambling down boulders on the Incahuasi trail yesterday and being in the saddle today my butt is definitely bruised.

I’m sad it was my last excursion in Atacama. One more day here might have been ideal but my body is tired from being on the go and pushed so hard in so many different ways this week so it’s probably for the better.

With time to spare after I finished packing, it was finally time for a cocktail. I’ve been focusing on honoring and caring for my body so I haven’t been drinking any alcohol here but they have one aviator style cocktail on the menu that I’ve been eyeing since I arrived. Being late morning, almost all other guests were out on excursions and the resort was quiet. I sat down at the bar and ordered my cocktail and a sandwich. I had never sat at the bar, talked to the bartender before, or even told him my name now but he knew who I was, “You’re climbing Kilimanjaro next month?” I have learned this week that most of the staff live together on property and I’ve joked that I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the evening to hear how they talk about the guests. I guess one thing I would have heard is about how the 40th birthday chick here alone is climbing Kilimanjaro!

My cocktail and conversation with the bartender were both delightful. He’s a Peruvian hipster with a manicured handlebar mustache and has worked at other Explora properties, taking pride in creating an interesting bar program. It was a nice way to end my time here.

I stopped outside to say my goodbyes to this beautiful part of the world before walking to the front desk at my transport time to hand over my key. The second-in-command-to-Maureen manager, whose name I feel terrible that I can’t recall, met me to ask how my experience was and walk me to the waiting van. I assured him that I had enjoyed my stay immensely and offered that I think a couple of the guides could be a little more considerate of the guest’s pace and experience. He asked me to expand, and I believe in giving honest feedback, so I compared the rushed and less helpful Tian and Rafaeli to the attentive Adrian and Guiliana. “Ahh, yes, well they’re Argentinean and Italian, they aren’t like us, not gentlemen like the Chileans.” His response was sincere and honest.

A couple from the star gazing last night was also going back to the airport and we rode in mostly silence, passing back by the myriad of roadside memorials, some of which included the mutilated cars, and giving me time to reflect on my time here. I am proud of myself. I pushed my body to places higher than I’ve ever been and on hikes more technical than I’ve ever done. If I had known what I was getting myself into each day I don’t know that I would have believed I could do it all but I did. I was like a mountain goat in my Merrells and I feel confident in my ability to conquer the actual hiking part of my Kilimanjaro trek now.

Airport dogs lazed around the Calama airport, not even batting an eye at travelers stepping over and around them. A majority of the travelers was miners heading home from days working in the mines. A nice gentleman who is an executive for one of the mining companies helped translate the airline announcements for me and told me more about the rich mining history of the area.

To avoid having to deal with a cab, I’d arranged for transportation from the airport in Santiago to the Ritz Carlton where I’ll be staying the rest of my trip. I found my driver with minor annoyance and he tried to give me ideas of how to spend my time in Santiago as we drove. He was clear that not all areas were safe but my hotel was in a good area but to be careful, crime has been on the rise under the current leadership. Awesome. His words weren’t helping me feel any better as I was already getting overwhelmed by being back in the large, dirty, city after spending the last week in such a peaceful and majestic desert.

I checked into the Ritz and turned towards the elevator to see the couple who had left Explora with me walking in the front door! Well damn, we could have shared a car! They were friendly and we laughed together about the coincidence.

The Ritz is nice but, despite the vibrant sunset, Santiago is not my jam, I can tell that just from the drive across town. I have two full days here but I don’t think I want to spend any time exploring this town. I had originally scheduled a day trip the Andes tomorrow but cancelled it because the 6:30am departure and a 12 hour day seems exhausting after the week I’ve had. Instead I’m going to order room service and see if I can find a flight out tomorrow.