Had a quiet morning. No tour until late afternoon. I'm assuming it's because they thought we would need time to adjust to the altitude. Not Mary Jo and I. We're doing great.
We were picked up for a tour of Moon and Death Valley. I thought they were one place, since they were always mentioned together. Nope. They are just near each other.
We spent most of the day at Moon Valley. Its name was given when it became a national park in the 1950s. Our guide said satellite footage of the park looked remarkably like satellite pictures of the moon. Not sure how true this is. But given the era, I think it was a smart marketing move.
The landscape is salt and clay (mixed with minerals, such as granite, quartz, and gems), sold by the wind and water for million of years. Because salt and other minerals are stronger than sand, it left interesting shapes behind that can be whatever your mind sees.
I tried to capture the full effect of the landscape to show. It's just not possible. No camera can adequately duplicate what you see of Moon Valley in person. Here's a picture anyway. It shows one of my favorite formations, The Amphitheater. This shot is taken from the top of a huge sand dune we climbed. Is really hard to walk on shifting sand. I guess some people sand surf in the area. It's like snowboarding in sand. I can see why, with all these huge drives. But our guide says it's really hard to do. It takes 20 minutes to walk up for just a few minute ride down.
Our guide is a geologist, so we learned a lot about how mountains and volcanoes were formed.
Just down the road we're stopped to few some formations. Interspersed with them were large mounds, which our guide called "salty dumps". The inside is mostly salt, with a coating of sand and dirt. The salt in the middle is the oldest mineral.
Once of the largest formations is called "The Three Marias". It was originally a salty dumps, but erosion ate away at the structure and left three thin peaks. It is said that the peaks are over one million years old.
Originally it was called "The Guardians of the Salt", but in the 18th C., a priest came to the area who wanted to instill Christian values into the group. He chose this spot because Amanybody going to San Pedro (the "big city"), the Andes, or the ocean would pass here, even in the priest's time. So he changed the name to The Three Marias in recognization of the three structures on it. The one on the right looks like she is sitting her hands praying on her knees; the one in the middle looks like she is lifting her hands in prayer; the 3rd used to be a Maria, but a tourist was near it and accidentally damaged it. So now it just looks like a frog or iguana. (Our guide called it "Two Maria's and a frog").
As drive along, off to the side of the road, it looks water, which makes no sense. Our guide told us it is, in fact, gypsum, which is reflecting the sun.
We ended the day with a short drive through Death Valley, on our way to watch the sun set and enjoy wine and snacks.
Legend has it that it was originally called Mars Valley (Valle de la Marte) for its Mars-like landscape. However a Belgian priest misheard it spoken by the locals and at some point in history, mistakenly renamed it Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley).
Bonus Pictures:
We were picked up for a tour of Moon and Death Valley. I thought they were one place, since they were always mentioned together. Nope. They are just near each other.
We spent most of the day at Moon Valley. Its name was given when it became a national park in the 1950s. Our guide said satellite footage of the park looked remarkably like satellite pictures of the moon. Not sure how true this is. But given the era, I think it was a smart marketing move.
The landscape is salt and clay (mixed with minerals, such as granite, quartz, and gems), sold by the wind and water for million of years. Because salt and other minerals are stronger than sand, it left interesting shapes behind that can be whatever your mind sees.
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| View from top of dune |
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| Dune we climbed to get overview |
Our guide is a geologist, so we learned a lot about how mountains and volcanoes were formed.
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| T-Rex trying to eat a salty dump |
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| 3 Marias, or Guardians of the Salt |
Originally it was called "The Guardians of the Salt", but in the 18th C., a priest came to the area who wanted to instill Christian values into the group. He chose this spot because Amanybody going to San Pedro (the "big city"), the Andes, or the ocean would pass here, even in the priest's time. So he changed the name to The Three Marias in recognization of the three structures on it. The one on the right looks like she is sitting her hands praying on her knees; the one in the middle looks like she is lifting her hands in prayer; the 3rd used to be a Maria, but a tourist was near it and accidentally damaged it. So now it just looks like a frog or iguana. (Our guide called it "Two Maria's and a frog").
As drive along, off to the side of the road, it looks water, which makes no sense. Our guide told us it is, in fact, gypsum, which is reflecting the sun.
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| Death Valley |
We ended the day with a short drive through Death Valley, on our way to watch the sun set and enjoy wine and snacks.
Legend has it that it was originally called Mars Valley (Valle de la Marte) for its Mars-like landscape. However a Belgian priest misheard it spoken by the locals and at some point in history, mistakenly renamed it Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley).
Bonus Pictures:
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| Death Valley |
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| The Amphitheater |
