Well, i have some writing to catch up with...
The landscapes of the Moon Valley and the Death Valley around San Pedro de Atacama were spectacular with colours and natural formations. From there we stopped in Calama and took the opportunity to do the free tour of the biggest open cut copper mine in the world. The mine will go underground in 2 years time. At the beginning, the town Chuquicamata for the workers was built by the company very close to the mine and as the mine grew, the health problems caused by the dust became too much and the town was closed and families relocated in the town of Calama about 20kms away. They have left the empty town as it was to be the museum of the mine. Even some Christmas decorations were still there in the middle of the plaza! From there we drove west towards the coast. The highway descended for about 20kms before reaching the coast and we experienced the thickest fog ever as the mist from the Pacific ocean stagnates over the mountains. The highway south followed the rugged coast line and every morning we had the foggy misty conditions. The sun seems to come through in the afternoons. The Natural Arch of La Portada , north of Antofogasta, was pretty. We did some nice walks in the LLanes de Challe National Park and the flowers were in bloom. We were lucky to see some famous ones, like the Garra de Leon. There were some nice beaches too along the way, but the weather still too cold to enjoy a swim...We made our way south slowly as we were in contact with the shipping company. First we thought we will ship from Valparaiso then it changed to San Antonio and finally it all happened in Valparaiso! So we spend the last week on the coast between the two were we had internet connection and did find a pleasant little camping. We stayed there for a week so we could clean the car inside and out and sort out our things before driving into Valparaiso. The loading into the container was done yesterday. Margo2 did 86000kms a in the Americas and can now enjoy a cruise for 2 months! and now we are enjoying visiting the city. Today we did a 4 hours walking tour and will do more tomorrow. It is a very interesting place, colourful with the grafettis and the different buildings. Valparaiso is a Unesco Heritage site for humanity.Then Saturday we will go by bus to Santiago, and fly home on Sunday! It is hard to imagine living in a house again as Margo2 has been great for this kind of travel for us. And it is impossible to say how many pictures have been taken of it along the way, as it has been noticed and admired by many!