DIUNA 🇦🇷
Another world
PUNA ATACAMA, because that’s what we gonna speak about now, is a vast physical-geographical area in the northern part of the Argentine–Chilean border.
No point pretending – one of my favorite directions and one of my main motivations to fire up the Jeep for a long ride.
It’s quite a demanding region, with dozens or even hundreds of kilometers of tough terrain between one urbanized point and the next.
Almost everything sets it apart from the rest of Earth’s climates. It’s like an area outside the world, completely from another planet.
Half-passable gravel tracks, often above 4000 m a.s.l. Deserts, salt flats, and sharp volcanic peaks pushing close to 7000 (Ojos del Salado – 6893 m a.s.l., the highest active volcano on Earth).
It’s just you, the horizon, and the raw, smashing vastness. The energy blowing off ridges, volcanic cones and other bizarre places
hits you through a wide-band, invisible link straight into your brain.
Coca leaves sometimes help against the painful overload, very likely at such altitudes without proper acclimatization.
Dry, clear air extends the range of vision, enriching perception with a color spectrum unavailable anywhere else.
A particularly interesting thread is the body’s reaction to oxygen conditions changing with altitude.
The first-day oxygen shock usually triggers in me some mysterious euphoric compensatory reaction – leading thoughts into areas
I have no idea even exist when I’m settled in the city. Oh yes! I like that natural high, and I often can’t wait for it ;)
Unfortunately, day two is usually not so pleasant – that’s why I’m rather a fan of one-day ascents to five-thousand-meter peaks
and I’m not at all excited about hiking above 6000, because the difference of those few hundred meters complicates logistics insanely,
turning the experience from something extremely fun into unnecessary survival.
Cold, starry desert nights and harsh, vertical sun give exactly the effect they taught in school.
At night it’s (maybe not as extreme as Polish winters ;) but still cold, giving way a few hours after sunrise to extreme heat.
Such conditions limit life to very few species. You mostly see groups of vicuñas
darting around between the few plant species fighting for survival. Here and there you also get flamingos that fit surprisingly well into the color palette.
I’ve already managed to drive the “Dune” route a few times, each time tweaking the road a bit to give myself a chance to discover new places or vibes. And every time it turns out
there’s something to discover… a new old track, a hidden climb, an abandoned mine, night, approaching it from the other side… Nature always prepares a show enriched with some new scene…