Sunday 7th February 2021
It's nearly my bedtime while I am writing this. Today has been a tough one, as we went on a long walk. My fitbit says I have done about 30,000 steps today.
It was a new morning and I knew what was coming, I felt tired already even though I hadn't even been anywhere yet. As I got out of the bed, I had a weird backache; this didn't last for long, but it did hurt at the time. Once everyone in the room was awake, we went for our breakfast. It was actually really nice as I had the special breakfast of the day, which included a corn wrap with lettuce, cheese and tomato.
As we were about to get into the car, one of the hotel staff members kindly gave us a lunch box for me and my sister. On the journey to the geysers, it was really hot, so all of us opened our windows. Minutes later, a big rumbling car came past and everyone started coughing from the dust. I knew everyone else didn't enjoy the car ride too much, but I loved seeing the huge majestic mountains which surrounded and looked down at me. Because of all the dust in our faces, we decided to put the air conditioning on instead, which felt much cooler than our windows being open.
Dad stopped the car, which felt like the middle of nowhere! As dad finished his long and awkward parking session, my sister and I groaned as we exited the car; by the look of it, we had a long walk ahead of us. About an hour later, we finally reached the geysers. As we got close to them, we just could stop holding our noses as the eggy aroma filled our nostrils. The windy air impacted the geysers stray, which I thought was mesmerising, though everyone else was trying to avoid the spray of the hot smelly water.
Another tiring hour later, we got to the car. When we got inside, me and my sister opened the lunch boxes and my parents ate their awful looking coleslaw salads, which put me off my sandwiches. We set off and drove further and further into the Atacama Desert and its hot, dry Chilean weather.
We arrived at the animal park and the car was screaming with joy. We went into the main building and a kind friendly man showed us where to go. He showed us outside and followed a trail; between us was a fence covered in sharp barbed wire. Just ahead of us you could see these llama looking creatures, the man told us their name, but I could barely pronounce it! Then we saw a small lake surrounded by pink, feathery flamingos, all standing on one leg. As we got to the end of the trail, we saw something that we didn't expect, penguins! Shortly after that, we got back to the building and they gave us a link to their website, which my mum can't stop looking at.
Later that night, we for the first time, visited a proper Chilean restaurant called Conchila's Restuarante. I had some Chilean Empanadas, but had no idea what anyone else had, as I did not recognise any of the food at the time. For pudding, the waiter gave us a chocolate square.
My dad and sister were crying for their hotel beds, but my mum and I went stargazing instead.
