It is noon and we are sitting in La Estaka, a restaurant in Atacama, sipping an espresso and enjoying the meal of the day special which features cheese-covered clams followed by an entre of tender ground beef covered in pesto on a bed of local grains and vegetables, followed by dessert of pastel de leche (cake soaked in milk covered with browned whip cream) for 7,500 pesos (US$ 15). Excuse the description—I find recitations of eaten meals and recipes tedious—but this is one of my best meals of the trip, for taste, reflection of local cuisine, and presentation. If I return to Atacama I may eat all my meals at La Estaka.
This is proving to be a good day food-wise. When we checked out of the hotel this morning I was surprised to find the hotel serving a real breakfast: scrambled eggs, meat, cheese, and bread. Don't know what happened to yesterday's breakfast.
We walk to town to visit the Museo Gustavo Le Paige, named for a Belgian priest, painter, and archaeologist who settled in Atacama in the 1950s. He founded the museum which contains exhibits (in English as well as Spanish ) on the Inka as well as the flora and fauna of the desert and the Andes. The museum is well organized in a hub-and-spoke chronological layout though the building is a bit worn.
We walk through Iglesia Sam Pedro, a beautiful 17th century colonial church also on the main square. The church is built of adobe, wood from the cardon cactus, and, in lieu of nails, large leather straps.
I'd like to return to Atacama—quite a change in attitude from my first impression—for a longer stay, perhaps combining it with Bolivia and a return to Peru. But I'd stay in a different hotel and study up on the different tours available. Atacama has lots of tour agencies in town offering trips ranging from local half-day affairs to multi-day trips to Bolivia.
That is it for today. We are off to Calama to catch a flight to Santiago.
