HOW ABOUT LLAMA FOR LUNCH?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Today we are hoping to visit one of the oldest archeological sites in Chile; Aldea de Tulor. Directions are very vague and we just don’t seem to get on the right track, but find several very interesting places during our search.
This entire area, surrounded by desert and mountains is a large oasis, which has been slit up into several smaller Ayllus, or communities, which in turn have been divided into properties surrounded by abode walls. Outside of San Pedro many of these adobe walls have been kept in their orignal state, the sandy roads are very narrow with the large tree roots making them even narrower. After an hour of driving up and down and back and forth, we finally find what we are looking for and wonder if the lack of signage is a conspiracy between the tour companies, who rather not see tourist go out on their own.

We pay our admission fee and enter one of the replicas of an Ayllu, which serves an interpretive centre. Before we take the trail, which leads us through the desert to the ancient village, which shows a similar structure style as seen between the pre-Columbian cultures of South Central Andes: Bolivia, the western valleys of Northern Chile and Northeastern Argentina.

The circular building, of which there were 150 are interconnected. 24 were used as sleeping quarters, while others were used for different communal purposes, such as cooking.
The desert has buried most of the structures, but from  an elevated boardwalk  we can clearly see the outlines of the community.

We still have a lot of question about the lifestyle of the inhabitant of Aldea de Tulor and the lady who is in charge fo the place is very eager to tell us anything we like to know. I give her one of my Canada Souvenir pens and in return she digs up a small, green stone arrowhead. We talk for a long time and ask where the closest place would be to get a meal.

“There are no restaurants here, but at the place of Daniella Vegas, you can get a good meal”. She gives us directions and soon we reach the Ayllu of Coyo. Basically five farms, enclosed with the same adobe walls. Only if you are invited inside the walls, will you know what’s behind them.
There are no commercial businesses at all here. Not even a home based store, like we have seen in other small communities.


In places such as these you need to prearrange your meal. Daniela is very kind. She gives us the option of Llama or sheep. We go for the Llama. “Give me an hour and I will prepare you a nice meal”. She suggests. We ask her to put a bottle of white wine in the freezer, and at her suggestion wander around her property, which actually belongs to her father.

We notice some very unique tools and see a variety of animals, such as goats, sheep and Llama. We are curious about the colourful pompoms the Llamas have on their ears, and learn that this is form of branding.

We walk through the entire property which is as least 5 acres, and includes an orchard of various herbs and trees. Through it runs a number of small water channels, the only way to provide moisture to the trees and plants.

We take a small trail along the outer edge of the community and end up at another property, which offers Llama caravans, we inquire with the young native man and strike up an interesting conversation.


When we return to Daniella’s place the table has been set outside on the covered patio, where folkloric music is playing.

It’s too bad, I have such a terrible headache and my eyes hurt a lot. I can hardly see. “It’s from the air pressure at this high altitude”, Daniella explains. “I’ll give you some Coca tea after lunch”.
She goes on to explain how the high altitude deprives us from oxygen, causing all sort of strange side effects.

While we are here in the Atacama desert, we don’t think about how many meters above sea level we are. But when we start doing some calculations, it is almost shocking.
Ramiro jokes, that it must bother me more, because I was born below sea level. In Alberta, we are about 1000 feet above ( appr. 300 meters).
In North America we often travel through mountain passes, we think are hight at 2,600 feet. Compare this with the 2,600 meters we are at here and multiply this by three....... OK, it’s time to shut off the brain. I’m getting a headache just thinking about it. The other way around is no different. When Daniella visits the lower land, she experiences a similar discomfort. It is important to slowly adjust to the change and don’t go up or down in one day. USe some time to get used to the change.

Meanwhile we sip our wine and nibble on the delicious green, stuffed olives.
When our meal is served, she leaves us alone, checking every now and then if we require anything else, or fills our glasses.
The Llama meal is fantastic, she prepared a fava bean and carrot stuffing to moisten the meat and made a wonderful salad with fresh tomatoes, cucumber, avocadoes and palm hearts.
After the second glass of wine my headache is gone, but I still take the tea.
Daniella takes the time to talk to us about life here in the desert. She has had many offers from foreign tourists who come to her place for a home cooked meal, but she prefers to stay here all by herself.

As we part with a hug. I give here a Canadian souvenir and I receive a small local souvenir with a seed pod of the Algarrobo tree.
What a wonderful afternoon this was and what a fantastic meal. As we return to San Pedro heavy dark clouds are hanging over the mountains. We drop off the car and walk to pick up a few items from one of the tiny grocery stores and visit the old church.

Then it happens. It starts to rain. I walk back to the Hostel to pick up my umbrella, which I had just put away on the bottom of the suitcase, not thinking I would need it anymore.
In the village, the shop owners have come outside and stand with their arms spread out and their palms up to the sky, to catch the rain drops. They forget all about their merchandise which hangs outside. They have not seen rain in ten years; this is very unusual. They also look at me as if they have never seen an umbrella, I seem to be the only one in town with this luxury.

This is one of those rare days, that the warning light for Ultraviolet Light at the museum is green. Indicating that it is safe to go outside unprotected.

The rain continues to come down hard for the rest of the evening making the dirt streets very slippery. Hopefully this does not interfere with our plans for tomorrow.