One morning, while I was drinking some instant coffee, I met a German and a Russian in the lockers of the hostel, and they asked me if I would like to go to Guatin to explore a waterfall in the middle of the desert. I was ready to decline the invitation when one of them said, “Let’s get a ride on the road.”
That was like music to my ears. A penniless desert adventure just for a waterfall bath? Of course I’m in! I changed clothes immediately, filled my water bottle, and put the sunscreen in my bag.
We walked for about three kilometers until we left town and we waited for over 40 minutes before the girls started talking about giving up. The sun was getting hotter and hotter, and everyone said that throughout the day the streams that cut the Atacama tend to dry up.
- Let’s wait for another car, girls. I feel like our air-conditioned ride is on its way – I said, very optimistically.
Less than five minutes later, an SUV stopped at our nod.
- Guatin? – The driver asked. – We have only one place if you don’t mind tightening up a little! – He showed the two children of seven or eight years old in the backseat.
- If that’s okay with them, that’s fine with us.
The Chilean family told us about some traditional festivals in the village of Guatin and also about the meanings of some ancestral origin words. I was trying to understand accelerated Spanish, but it was hard to understand every word. Still, I could understand the context of the conversation between them and my German friend. The Russian certainly didn’t understand a word and just stared at the orange landscape through the car’s closed windows.
Our driver left us a few miles before the village entrance, informing us that in order to find the waterfalls we had to follow the wettest trail on the left. The cell phone map said there was a river, but we could only see a path of wet sand.
We walked optimistically, always following the wettest trail until, finally, a small stream appeared before us and guided the rest of our little expedition. As the amount of water got more significant, we felt even more excited. All around us, among the mountains, there was only sand, rocks, and some cacti. A few meters further from where we stopped for some photos, we heard the sound of a waterfall.
We were above the fall and had to go down a small rock wall. Below, two stone walls surrounded the small valley. I took off my clothes, only wearing a bikini and the Russian warned:
- I hope you don’t mind, but I didn’t bring a top.
At this point, I felt completely comfortable and took off my top too. I had gone topless on a much-crowded beach in Spain. I was only among women and I thought it was unlikely that anyone would find us in that waterfall in the middle of the desert.
The Russian smiled in thanks and then the German also took off her top.
We took turns under the waterfall, and when it was my turn, I couldn’t resist. I wanted to feel nature all over my body. I wanted to be completely naked in the waterfall.
- Sorry girls, but I won’t forgive myself if I leave without doing this. I took off my bikini bottom too and stepped under the waterfall. Before leaning my head on the rock behind me, I heard the Russian celebrate.
The power of the water was unbelievable given the size of the small stream that formed the highest waterfall. The water was deliciously cold and I smiled with satisfaction. – Thank you for this most unforgettable experience, dear universe.
When I came out of my immersion, my fellow adventurers were also completely naked and wanted to bathe again in the waterfall.
We took pictures of each other and then each one retreated to their own place. As I meditated, feeling the relentless sun dry my hair, I listened to the tighter waterfall, and when I opened my eyes, I could no longer see the mist formed by the force of the waters.
It was after 3 pm, and if we took too long to get a ride back, we could get very cold after sunset.
We put on our clothes in silence, climbed the rock wall, and reached the roadside happy about our afternoon in the hidden waterfall in the driest desert on the planet.
109 – ALWAYS LEARNING
I was already at Atacama for ten days. My skin was already cracked from the dryness. I rubbed dexpanthenol lotion several times a day around my body, but it wasn’t enough. Every morning, when I blew my nose, there was blood. The only advantage was that I washed my clothes in a small bucket and it took less than 2 hours for them to be completely dry.
When Patricia arrived from an adventure in Patagonia, I had already solved all my problems concerning my banking access. She gave me a very special deal so I could make the expedition with the same benefits of the other girls. I believe she totally gave up her share of the profit to put me among the women-only group, and I was immensely grateful.
When I met Patricia a few years earlier, during a volunteer work in Parana, she was beginning to travel the world as a nomad. I can’t tell if what I felt was exactly jealousy. Somehow, I already desired to throw myself into the world without destiny, only that I had got married to Felipe very early, and at the time, it was much easier to blame external circumstances than to assume the consequences of my own choices. So to bear with my own frustration, I told myself that this life was easier for her since she probably had a rich family.
Now, after traveling a year and learning to live with minimal resources, I knew of the sacrifices she had probably made to live her dream too.
The days with the expedition girls were fun and lively. We took unforgettable walks through breathtaking landscapes. The night in the desert was special, with a lot of wine, lots of dancing and marshmallows at the bonfire.
Anxious to share all the adventures I had experienced over the past few months, I didn’t realize I was babbling too much, leaving no room for all the girls to express themselves. It was an ego blow to hear that from the one whom I had the weakest connection. At the time, I wanted to deny it, complain about it, and say she was wrong, but somehow I knew there was a lesson to be learned there, and I decided to take her words in humility, though that wasn’t easy at the moment.
The night before I climbed the volcano, I went to bed in distress for the future. I just wondered: go home or keep traveling?
110 – A WOMAN IN DEVELOPMENT
The cars stopped at Laguna Lejia before sunrise. With the first rays of sunshine, the snow-capped mountains reflected in the water like a mirror, duplicating the landscape. As if just one version of that amazing place was too little to fill anyone’s eyes with.
I spent a few minutes trying not to think of the cold as I stared at the reflection in the water. For a second, I forgot the freezing sensation on the tip of my nose and asked myself, What next? Where should I go?
I didn’t have time to think about the answer. The mountain guide assembled the group to instruct us on how to climb the Lascar volcano crater, 5,600 meters above sea level. From there, the top of the mountain seemed close, but the biggest challenge, he said, was oxygen, not distance.
In the brief explanation, I learned that our bodies drastically experience any extra effort when 2,400 meters above sea level, because the air becomes thinner. This means that oxygen molecules are not as close together as they are at sea level. I remembered learning about it in high school science classes, but I never thought I’d feel it.
- Breathe more deeply and slowly so that your lungs can catch more oxygen and send it to the brain and the rest of the body through your blood – Checho explained in a very understandable portunhol.[25]
25
Portunhol is the mixture of Spanish and Portuguese languages, usually used by both Portuguese and Spanish speakers so they can understand one another more easily.