Caldera was the first stop on our southward journey to Santiago and it was a short one.
After arriving at about 5:30am we grabbed a cab to the center of this sleeping town. The cabby was incredibly friendly and helped us find places to stay. We ended up in a private room just down the street from the town square (and the giant church).
After taking a quick nap we went exploring and found…not much. We walked down to the water to find food and instead found a small film? museum. We ended up heading back to the corner store near our hotel to grab burgers.
At this point we decided we didn’t want to stay here more than a day (and we didn’t really need to go to the beach nearby), so we went to the bus depot to see what busses we could take out for that night.
After walking back and forth between the two bus companies about five times, a local lady finally gave us the first useful bit of information: there were collectivos that went south to Copiapo where we could catch an onward bus to La Serena!
We ended up booking our bus from Copiapo to La Serena and caught one of the last collectivos out of Caldera in order to make the connection.
Weather (Celcius)
Elevation (m)
Travel Planning: Caldera, Chile
From laurensluggage:
Bahia Inglesa is a tiny town that apparently gets quite busy in summer when Chilean vacationers take up residency, however it seemed like we were the only people there at this particular time. There was a beautiful little beach and when the sun came out in the afternoons it was quite warm.
Getting Out
La Sarena
- Bus times are 10:40AM-4:20PM, 7:05PM-12:55AM, 11:15PM-3:45AM. Prices are 9,500/12,700 for semi/salon cama respectively.
Bussing from San Pedro de Atacama to Caldera
| Time | Location |
|---|---|
| 6:15PM | Left Hostal Florida by foot. |
| 6:34PM | Arrived at the bus terminal. |
| 7:00PM | Boarded. |
| 7:06PM | And we’re off! |
| 8:49PM | Stopping in Calama. |
| 9:01PM | Moving again. |
| 5:28AM | Arrived in Caldera. |
| 5:30AM | In a cab. |
| 5:42AM | Found a hotel near the main square. |
| Totals | Totals |
|---|---|
| Total bus time | 10:22 |
Food on the Bus
Sol de Atacama
Where we stayed.
Bread at Petit Gourmet
Petit Gourmet
Having a burger and eggs here after wandering around and not finding much else to eat. They also have banana bread loaves that are a bit dry.
The Church
Bussing from Caldera to Copiapó
| Time | Location |
|---|---|
| 8:41PM | Left hotel on foot. |
| 8:44PM | At the bus terminal. |
| 8:47PM | On a bus for 2000CLP. |
| 9:47PM | Arrived. |
| Totals | Totals |
|---|---|
| Total bus time | 1:00 |