Google map: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=pt-PT&geocode=&q=deserto+tatacoa&sll=4.614411,-74.114628&sspn=1.341432,2.801514&ie=UTF8&ll=6.025848,-74.558716&spn=2.676537,5.603027&z=8
The Tatacoa desert is a small piece of flat land set in the middle of the central and eastern Andes. Its location in the middle of two large mountain ranges creates the perfect hot and dry conditions for a spectacular landscape.
It’s actually small enough for you to walk around freely, without running the risk of loosing yourself amidst the canyons.
Often, what seems to be a fairly flat and straightforward route quickly becomes sinuous, as you need to move around canyon walls too steep for you to climb up or down, or to avoid sections of the dry rivers where cactuses and bushes grow too closely together for you to cross through. But then you hike up to a small sand terrace a bit higher up, you see where both mountain ranges are, you recognise the astronomy observatory at far, and you know where you are and where to go. Piece of cake, really.
The place is even almost too small to give you the impression of a “real” desert – many of the most interesting geological formations are walking distance from the road that divide the area.
But then you walk for a couple of hours away from the road, you leave the small farms behind, and all that surrounds you is arid landscape and the occasional noise of a small bird or a desert sheep. Yes: small, but still beautiful.
But, what on earth has the title of this post to do with what I’m writing?
Well, I stayed overnight in one of the few desert farms that offer (very) rustic accommodation to travellers along the road. Less than an hour after I arrived there the family who runs the place was hanging a sheep on a tree, bleeding it to death and cutting it in pieces for food to eat and sell. I had it for lunch – tasty! The following morning I woke up at 5am, not from the heat, but from the loud and disturbing screams of a pig also being bled to death, hanging from the same tree the poor sheep the day before. Again, it was cut into pieces and I had it for breakfast. Yet again, it was tasty.
If these two consecutive bloody experiences didn’t stop me from eating the poor animals just few hours after I saw them being cut to pieces, nothing will keep me away from being a meat-lover. It’s just too good.
The grey area of the desert. More beautiful than the previous one, I thought
Stop during end-of-day walk. Nice mountain range at the back!
The heat stops you from walking around most of the day. The alternative? Reading and sleeping…
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