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A two hours flight from Santiago, to Calama’s Airport is the fastest way to get to Atacama, in the north of Chile, where there’re unsurpassed conditions for observing the stars. I arrived to San Pedro, a little, old and cosy town, overlooking the Licancabur volcano, by December of 2015; two months after El Niño brought the heaviest rainfall in two decades. While I was checking in at my hotel, I saw a little add about a bike tour adventure, including some stops into Inca’s ruins, and natural monuments. Nevertheless, the proposal was really different from all the tours I’d checked before: it also included some ceremonies of sharing and being grateful with the “Pachamama” (Mother Earth). Before unpacking, I sent a message to the tour guide to book as soon as possible. After a couple of days visiting Atacama’s amazing places, as the Altiplanic Lagoons, Puritama hot springs, Lagoon Cejar, Geyser del Tatio, and of course, the night tour to watch the stars, I was completely in love with the desert. When I first read Paul Bowles book: “The Sheltering Sky” I felt the call to experience the magnificence of this kind of landscape. Every day, when I got back to the hotel by the afternoon, I asked if I had some response from the tour guide. During my stay, I left a few more messages to this busy and mysterious woman, because I felt, (maybe, as I did with the book) that call to experience a different kind of connection with this land. But also, I really wanted to bike, so I couldn’t wait any longer, and I decided to rent one. I went on my own to “The Moon Valley” where I discover myself enjoying the heat and the wind, during a 32 km. trip into the desert. In this national park, you can find a salt cave (and get into it!), sand dunes, as well as peculiar rocky formations. By the end of that day, I got a message from the tour guide at the hotel. The Pachamama tour was finally booked. The woman looked like as an adventure tour guide, no doubt. She’s from Santiago, and she travelled all over the world, before moving to Atacama. She took her role seriously, with one aim: to show how this place could became an unforgettable experience. We started the bike tour nearby a farm. She mentioned the importance of the land care. She also mentioned the problems related to the non ecological practices in agriculture. This tour was a committed one. We ridded our bikes again. We stopped next to an old three. This was a stop to be inspired by the atmosphere, the three leaves and fruits, the history and, from this spot, in a meditation mood, we observed the volcano: Licancabur made me cry. In our next stop, the tour guide introduced me to the ceremony of the Pachamama: it was a simple talk, about why I was there. Surrounded by mountains, in a quiet spot, while I was speaking, I realized that, somehow I knew this place. I couldn’t believe it, but a few days before the journey, I’d made a collage of these mountains: the colours, the forms were the same, but I never saw them before. We shared some chocolate and fruits to be grateful with the Pachamama, and the ceremony continued at the top of the mountain. I always thought I was scared of heights, but in Atacama I lost my fear. We climbed the mountain to get to the Inca’s ruins. The sunset was there; to bless the last part of the ritual, and to give us the biggest gift: a privileged view, as we were goddess. Atacama is one of the most complexes places that I’d ever experienced: because of its energy, because of its purity and its uniqueness. I’ll always be grateful with the Pachamama to have allowed myself, to feel a part of the desert. Also, I’ll always be grateful to my local connection, this great woman, and for this heart connected experience, under the sheltering sky of Atacama.