26-Mar-2004 -- Altitude: unknown but over 2500mtrs
Website: www.bylandwaterandair.com
Plant life: None apparent in view of confluence, dry desert, only small scrub in lowland washout areas.
Animal life: Rhea, lizards, something that burrows.
Nearest road / town: Chile-27 to Bolivia and Argentina / San Pedro de Atacama
Regional economy: Tourism and mining

The confluence is west south west of San Pedro and around 22Km from the edge of town. Surprised that a confluence in such a heavily touristed area had not been visited, we set out early in the morning from the wonderful "Mama Tierra" hostal to hike to it.

We hiked along the highway for 7-8Km and then turned off onto a dirt road directly towards the confluence. After crossing two dry washouts and a further 4Km of hiking we reached a sign that said "¡Peligro! Zona de riesgos explosivos no rastreados no pasar" which we translated as "Danger! High risk zone, un-detected explosives, do not pass". So we decided not to.

Perhaps if someone can find out from the military what the risk is then it might be possible, sadly this time we only have sunburn and some nice desert photos for our efforts! The photos were taken in the general direction the confluence would probably give, there is very high visibility in the area despite the UV haze.