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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Tierra Atacama: A Chilean Oasis

John Elkington · 5 November 2014 · Leave a Comment

A tree trunk in a wall, in San Pedro de Atacama
A tree trunk in a wall, in San Pedro de Atacama
Adobe brick by my front door
Adobe brick by my front door
A different sort of tree pod
A different sort of tree pod
They have my number
They have my number
Hollyhocks
Hollyhocks
Living quarters
Living quarters
Possibly irises
Possibly irises
In the dining space
In the dining space
Shadows on my outdoor cushioning
Shadows on my outdoor cushioning
Adobe bricks
Adobe bricks
Skylight
Skylight
Night sky, out back
Night sky, out back
Shadow
Shadow
Hollyhocks, again
Hollyhocks, again
Enlivened by a bee
Enlivened by a bee
We sit around the fire, under a full Moon
We sit around the fire, under a full Moon

After probably the bumpiest flight (in the late stages) that I have been on in decades, we touched down at Calama airport. Like so many things here, it is recently built and opened. As we came out into the open, the landscape shimmered with heat, and plumes of dust rose in the distance – which I assume, having looked down on a number of major mines as we flew in, must have been because of mining activity.

We climbed into a minibus with several other people and travelled eastwards towards the Andes. Getting to San Pedro de Atacama took about an hour-and-a-half, during which time I was struck by how much of the desert was covered not so much with windmills, though we passed through an extensive wind farm, but with litter. Most of the low-lying shrubs, it seemed, had acted as snags for passing plastic, paper and other debris.

As the land climbed, the debris thinned out. And then we crested the hills overlooking the Salar de Atacama, the great salt pan. As we headed down into San Pedro, I was struck by how the town’s single storey buildings are made out of adobe brick, with dirt roads once you’re off the main drag. The overall sense, however, with greenery and trees, is of an oasis.

And then on to our oasis within the oasis, the Tierra Atacama resort. Again this is single storey, with careful attention having been made to minimise light pollution. The gardens smelled wonderful, of fig trees, rosemary and lavender, with considerable numbers of hollyhocks (or malvas, here), in a wide spectrum of colours.

My room’s picture window looks out onto the elegantly symmetrical Licancabur volcano.

Under Fernando’s guidance, I’m trying a bunch of different Chilean red wines: Cabernet, Carmenere, Merlot and chilled Pinot Noir among them. Wonderful to sit out in the open air at night, with a glass of wine, the stars, a blazing fire, and across the valley on the flanks of the mountain alongside Licancabur, a wildly snaking road through to Bolivia, with the headlights of a small number of cars making their way up or down.

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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