Visiting the Atacama was the focal point of our Chilean trip. While many people travel to the Patagonia region of Chile (and for good reason- the beauty is breathtaking) for my family it was a better fit with our schedule to seek out this mountainous desert region in the North of the country. This is known as the “driest place on earth”, averaging about .6” a year (15mm, for those of us who prefer the metric). Some parts of the Atacama are known to not receive any rain for up to four years. This area spans 100,000 square kilometers, extending from Chile into Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. The desert is so vast that the Chilean stretch alone runs through five of the country’s sixteen regions.
We started our Atacama journey in Calama, taking a flight there from Santiago. We took a packed travel van to the hippie-dippie desert town of San Pedro de Atacama- a 2,400m gateway to the Atacama desert, a town built around mining- salt, copper, and silver nitrate, though now known for travel tourism- hostels, tour guides, restaurants, and souvenir shops abound here. Also dreadlocks, patchouli, quasi-spiritualism, and people trying to find themselves.
Not immune to the allure of llama-related clothing, I resisted buying a pancho (not quite ready to go through a full-blown “Man with no Name” phase) but ended up purchasing an alpaca wool pullover (that included little llamas on it, of course). Viva la fashion. In between desert excursions, we would stop at San Pedro coffee shops, a delightful french bakery, and sampled the flavors of the desert- Coca (which was everywhere) was fed to us in ice cream, our pisco sours, tea, and candy- it helped with the altitude adjustment and gave a little zip to the day, as well. Both coca and rica rica- another flavor of the desert- were earthy, with a vague matcha and mint flavor. Great in every way we tried.
After doing some research on tour groups in San Pedro, we decided to go with Layana travel, and the majority of our 4-day trips (split into morning trips and afternoon trips- and one Star gazing at night!) were quite good. Getting around the Atacama is possible to do by oneself, but it makes more logistical sense to have a guide (with a van) that picks you up from your hostel/private room/whatever (there are no hotels in San Pedro- only privately held rental lodges).
Our First visit was to Valle de la Luna, the Moon Valley. Most of the parks had a small entrance fee (not covered by the Tour group- something I found odd) but it was only around $2-3 a person. One of the reasons why it was cool to pay for the park entrances to various Atacama locations was that they are completely run by the local indigenous community, the Atacameños, who in 1993 became one of the nine recognized indigenous peoples of Chile. The indigenous peoples stipulate the rules of the park and are in charge of maintenance and fees.
Declared a nature sanctuary in 1982, Moon Valley is an arid place full of sweeping vistas and titanic dunes. After traversing through the valley all afternoon, we were driven to a scenic spot overlooking the valley at sunset. This experience was simultaneously a sublime and a frustrating one- wonderful because of the view, terrible because it was probably the most “touristy” experience we had in the Atacama, with hundreds of travel-insta influencers jockeying for the best photo spot, best pose, best overall experience as filtered through a lens. This became a repeated motif of my time in the Atacama- gorgeous views and ungainly people mobbing every location. I am self-aware enough to know I was one of them, and yet I find myself disgusted by any association with such vapid behavior.
Our next day’s tour was us heading to Valle Arcoiris (“Rainbow Valley”) and the Petroglyphs of Yerbas Buenas. This morning's jaunt highlighted how much difference a quality guide can make in a tour. Our guide, Lorenza, was incredibly knowledgeable about the geology of the rainbow valley and talked us through the plant life and mineral deposits on display. Not only stunningly photogenic, but it was also one of the least tourist-y places we visited while in the desert. We were able to sit in absolute stillness and hear nothing but the wind and silence while there. A refreshing and novel concept, this silence.
After the unbelievable view of the valley, we took a short trip to Los Petroglifos de Hierbas Buenas. The petroglyphs date anywhere between 8,000 BCE and 1500 CE, with different cultures coming to this space and etching symbols into the rock. Some of the oldest are from the Atacameños people, but there are also etchings in the soft rock in the style of the Andean peoples of Bolivia, and even later tries from the Spanish, trying to get in on the carving action. Generally, the fainter the etching, the older (you know, erosion) the artwork is. There are literally thousands in this location, a naturally-formed rock fence that made it easy for herders of llamas and alpacas (or their forebears vicunas and guanacos) to set up camp. The soft rock made it easy to draw- boom, history was made. There are literally thousands of drawings- mostly llamas, but foxes, flamingos, and even a monkey. I was thrilled that my favorite Atacaman animal, the vizcacha- a cross between a bunny and a chinchilla- showed up on the walls, looking like a pre-civilization Pikachu.
Our next outing took us to the salt flats of the Atacama and the “Hidden” lagoons. The water was cerulean and contrasted with the brilliant white of the salt flats themselves in a captivating way- but the trip was an underwhelming, hot, and long one- it included a 10-minute soak in the last of the seven lagoons, but it was another location crowded by tourists, all of whom were angling for the absolute best vantage point for their Instagrams and aggressively pushing their way around the space.
Without a single doubt, the most transcendent experience of the Atacama was the night we spent stargazing. The Atacama desert is host to three (four by 2028) massive observatories, the Atacama is one of the best places in the world for astronomical studies. One of our nights was spent having the pleasure of seeing more celestial bodies than I could ever imagine. The sheer volume of stars was almost oppressive- like a blanket leaking light through trillions of holes, it was a breathtaking experience in the old, literal sense of the word- it was actually hard to slow down and breathe for the first few minutes, such was the display.
After a charming introduction to various constellations by a guide from Museo del Meteorito, we were able to observe using the telescopic equipment they had available, watching three moons crossing the face of Jupiter as well as observing several nebulae have made life-long fans in my boys, who stayed up well past bedtime in order to experience a viewing experience unparalleled anywhere in the world.
Our last guided tour in the Atacama was another one of our favorite activities from our desert excursion- the Baths of Puritama "(“Termos Banos de Puritama”), a series of eight descending pools/waterfalls fed by geothermal springs and housed inside of a canyon. Scenic (as everything was in the desert) and also relaxing, these springs were a refreshing way to spend our last full day in the desert. Once again, the location was managed by the indigenous Atacamean people, with an entrance fee of nine thousand pesos ($9-10) going to the maintenance and upkeep of the springs.
The springs range between 32 and 35 degrees (89-95 Fahrenheit) with the furthest ones from the thermal source being the coolest. The springwater includes calcium, magnesium, sodium, and boron- said by our guide to “maximize revitalization”- so it must be true. We opted to start at the coolest, spending about ten minutes soaking and splashing in each pool before moving to the next. The springs were still quite cramped, as it is a popular tourist spot as well, but each of the natural rock pools was decently sized, so only one or two pools felt overly cramped and crowded.
The experience at the springs was confounding- so much water at the bottom of the canyon after days of being in the driest place on earth- at the top of the canyon, the Andean Altiplano creates a desolate and barren scene. The spring, on the other hand, is surrounded by foxtails and local grasses, and one of the only places where we saw any signs of wildlife in the entire desert. The water is slimy, with much algae growth, but it was not unpleasant. Moving from pool to pool while wet was a surprisingly brisk experience- the wind running through the canyon was quite strong- so haste was the order of the day moving from one pool to the next.
When planning out our epic trip to the desert, we thought four days was going to be enough time to see everything we wanted- but even going on tours in the morning, afternoon, and in one case- midnight- we still felt like there was more we could go back and do, or at least spend another dozen nights stargazing. Patagonia may get much of the tourist draw to Chile, but don’t sleep on the Atacama. What a profound and panoramic sight.
I appreciate the scientific explanation behind the desert colors. Nice work, teach!