Atacama Desert
The magnificent Atacama is the driest desert in the world with rain virtually unrecorded in most localities. An astonishing fact to consider in a landscape freckled with lagoons, hot springs, geysers and salt plains. In stark geographical contrast to the fertile valleys of the south, the parched and desolate region of Atacama sprawls some 600 miles (970 km) across the far flung tip of northern Chile.
The charming oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama resides at the edge of the dazzling Salar de Atacama (salt lakes) near to the Bolivian border. The adobe style architecture and narrow sandy streets lend to a relaxed atmosphere that makes San Pedro a comfortable gateway into the depths of Atacama Desert.
Choose between one of many possible excursions into the desert, either on foot, by jeep, horseback or mountain bike. Visit the world’s highest geysers at El Tatio, and Chuquicamata, the world’s largest open-cast copper mine.
Sunsets and stargazing take new precedence in the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). The intensity of colour that filters the sky at sunset is unforgettable and best observed from atop a giant sand dune. Once the sun dips below Volcan Licancabur the crystal clear sky is transformed by thousands of luminous stars which only add to the eerie beauty of the valleys lunar-like landscape.
Every five years the Atacama Desert shakes off its tag as a spectacular, yet fairly barren landscape, welcoming an incredible mass bloom of flowering native plants such as Lucmillo and Lion Claws. Whilst the bloom is not guaranteed, the plentiful rains of May will certainly help nurture the rare flora in to bloom. Based on the five year pattern, this extraordinary natural phenomenon should occur from September to November.
To visit Atacama is to embrace utter solitude that can only be described as positively overwhelming