11 magical highlights of Chile’s Atacama Desert

With its lunar landscapes, sense of ethereal marvel, and no scarcity of outside excursions to be loved, Chile’s Atacama Desert is a really distinctive journey vacation spot – one that’s unmatched anyplace else on Earth.

This, the driest desert on the planet, is residence to historical rock formations thousands and thousands of years previous, eternally clear evening skies, boutique inns, and a stunning cultural heritage that merely have to be explored throughout any tailored journey to Chile.

Irrespective of your want, whether or not or not it’s exploring otherworldly canyons and clifftop viewpoints of Moon Valley, effortlessly floating in a high-Andean salt lake, or visiting small, conventional villages which have flourished within the desert for hundreds of years, you’ll discover it in Atacama. Right here, we spotlight simply 11 of the highest experiences that don’t even start to listing all of the distinctive experiences obtainable. 

Stargaze into the world’s clearest evening sky

The Atacama Desert is without doubt one of the driest locations on the earth, with some components of it not having had rainfall for over 400 years. This lack of moisture within the air means often clear skies, which completely mix with the realm’s excessive altitude and non-existent mild air pollution to make Atacama among the best stargazing areas on earth. Being an astronomer’s paradise, among the world’s most vital observatories (La Silla, Paranal, ALMA, the Llano de Chajnantor, and many others.) have chosen to settle on this space.

Vacationers ought to take into account that from April via September Atacama boasts cloudless skies, making this a peak interval to understand our Milky Method’s glittering assortment of stars, along with Jupiter and Saturn. You received’t even want a telescope to see the breathtaking mild present above.

You can even select to go on a star gazing tour the place an professional information will lead you thru the cosmos, declaring constellations, planets, and galaxies with telescopes that reveal the wonders of the universe in astonishing element. You’ll both camp within the desert and admire the celebrities all evening lengthy or go on an evening hike to a distant place the place you possibly can gaze on the heavens above.

Stargazing excursions may go to some observatories similar to ALMA, the world’s largest observatory, which is open to the general public. There, you possibly can gaze into the celebrities via high-powered telescopes and study from an astronomer about constellations and different evening sky options. No matter your strategy, you’re positive to see why the evening sky within the Atacama Desert is alleged to be one of the best on the earth. 

Discover the distinctive lunar landscapes of Moon Valley

Valle de la Luna was shaped by the buildup of sand, clay, and salt into mountains which have been destroyed by the earth’s actions however formed by wind and water over time.

Although dubbed Moon Valley for its otherworldly look, the majestic Valle de la Luna has been in comparison with the floor of Mars. Being so much like our neighboring planet, NASA has even examined devices designed for his or her Mars missions on this area.

A lot of the guided excursions to the Valley of the Moon begin with the Dying Valley lookout. Then it’s over to the breathtaking Stone of Coyote viewpoint; a enjoyable stroll via a salt cavern; and a take a look at the Amphitheatre and Tres Marias rock formations. The ultimate tour is as much as the sundown viewpoint. It’s at sundown when this a part of the desert really shines. Because the solar dips under the horizon, the valley’s rocky formations forged lengthy shadows and the colours shift from heat oranges to deep purples and blues. It’s an ethereal expertise, the place you’re feeling such as you’ve left Earth for one more planet. 

Float effortlessly in ‘a desert stuffed with water’

A should for any journey to Atacama, the Moon Valley is a blinding place of beguiling geology and – you guessed it – lunar-like landscapes. The openness provides to its attract, permitting you to face and watch as the sunshine transforms rugged rocks right into a rainbow of shade, notably at sundown; certainly one of the best time to go to Valle de la Luna.

The Atacama Desert bears no scarcity of our bodies of water. Oddly sufficient, it’s a desert stuffed with water! One of many swimming pools that may be a favourite of vacationers who want to take a dip is Laguna Cejar, a sinkhole lake within the Salar de Atacama, Chile’s largest salt flat. Because the lake’s focus of salt can attain as excessive as 28 p.c, this permits one to drift on it effortlessly. Plus, it’s the proper approach to cool off from the extreme desert warmth. That is the magic of Atacama swimming pools like Laguna Cejar, a surreal salt lagoon that’s saltier than the Useless Sea.

Bathe in a desert oasis on the Puritama Scorching Spring

Although located in the midst of the world’s driest desert, you possibly can benefit from the elegant expertise of soaking within the thermal waters of the Puritama Scorching Springs (Termas de Puritama). Right here, you’ll discover a muscle-relaxing go to to the Termas de Puritama Scorching Spring a well-deserved pause after a couple of days of exploring the desert.

Positioned in a canyon, this oasis consists of eight massive swimming pools which might be warmed by geothermal springs fueled by the encompassing volcanic Andes. The nice and cozy, mineral-rich waters have lengthy been treasured for his or her therapeutic properties which might be sworn to alleviate rheumatism and arthritis because of the excessive focus of sodium sulfate. In any case, they’re positive to offer leisure to weary vacationers.

This was the proper approach to rehydrate your physique whereas having a enjoyable and stress-free time within the water. Most will agree that the morning supplies the proper distinction of cool breezes via the canyon and the nice and cozy waters of the swimming pools. Plus, an early morning soak will will let you expertise the swimming pools with smaller crowds of individuals. Nonetheless, at any time of the day, you’ll discover the clear water is as clear as glass and immediately inviting!  

Sand surf down one of many world’s highest dunes

Sandboarding down the endless dunes in Atacama is a superb thrill and bodily problem, good for journey vacationers. Simply outdoors of Atacama’s oasis city of San Pedro, you possibly can board down huge, sandy, 100-yard stretches within the desert’s El Valle de los Muertos (Dying Valley) or El Valle de Martes (Mars Valley) and luxuriate in adrenaline-filled enjoyable within the solar!

Boards could be rented within the city of San Pedro, or you possibly can simply come to the valley to observe the locals chopping it up and down the dunes.

An excellent bit farther afield is Atacama’s Cerro Medanoso dune. Looming 1 / 4 of a mile above the desert plain, it’s the tallest in Chile and is taken into account the second-highest dune on the earth. It’s not solely nice sand boarding however a vacation spot in itself and a singular photographic alternative. Right here, you’ll uncover a stark panorama of eroded lava and sandstone formations nestled amongst this and different clean dunes of the Mar de Dunas (Sea of Dunes) that stretch for miles, making this the perfect space for thrill seekers.  

House to 80 lively geysers, El Tatio is the world’s third largest geyser area, and — at greater than 14,000 ft above sea degree — it’s the world’s highest geyser area. At this geothermal area, fumaroles create a surreal picture as they spurt clouds of steam as much as 35 ft into the sky.

Expertise the superior Tatio Geysers

The most effective time to witness this superior sight is dawn, which is when the low morning temperatures additionally act to stop the steam from the geysers from evaporating. The angle of the morning mild casts an ethereal glow on these clouds of steam. This creates an immensely magical spectacle over the stark panorama, bathing the billowing clouds in a golden mild and portray an otherworldly image.

Within the azure readability of this high-altitude desert, the visible impression of the geysers, thermal wells, and steaming fumaroles at daybreak is unforgettable. All this requires a really early begin, however little question it’s nicely price braving chilly temperatures and the early pre-dawn begin. 

Discover internal peace amid the stark Atacama Salt Flats

The attention-popping Atacama Salt Flat sprawls throughout a 1,200-square-mile space and is a marvel to behold. Splayed out beneath a cornflower-blue sky, this area is the star of many a guidebook cowl due to the salt flat’s placing distinction of colours and its periodic mirror-like qualities.

This reflective high quality seems when there’s the rarest of rain within the Atacama Desert. The salt flat fills with water and turns right into a salt lake, although completely different from any lake you’ve seen earlier than. The soil doesn’t take in the rainwater shortly, so when flash flooding happens, a skinny layer of water types, creating a large mirror thus reflecting the encompassing mountains; an actual deal with for any photographer!

Take a number of photos and play with the optical illusions of this place. Be ready to {photograph} different wildlife species similar to vicuñas, Culpeo foxes, Puna guinea pigs, Andean seagulls, golden plovers, pigeon geese, and lots of others. As a enjoyable truth, the salt flat is residence to 40% of the world’s lithium reserves.  

Seize beautiful desert wildlife on movie

Within the Atacama Desert, you possibly can view otherworldly landscapes, sight stars like in no different a part of the world, have interaction in journey sports activities, and calm down in its salty waters, however that’s not all. You can even spot unbelievable Chilean wildlife and take residence photographs for household, mates, and envious coworkers.

Although the Atacama Desert is the driest desert on Earth, the realm makes for an unexpectedly diverse habitat that includes salt lakes and greener areas fed by sea mists or mountain meltwater. Subsequently, most crops and mammals of the area cling to the sides of restricted sources of water. These animals embody llamas and llama-like vicunas and alpacas, in addition to huemel deer, gray fox, viscacha (the biggest member of the chinchilla household), and even penguins(!) alongside the coast.

However what about flamingos? We wouldn’t blame you when you’ve by no means thought to search for these tropical birds within the desert, however the stunning truth is that there are literally three flamingo species that you could see within the Atacama area. The excessive salinity and alkalinity of Atacama’s salt lakes don’t faze the evolutionarily ready flamingos because the larger salinity means extra of their favourite meals: blue-green algae that these birds filter from the mud with their specialised down-curved payments. All of this makes for some beautiful sights and photographs. 

Bask in all of the facilities of a boutique desert lodge

Positioned in northern Chile’s beautiful Atacama Desert – between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains, on the sting of the tiny oasis village of San Pedro de Atacama, you’ll discover a scattering of among the most unusual, environmentally pleasant, comfy, and well-designed luxurious inns in South America.

Inside a stone’s throw of snow-capped volcanoes, shimmering salt pans, and the Andes, these lodges mirror the magical temper of the world’s driest desert. Most of those inns are pueblo or adobe model and mix in with the pure panorama. They provide superb service, unique delicacies, and heat décor. Their spas could be described as “journey spas,” with the thought being that friends can expertise the outside actively and adventurously, later returning to the resort for pampering on the spa (or leisure on the lodges’ grounds).

The biggest and most comfy luxurious lodges within the space have names like Tierra Atacama, Awasi Atacama, Alto Atacama Desert Lodge and Spa, and Explora Atacama. Although every has its personal distinctive character, all of them function a mixture of Atacameño historical structure blended with trendy model for an elegant modern ambiance.
Along with spacious and well-appointed visitor rooms, every lodge can boast of its personal 5-star restaurant the place meals is ready by incorporating desert fauna and flavors, making the gastronomy an expertise in and of itself.

Be amazed on day by day desert excursions

Luxurious lodges in Atacama provide any variety of actions to maintain you busy in the course of the day and evening.

Full-service luxurious Atacama lodges provide actions for exploration within the surrounding desert. Friends can go on day by day excursions with skilled guides or can simply relax beside terrace hearth pits and lounge subsequent to a pool with among the best desert views and the beautiful sight of the Licancabur Volcano within the distance.

These luxurious lodges concentrate on tailored experiences in small teams in addition to extra non-public excursions with guides for every visitor. This permits for privateness, serenity, and deep leisure.

These outings vary from driving excursions to Altiplano lagoons, horseback driving, mountaineering via beautiful surroundings, visiting scorching springs, mountain biking, and exploring archaeological ruins. These excursions vary from half-a-day to full-day, and these encompass all the things from straightforward hikes to tougher climbs, with quite a lot of day by day choices from which you – the visitor – can select. With over 40 explorations provided on foot, bike, or horseback, you’re sure to find the pure gems of the Atacama Desert. 

Uncover the intricacies of dwelling Inca historical past and tradition

Removed from being inert stretches of rock and sand, the Atacama Desert is an space plentiful in vitality due to its welcoming ancestral cultures and the oases which might be a supply of life within the driest desert on the earth.

Climb the greater than 4,000 meters excessive of the Andean plateau to find small cities that preserve their customs intact amid excessive eventualities which might be price photographing. Uncover the Pucará de Quitor, a Twelfth-century pre-Incan fort that adheres to a steep slope or the area’s oldest village of Tulor, estimated to have been constructed round 800 B.C.

And naturally there’s San Pedro de Atacama. A vacationers’ hotspot, San Pedro was the cradle of the Atacama individuals, the creators of the San Pedro Tradition, which developed within the space greater than 11,000 years in the past. Previously, it was a sacred place for the Inca Empire because the Incas would perform spiritual ceremonies to worship the solar in the course of the zenith of their energy. Nonetheless immediately, the city is a middle of assorted crafts created in accordance with the individuals’s conventional religion. Handed down from era to era, the locals have expertise in making pottery, wooden engravings, basketry, musical devices, clothes, ornaments, and weaving are among the most stunning artifacts you’ll ever discover.

Even the meals scene is artisan-crafted, with cooks and house owners creating meals from native crops grown solely within the desert to create Andean fusion dishes. From quinoa salads, artisan pizzas, and home made empanadas with distinctive components, to recent juices and smoothies comprised of issues like kiwi and coca leaves, you’ll be pleasantly shocked at each meal. 

Atacama beckons

Nevertheless you select to spend your time whereas within the Atacama Desert, will probably be each momentous and memorable all on the identical time. The pure energy of the weather makes Atacama an excellent place for meditation. The placing silence and the nice and cozy desert breezes provide mystical solutions to your deepest questions. Added to that is the huge vacancy that enables your thoughts to re-order its ideas and convey peace to an in any other case overly intense life. The extremely clear evening skies will let you comprehend your tiny a part of the immense universe. Pondering infinity is humbling and good for the soul. Sense the isolation, marvel and magic that fill the air whereas in these high-Andean plains, one thing which may solely be skilled first-hand!

Alfonso Tandazo

Alfonso Tandazo is President and CEO at Surtrek Tour Operator. Surtrek Tour Operator is a well-established agency, specializing in custom-designed luxurious excursions in Ecuador, the Galapagos and all through the remainder of South America. If you want to be a visitor blogger on A Luxurious Journey Weblog so as to elevate your profile, please contact us.