Frequently heard question, “where to go when travelling in Chile”? It’s a long, narrow, diverse country. 4,300 km (2,670 mi) north to south, but only 350 km (217 mi) at its widest point east to west and 64 km (40 mi) at its narrowest point. Along with the famous Patagonia region of the south, wine country and the capital city of Santiago in the middle, there is also a northern desert, the Atacama, which after the north and south poles, is the driest place on earth. The vastness and sparseness of the Atacama are overwhelming. Let’s explore a bit:

What on earth is the attraction?

The desert area is extremely remote! Located over 1200 km north of Santiago, the best way to get there is by flying to the city of Calama. Flights are frequent. The city is a gateway to the Atacama but, honestly, it’s quite bland and lacking character. It is not the main attraction! This area of Chile is a mining hub. It’s fascinating to see the constant flow of miners and mining industry equipment in and out of the region.

Nature at its finest

On the other hand, for nature enthusiasts who flock to this area, the town of San Pedro de Atacama is where most people venture to. San Pedro is a 1.5 hour drive from Calama and its altitude is about 2.5 km or 8,000 ft above sea level. In order to have flexibility during our stay we rented a car but it seems many people take one of the frequent buses to travel to San Pedro.

This town is unique! It’s a desert town, kind of a throwback to years gone by with the feeling of having walked into a dusty old cowboy town full of outdoor enthusiasts, tourists, artisans and a few left over hippies!

San Pedro has many dirt streets (and they are dusty!) with a few cobblestone roads in the newer areas, many craft shops and markets selling much of the same handicrafts as one would find in other areas of the Andes (Peru, Ecuador, etc). There’s a plethora of tour operators offering excursion to the area’s main attractions and a variety of restaurant choices and expansive selections of hostels and guest houses. Don’t expect luxury, you’re really in the middle of nowhere!

Jaw-dropping activities

The region is known for its surreal landscapes and majestic skies creating out of this world astronomical viewing opportunities. It appears most tour operators in San Pedro offer similar daily tours. The most popular seem to be to Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), El Tatio Geysers, Stargazing night tours, Puritama Hot Springs and visits to the many Salt Flats with pink flamingos.

Having our own rental vehicle allowed us to be a bit creative and do our own thing. With that, however, came some learning! Roads are not always great in the desert (that’s an understatement) and opening hours for some regions and attractions are quite restricted.

Valley of the Moon

If you, like me, ever dreamed of visiting the moon, this just might be the best opportunity for us normal folks to realize our lunar adventure. It’s awesome!

Located only about a 10 minute drive from San Pedro, it’s very accessible. There were even a number of people we saw along the way who’d rented bikes to get there.

BEWARE: Although the entrance to the park itself is relatively nearby, the region is enormous! Getting from area to area requires driving (or riding, if you dare) on very rough roads for many kilometres. The cyclists we encountered were often pushing their bikes up the steep, gravel hillsides looking parched, dusty and not at all happy.

Experience the park

Once in the park (confirm opening hours, we were turned away once) you will be clearly directed to the various parking areas from where you then launch your chosen hiking routes. The routes are quite well marked but the distances are slightly unclear. We encountered a number of people wearing flimsy footwear that must have been making their walks torcherous. The sun beats down hard and the distances can be quite extensive. Be sure to plan your hikes according to your personal ability.

If you choose to walk the full loops in each region, you’re sure to be handsomely rewarded! Let these photos do the talking:

El Tatio Geyser Field

This was an unexpected highlight and adventure! Let’s set the stage……

Visiting the Geysers del Tatio (Tatio Geysers) while in the Atacama is a must. Located a hefty 89km from San Pedro de Atacama, this is the highest geyser field on the planet at over 14,000 feet (4,000m) above sea level and the largest geyser field in Latin America. What a unique offering spectacle in the Chilean desert! The best time to see the steam rising from the geysers is at dawn, when the air is cold enough for the steam to erupt in giant plumes.

Getting there

Each day, at absurdly early hours, you will see numerous tour buses and private cars heading north towards the geysers, which reach their peak gushing activity between 5:30am and 7:30am. If you choose to drive yourself, as we did, be prepared for miles and miles of rough road in the pitch dark. Take your time, follow other vehicles, and watch for pot holes!

Once there, the process is very straight forward and well organized. The views on the plateau are surreal. Be sure to pay attention to the eventual sunrise from behind the Andes mountains, you will be awestruck!

TIP: No matter how hot the day may be in San Pedro, the geysers are located HIGH in the Andes, it gets cold! Take as many layers as you have, you’ll need them!

On the return drive to San Pedro you may want to schedule a visit to the healing waters of the Puritan Hot Springs.

TIP: The number of daily visitors to the hot springs is limited and you need to book your visit at least one day ahead. Unfortunately, we tried to book too late and there were no morning time slots available. If this is something you really want to do, book ahead!

Our return drive, however, was back to Calama. This route took us over the Andes and “down” to Calama. The drive was remote and spectacular. Excellent roads led us to Calama and along the way we encountered incredibly serene wildlife and an authentic mountain village for morning coffee. Bear in mind, a “cafe” as we might have hoped for was actually a village resident’s home with a small tienda (shop) out front and a cup of instant Nescafe coffee served to us on her front porch. What a delightful treat, it was amazing!

Just Drive!

Exploring the local countryside is something we often enjoy. Using San Pedro, then Calama, as a base, we decided to spend a day driving towards the coast. To our amazement, the highways through the desert were fantastic! This appears to be due to infrastructure development by the numerous mines located throughout the Atacama region.

In fact, as we explored just outside the city of Calama we encountered an enormous facility which turned out to be the largest open pit copper mine in the world in terms of excavated volume! Chuquicamata (referred to as Chuqui for short) was previously part of Anaconda Copper and is now owned and operated by a Chilean state enterprise, following the nationalization of copper in the late 1960’s. What an operation, even from quite a distance the view was striking. This certainly helped explain the existence of a well-run airport and the existence of the city of Calama in the middle of the desert!

Our drive to the coast also took us through semi-deserted mining towns in the middle of nowhere. Another throwback to times gone by. It was very surreal to experience the harsh life for the remaining inhabitants in these dusty, remote towns.

The Atacama is absolutely unique. If you have the time (3-4 days is plenty) to travel to the desert, do it! Discover the attraction and appreciate this planet, you won’t be disappointed.

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