In the north of Chile, where the country touches the borders of Peru and Bolivia, begins an expanse of desert that stretches south toward the middle of the country. It runs approximately 1,000 miles from top to bottom and covers 41,000 square miles in all.
The Atacama Desert is considered one of the driest places on earth.
It rains here less than a half an inch a year and scientists believe there have been periods of hundreds of years in which there was no rain at all. It is so dry because of the prevailing winds and because the desert is protected from storm fronts by two mountain ranges. The Andes to the east and the Chilean range to the west.
In these harsh conditions the wind and sun have combined over millions of years to create unusual formations of sand, rock, salt, crystal and in some places water and plant life.
There is very little wildlife in the Atacama Desert, but rich mineral deposits have always attracted mining operations. So along the Pacific coast and in a few interior locations there are towns supporting small populations and tourism.
One of those towns is San Pedro de Atacama where I stayed for close to a week as I explored the various environments of the desert. The center of the town covers about ten square blocks. It comes to life around ten each morning with tourists booking treks, biking expeditions, sand boarding, and trips across the border into Bolivia. Shop keepers begin each day sweeping away the sand that accumulates on the sidewalks over night.
The architecture is mainly limited to one story adobe or cinder block buildings. You would think that in a place like this residents would welcome rain once in a while, but in fact any heavy rain can turn many of the town's buildings and homes into mud and straw.
Although the desert is dry the temperature was in the mid-80sF while I was there in January; summer in the southern hemisphere.
The desert itself is always changing. The wind blows the sands into giant dunes and wears away slowly at the rock changing its shape, color and consistency. Park rangers must constantly maintain roads and trails to prevent them from being erased by drifts of sand.
The colors of the desert change regularly. From brown sand, to white salt flats and marshes, greenish blue salt lagoons and the Mars like red of an area known as Death Valley.
Another portion of the desert is known as the Valley of the Moon or Valle de la Luna in Spanish. Both locations are so other worldly they have been used as sets for science fiction movies and as testing locations for NASA.
There are a number of oases in the desert and salt lakes that support some plant and animal life. Mostly birds. In the rare event of a strong rain storm the desert floor can come alive with flower blooms for a few days. The last time it happened was in February of 2019.
To get to the Atacama Desert - and San Pedro specifically - most people fly into the town of Calama from Santiago, or from airports in Peru, Bolivia or Argentina.
In recent years the town has seen an increase in construction, an increase in the numbers of hotels and restaurants, and an increase in tourism. The expansion is a challenge in a place without much water, but the tourist industry is attempting to make environmental stewardship part of San Pedro's appeal. Part of the reason you would visit.
If you go to San Pedro de Atacama I would recommend spending at least three days so that you can enjoy the town itself and take several guided or un-guided trips into the desert. Most desert excursions are scheduled to take three to five hours.
Make sure you have water at all times and understand that this is one of the few places on earth where you may not always have cell phone coverage (but surprisingly, usually you do).
© Dean Pagani 2020
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© Dean Pagani 2020