The fact that Chile is home to the driest desert in the world as well as areas where it rains and snows all year round proves once again just how long this country really is. The Atacama Desert is one of the most extreme and harshest regions on earth. Some parts have never seen rain. But if you have an image of sand dunes in your head, you are mistaken. In fact, this region is not only home to an abundance of flora and fauna, but also swimming spots and snow-capped volcanoes. And the extensive landscapes are particularly fascinating. Dimensions that I, as a European, could hardly have imagined before.
The Arrival
If you are planning a trip to the Atacama Desert, the classic starting point for most tours is San Pedro de Atacama. The small town is located in the middle of the desert and the main attractions are easily accessible from here. So, a fellow student and I booked a flight to Calama, from where it takes about an hour by bus to reach San Pedro.
Well, it wasn’t quite that easy though, especially as we were travelling on a tight budget as usual. My friend and I flew from Santiago to Calama in the evening on the second peak day of the „Fiestas Patrias“ independence celebrations. However, as the last buses to San Pedro leave at around six o’clock, we had to spend another night at the airport. By now, this had become the norm. What we wouldn’t have thought: Not even airports in Chile are an exception to the celebrations taking place throughout the entire country.
The airport in Calama is a super small regional airport that has only one restaurant and one café. And in this café there was a party that night. With loud music and a murmur of voices, plus the freezing cold in the whole building, it wasn’t the best place to rest. Nevertheless, we somehow made it through the night (we didn’t join in the party) and took an Uber to the bus stop in the city centre early in the morning. And then the big trip could finally start.
The Tours
San Pedro de Atacama is more of a village and not really worth exploring in itself. The only special thing about the town is a single street where you can find everything. This main street is packed with tour providers, one office after another. Easily around fifty in total. In between you will find a few souvenir markets with lots of alpaca fur clothing, some shops and restaurants.
The good thing is that you don’t actually have to plan too much in advance for your trip to the Atacama Desert. Just go to one of the offices, ask for advice and put together your own personalised trip. The sales staff will list all the options for you and then you can decide what you want to do and when. Depending on how many people you are travelling with, it can also pay off to hire a car and explore the desert on your own. However, travelling with a knowledgeable guide who will reveal the geographical and historical secrets of the place has its advantages.
The Accommodation
As the main starting point for desert excursions, San Pedro obviously also offers numerous accommodation options for every budget. These include luxury 5-star hotels, hostels and AirBnBs, as in our case. The Pousada Mabel is located on the outskirts of the city. However, you can reach the centre (i.e. the aforementioned tourist street) within a fifteen-minute walk. And behind the accommodation you will find exactly nothing. On my first day, I went out for a walk on my own and was surrounded by complete silence probably for the first time in my life. No cars, no people, no construction work, no birds chirping, simply nothing at all. The two of us stayed in a small bungalow with its own bathroom, which was really nicely furnished and equipped with a communal kitchen.
Day 1:
After booking our tour package in the afternoon, we set off on our first desert adventure in the evening. Atacama is not only known for its beautiful landscape, but is also an important site for astronomical observations. This is why there are numerous observatories here. The clear air and low light pollution provide ideal conditions for stargazing. So, we travelled a bit out of the city and got a little introduction to the world of stars. And as my friend and I were the only non-native Spanish speakers, we even got a private tour in English. We were able to observe different types of stars or stars with different lifetimes, as well as planets. But the most fascinating thing was that we could even see the Milky Way with the naked eye!
Afterwards, we were also allowed to take a closer look at the moon and Saturn through a telescope. Finally, we took some cool photos with a special camera in which you can even see the Milky Way. Here you can see the result:
Preparation is Everything
It can get quite hot in the desert at daytime and you should always make sure you wear adequate sun protection, as the UV index is very high. In the evening, however, it cools down quickly and it can become really uncomfortable. That’s why you should bring enough warm clothing with you, including a hat and gloves. A sexy onion look is the way to go.
This enormous cold is the result of the clear air in the desert, but also of the extreme altitude. San Pedro de Atacama is already 2,400 metres above sea level and some attractions are located at over 4,000 m. Even if you come from the Austrian mountain region, this should not be underestimated. After all, our highest mountain is only just under 3,700 metres high. So if you know that you are sensitive to altitude sickness, you’d better prepare in advance and equip yourself with pills, for example. For me, I just realised that everything is much more strenuous at this altitude and I was a bit short of breath. Small inclines can feel like you’re hiking up a steep mountain. I also experienced slight nosebleeds, but nothing more.
So, your trip to the Atacama Desert will not be a relaxing holiday. Plus, pretty much all morning tours start extremely early, well before sunrise. Fortunately, the bus always picks you up from your accommodation in the morning, but it can be around four or five o’clock. Not without reason, of course. The drive to the sights is often long, even if San Pedro is very centrally located. Often distances of up to two hours have to be travelled. On these morning excursions, the onion look is even more recommendable. At the beginning of the day trips, it is usually still cold to icy. I’m talking about temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius. By lunchtime, however, it can already be around thirty degrees.
Day 2:
The morning of the second day we travelled to the Valle del Arcoiris, which translates to Rainbow Valley. As the name suggests, you can find different types of rock there that form colourful rock formations reminiscent of a rainbow. Before the guided tours through the landscape, however, we always enjoyed a delicious outdoor breakfast buffet with avocado, baguette, cocoa and desert views.
Of course, our first contact with the desert was already very impressive. Apart from the interesting rock formations, we also discovered numerous wall and cave paintings. Many of them depicted different animals or other scenes.
We also spotted our first llama during the journey.
Brief explanation: Llamas actually belong to the camel species. There are four different varieties in Chile: llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos, although guanacos are more common in Argentina. In South America, it is also not unusual for these sugar-sweet animals to be found on the food menu ( which makes my vegetarian heart bleed). In Chile, however, only llamas end up on the grill. Alpacas are used as a source of wool. Vicuñas and guanacos are bigger, stronger and faster than the other two. They are protected in this country and are not used as livestock.
Before heading back to San Pedro at lunchtime, we made a short stop at the three praying Marys, another interesting rock formation.
The next program point was already on the agenda for the afternoon. We travelled to the nearby Valle de la Luna – Moon Valley. The name comes from the similarity to the landscape on the moon.
After our moon walk, we had an afternoon snack with Pisco Sour and then headed to the last attraction of the day.
From a beautiful lookout point, we had a great view of the desert and a spectacular sunset. A perfect place for a romantic date and, as you can see, loads of great photo spots 🙂
In the evening, we met up for dinner with other fellow students who happened to be in San Pedro at the same time. I tried vegetarian pastel de choclo for the first time at La Casona (more on this dish in my article on the Chilean cuisine). The food was good and the ambience was great. There is a small stage at the restaurant where live music is played regularly. However, we didn’t stay out too late as we had to get up early again the next day.
Day 3:
The third day was supposed to start even earlier. Today, the Gêiser del Tatio was on the program. As you can’t see geysers very well in daylight and the journey took over an hour, we had to set off very early before sunrise. This was also one of the chilliest tours. Truly icy. But extremely interesting and fascinating to watch. There were also a few hot spots where you could warm up. With the first rays of sunshine, however, you could quickly get rid of your top layer of clothing. This was followed by another rich breakfast.
On this day we were travelling with a guide who would also be accompanying us again the next day. Because of him, I would highly recommend the travel agency at which we bought our package. I hope he is still there. Unfortunately, I can’t remember his name, but he was a slightly older gentleman who walked around with a walking stick. He had previously worked in some kind of office job in Santiago. At some point, however, he realised that he wasn’t happy there and since then he has been working as a freelancer in the Atacama Desert, giving the most interesting tours. I was extremely fascinated by how much he knew. He had an answer to every question.
After the geysers, we travelled on to our next destination. In the middle of the desert is a tiny village called Machuca with very few houses, where indigenous people used to live. Today it serves purely as a tourist attraction. Particularly worth seeing is a cute little church.
And if you’ve already read my post on Chilean gastronomy, you may remember that you can find the best empanada in the Atacama Desert. Right here in this village, I tried a deep-fried empanada with goat’s cheese. My gastronomic highlight in Chile. You also had the option of trying llama meat here.
On the way back to San Pedro, we saw flamingos for the first time. The Atacama Desert is probably one of the best places in South America to observe flamingos in the wild. There are several salt flats here where the animals feel especially at home. We also made a short stop as we discovered the second camel species. The vicuñas.
In the afternoon, there was another really cool excursion ahead of us. We went to Laguna Cejar, a salt lake with a higher salt content than the Dead Sea. And if you’ve ever heard of the Dead Sea, then you probably know that the high salt content makes it possible to literally float on the water. And that’s exactly why we were here, to experience this effect first-hand. Although the water was quite cold and there was salt all over us afterwards, it was a very unique experience.
Day 4:
Once again, we set off early on our last day. With the same tour guide as the day before, we headed towards Piedras Rojas. We made a stopover for breakfast and to visit a small valley.
As the name Piedras Rojas suggests, red stones can be found here. These are volcanic rocks that have turned red due to the oxidation of the iron present at the site. There are numerous volcanoes in the Atacama Desert. There is also a large lagoon here, but you are not allowed to swim in this one.
On our onward journey along the Ruta del Desierto, the desert route, we passed Trópico de Capricornio, the southern tropic. This is said to be the driest place in the Atacama Desert and therefore in the whole wide world.
After taking a few cool photos there, we continued on to the Salar de Atacama, where we visited another oasis, Laguna Chaxa. This salt lagoon is home to many flamingos and is therefore a popular tourist attraction. Here you can also find out why flamingos are pink in colour.
That was our last trip to the desert. Back in San Pedro, we had a delicious lunch with a starter and main course.
It is also highly recommendable to try Chilean ice cream in San Pedro. The gelato here is not only delicious, as it is almost everywhere in the country, but you can also find some very unusual flavours. Pisco sour, quinoa with milk, algarrobo (carob) and coca leaf are just a few of them.
Day 5:
Unfortunately, today we already had to say goodbye to the desert, this unique landscape and all the animals. A spectacular trip came to an end. We travelled back to Calama by bus in the morning. However, as we still had time, we watched a movie in the cinema before leaving. This somehow became a tradition between my colleague and me. And as our Spanish wasn’t that good yet, we decided on a horror film. In this case, you can usually follow the storyline even if you don’t understand everything that’s being said. Or you can just read the summary of the plot on Wikipedia afterwards 😉 Then we headed to the airport and back „home“.
My Conclusion
If I couldn’t convince you through my stories and especially the photos that Atacama Desert is definitely worth a visit, then I don’t know what will.
Anyone planning a trip to Chile should definitely not miss out on a visit to Atacama Desert. No matter what type of traveller you are and where your interests lie. Because this place is simply fascinating. I’ve travelled through half of South America and visited many impressive destinations. But when I look at pictures and videos of our desert excursions, I have to admit to myself every time that other experiences can hardly compete with this one.
Of course, there are many factors involved in such a personal evaluation. As already mentioned, I was more than happy with the travel agency with which we booked our package. These packages are not very cheap, but I think it’s totally worth it. First of all, everything is included, from transport to food with daily breakfast, afternoon snacks and lunch on the last day. You also benefit enormously from the expert knowledge of the guides. And in general, I really enjoy travelling with tours as it’s always a great way to meet new people from different countries. On this tour, for example, I was able to get tips for my trip to Argentina, Peru and Colombia.
This adventure was also different from others insofar as I wasn’t travelling alone this time. Even though, as most people know, I love my solo trips, travelling together was also great. Especially when you have such a great travel companion 🙂
In my next post, I’ll be taking you on another trip to a new country. Are you excited? Until then,
Bussi Baba!
Bussi Baba 
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