South America 1. San Pedro de Atacama
A quaint Chilean town in the Atacama Desert, San Pedro de Atacama is populated by mudbrick buildings no taller than two stories. Steaming geysers, massive salt flats, and otherworldly rock formations can be found less than two hours away from San Pedro.
Upon reaching San Pedro, the imposing Licancabur Volcano, towering over the town at 5900m, immediately dominates the view. In the late afternoon, the town radiates a warm hue, the result of the setting sun casting its glow on adobe buildings and the surrounding Atacama Desert. As night falls, the blush across the town gives way to the thousands of stars which completely consume the landscape.
The most popular attractions around San Pedro de Atacama are the surreal and otherworldly landscapes in the Atacama Desert, most of which are found within Los Flamencos National Reserve. The natural destinations around San Pedro de Atacama are best visited with tours organised by local agencies, removing the trouble of planning transport to and from remote locations. I recommend exploring the available options in town when you arrive at San Pedro de Atacama. This is cheaper and more flexible than booking in advance. One particular exception is the stargazing tour organised by Time Travel Atacama, which I would recommend reserving prior to your arrival. The two tours were organised by Terra Extreme, a travel agency which I can recommend as being safe and professional.
El Tatio Geyser Tour: The tour began with a hotel pick-up at 4:30 a.m. by a small coach, which brought me directly to El Tatio in two hours over bumpy desert roads. El Tatio is a geyser field comprising up to 80 geysers and is the largest of its kind in the Southern hemisphere. Arriving at the geyser field before dawn had broken, the scant headlights were the only source of illumination. However, as the sky brightened amid the biting desert cold, shades of pink and gold were cast across the sky. A basic breakfast was provided at the geyser field as the sun rose over the impressive Andes, accompanied by twittering yellow-breasted birds, plump from years of tourists’ breakfast scraps.
Geysers form when underground reservoirs of water are heated by magma, generating steam; once the pressure builds up sufficiently, the steam escapes through fissures in the earth, leading to periodic release of fumes from the mantle. If you are lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of a large geyser splutter. Rising plumes of steam were most visible in the icy morning air, when the early morning sunlight would bounce off the floating tufts of cotton candy.
It is lamentable that while these and other geysers represent promising opportunities to harness geothermal energy, repeated attempts to prospect geothermal sites have failed, and many projects have since been abandoned. As a result, at present, only trivial amounts of electricity is generated through geothermal sources in Chile.
We continued along the geyser field as the sun bathed the surrounding Andes in a warm glow, eventually reaching an empty hot spring. After being repeatedly prompted to go for a swim, I decided to strip down and jump in. Hopping into the naturally heated pool was the perfect way to get toasty after a cold morning, but believe me when I say that leaving the pool for the cold air was not the most pleasant experience!
Along the way back to San Pedro, the coach stopped at a lookout, or mirador, of the Putana Volcano, passing by crumbling mining outposts. The name of the Putana Volcano – which literally means “whore” in Spanish – may allude to when prostitutes would visit primitive outposts to accompany miners. Historically, the desert’s rich mineral and saltpetre deposits were heavily exploited by mining companies. In fact, the border dispute over these resources led to the War of the Pacific between Chile and Bolivia, and all Bolivian access to the Pacific Ocean was removed with Chilean victory. With the advent of synthetic nitrate and cheaper mining operations elsewhere, many mines have now been abandoned. Nonetheless, some mining operations are still underway; indeed, the famous Chilean miner incident in 2010 took place in a mine under the Atacama Desert.
The group had another brief stop at Machuca, a small, self-subsistent village entrenched in the miners’ era. A man by the side of the road was grilling llama skewers, with the smoky fragrance and tantalising hiss of cooking meat attracting hordes of tourists. Some of us took the opportunity to try llama meat, which was much leaner and gamier than beef and somewhat similar to venison. For the llama-loving folk among us, the village also presented photo opportunities with a baby llama, who was all too keen to slurp milk from a plastic bottle.
The roles of llamas and alpacas are diverse in Andean communities. Having diverged from a common ancestor with the undomesticated vicuña, llamas are sociable and are friendly around humans. Pre-Incan cultures placed a huge significance on llamas, as archaeological evidence has demonstrated their central role in offerings and sacrifices. As tribes were assimilated into the Incan Empire, the requirement for the llama as a beast of burden increased. Its ability to navigate the steep slopes of the Andes made the animal particularly important for transporting goods to and from different parts of the Empire. Even during the Spanish conquest, llamas were tamed to carry ores from mines high in the mountains. Furthermore, the wool of llamas and alpacas is famously fine, and is often used for clothing and garments, even to this day.
Finally, we were on our way back to San Pedro, but not before occasional stops for an explanation of the local fauna, which include the vicuña, the undomesticated relative of the llama, and the viscacha, a shy, chinchilla-like small mammal. In the arid Atacama Desert, very few species of flora and fauna thrive; those which persist despite the dry climate have extraordinary adaptations to the near-complete absence of rainfall.
Laguna Cejar/Ojos del Salar Tour: The day’s second tour brought us to the northern edges of the Atacama salt flats. The first stop was Laguna Cejar, which provides the chance to bathe in a frigid lagoon with a salt content rivalling that of the Dead Sea.
The tour then continued on to Ojos del Salar (Eyes of the Salt Flat), two perfectly circular bodies of water which give rise to their unique name. Unlike Laguna Cejar, the Ojos are freshwater lagoons, and were it not winter, there would likely be people swimming in the cratered lakes. Their remarkable stillness gives rise to reflections of the surrounding Andes for incredible photo opportunities. It remains a mystery as to why they are so perfectly circular and how they came about. It is thought that the lakes are connected to and replenished by underground streams, but the exact extent of the network of subterranean rivers is still unmapped.
The tour ended on the shores of Laguna Tebenquiche, a remarkably azure lagoon. During the wet season, this lagoon becomes the home of flamingos and native birds; alas, during our visit, the lagoon was partially dried up, rendering it inhabitable. Standing at the edge of the lake against the backdrop of a vermillion sunset, we were treated to a generous helping of Pisco Sour, a classic South American cocktail akin to Sours, before returning to San Pedro.
We spent the following morning in San Pedro de Atacama. Truly a traveller’s town, San Pedro de Atacama serves as an opportunity for last-minute purchases of warm clothing, accessories, and snacks. The laid-back town is unassuming and can be thoroughly covered in half a day. The town centre consists mainly of the tree-lined Plaza de Armas, leading down the two main roads, flanked by tour agencies, shops, and restaurants. Many international brands, even Patagonia, have percolated through the city centre.
The square is adjacent to the Church of San Pedro de Atacama. Built from adobe, the mud-like building material traditionally used in San Pedro, the church is small but elegant; reportedly, it is the second oldest church in Chile. Oddly enough, in most pictures and postcards, the church of San Pedro de Atacama is painted white; during our stay, the church reverted to its unpainted, clay-coloured façade, for a reason inexplicable even to locals.
Our lunch was interrupted by rhythmic drumming and chanting outside the restaurant. Coincidentally, we happened upon the Fiesta de San Pedro y San Pablo, commemorating the patron saint of the town. The procession, consisting of old and young alike dressed in colourful, traditional robes, ambulated down the main street. Amid chants of “Viva San Pedro!” led by a woman atop a slow-moving jeep with a loudspeaker, the crowd carried floats of the patron saint down the street.
Stargazing Tour: Our final night in San Pedro de Atacama was spent outdoors stargazing. Far too often, our view of the night sky is corrupted by light pollution; those of us who live in big cities may be lucky to see more than a few stars. Away from the light pollution in San Pedro, the dry and unpolluted Atacama Desert offers an unrivalled view of the night sky. It is little wonder that so many top-tier observatories and telescopes are set up in the Atacama Desert.
We were lucky to have enough people to form a private group, and as such, our host Rodrigo combined aspects of stargazing and astrophotography in the three-hour experience. Rodrigo picked us up at our hotel at around 10 p.m. and drove to a small cottage half an hour away from the town centre. He poured us tumblers of hot chocolate, led us outside into the whipping winds as we huddled in the warm safety of fleece blankets, and switched off the lights.
The view that awaited us was truly beyond description. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, flecks of blue and red consumed our field of view. A silver streak of stars – the Milky Way (our galaxy!) – banded across the sky.Thankfully, we were graced with ideal stargazing conditions; the sky was clear and crisp, and there was no full moon. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, our photos barely do the experience justice.
From an astounding morass of stars, we picked out the Southern Cross, the orange speck that is Mars, shooting stars flitting across the sky.
The experience was one of the most memorable of our trip, and the serenity of the night sky was only improved by the knowledge and enthusiasm of Rodrigo. There is no excuse not to join a stargazing tour when you are in the region; I guarantee that the experience you have will be as unforgettable as ours.
The night sky gave us the perfect send-off from the Atacama region and San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro is truly the travellers’ gateway to fantastically surreal landscapes. While perhaps inauthentic to Chile, the charming and laid-back town is a massive departure from any typical Western town and gives us a tantalising glimpse at life in the Atacama Desert. Partially acclimatised to the higher altitude, we venture higher into the Andes, towards the famous Salar de Uyuni.
With more time…
We had planned to visit Valle de la Luna in the afternoon on the second day. We had booked the tour in advance via Viator, but our promised pickup did not appear at the agreed time. While the tour agency agreed to refund our trip, it was too late for us to join another group. Book your tours as you arrive in San Pedro de Atacama to avoid disappointment! Before handing over money to a tour agency, be sure to do your own research, or ask some locals and the hosts at your hotel. Most are happy to give advice regarding tour agencies.
There are numerous other attractions in the area. For good day-hikes, opt for Kari Gorge or the nearby Sairecabur Volcano; for otherworldly rock formations, visit Valle de la Luna or Valle de la Muerte. Also look into visiting the highly mineralised Puritama Hot Springs or the Atacama Salt Flats. Some of the headline attractions can be reached by bicycle, but be sure to return to San Pedro before dark.
