San Pedro de Atacama in Chile

Atacama desert is known as one of the driest places on earth. Situated in the northern part of Chile bordering Peru and Bolivia, it extends for nearly 1000 km long. Just to give some impression on level of dryness in Atacama, some weather stations have not recorded any rainfall till date!! Due to the dry nature, even the mountains as high as 6,000 meters do not have any glaciers.

 

For tourists, the starting point of the trip is the town of San Pedro de Atacama. It takes about a day of travel on bus from Santiago. The nearest airport is Calama, which is 100 km away.

Reaching San Pedro de Atacama

I reached San Pedro from Bolivia side. After the end of 3 day Salar de Uyuni trip, I was dropped at the border where I completed the customs and immigration clearance from Bolivia side. A tourist bus booked by the tour operator took me to the Chilean immigration which was 5 km away from the border. The immigration was super fast but customs was elaborate where they checked each bag for the presence of any plants, fruits or animal products. Forty five minutes later, I was dropped at my hotel in San Pedro de Atacama.

Booking tours

I had about 1.5 days in Atacama. I booked tour of El Tatio geysers and Valle de la luna (Moon valley) through Whipala expedition. They did a very good job. There is no need to book earlier.

El Tatio geysers

The tour to El Tatio geysers starts early at 5:30 in the morning where they picked me up from my hotel. It was dark and I dosed off as the bus climbed up the hills. We were at the El Tatio geysers right at the time of sunrise.

 

There are about 80 geysers situated at 4,320 meters above sea level. The guide mentioned that it is the 3rd largest geo thermal area in the world in terms of the occupied area. The first two spots are in Yellowstone in US and Dolina Geizerov in Russia.

 

It was amazing to the the hot water erupting from the land with lot of gas (Sulphur).

 

While we were watching the geysers, our guide prepared the breakfast for us. It was nice to get some bread and cheese, avacado, juice and hot tea in that cold climate.

Mud geysers

There was an option to dip into the hot springs near the geyser. Since we were not interested in hot springs, the guide took us to the mud geyser. At 4,500 meters it was the highest altitude we reached that day. Mud geyser is similar to normal geyser but the difference is that the mud erupts. Different colour combination of the ground was impressive.

Rio Putana wet lands

We stopped at this wet land where we could see many birds. Some of the prominent birds were Andean Flamingo (with black tail) and Chilean Flamingo (with pink tail).

 

We also saw few Andean rabbits. They were easy to spot but it was difficult to photograph them with wide angle lens. Spotting them was easier as they liked to bask in the sun for long hours!! They have long tail compared to normal rabbits.

 

Anther animal we saw was Vicuna. A close relative of llama, Vicuna is wild and cannot be domesticated. Their wool is supposed to be the finest one after Pasmina. Hunted a lot for their wool earlier, now they are protected. They can mate with the Llamas and their offspring is called Huarizo. But people ensure that it does not happen as Huarizo is sterile and not useful for any activity.

Maphucha village

A small village on the way. It is a designated stop for all tour vehicles for eating llama meat. The church built in 1923 looks nice from outside.

Valle de la luna

The tour starts from 4 PM and lasts till sunset which happens at around 7:20 during October. Moon valley has some impressive views at many places. For about 3 hours the guide took us to different places to see the views.

 

To watch the sunset, we had to climb for about 20 minutes on sand dunes and rocks to reach a high point. A very nice place.

Flop show with bike

On the day of my arrival in San Pedro de Atacama, I decided to rent a bike and visit Mars valley (Valle de la Marte) situated on the outskirts of San Pedro. I was running with high(or over) confidence about my biking skills. But I was not aware that the road from San Pedro climbs up. I could still manage to ride as the bike had gears but the wind was blowing from the opposite direction at very high speed. It made my ride very difficult and at one point of time I could no longer move forward. Breathing became heavy and difficult. I decided to give up and returned to San Perdo.

Few points

• I had only 1.5 days but you can easily spend 4-5 days here as there are many places to visit. Choose places based on your interest and time.
• The best way to see places for solo person is by going on organised tours as most places cannot be reached by public transport.
• San Pedro de Atacama is a dusty place.
• Almost all restaurants had vegetarian options. Estrella Negra is an exclusive vegetarian/vegan restaurant.
• The nearest airport is in Calama, 100 km away. It can be reached in 1 hour 15 mins. Shared transport is available and can be booked from hotel.
• You can also visit Salar de Uyuni from San Pedro de Atacama. Make sure that you have Bolivian visa beforehand.