Welcome to Atacama, The Driest Desert on Earth

Wow! 4 nights, 7 excursions, 3 different mountain ranges, and countless different landscapes, I am so inspired by the incredible destination of the Atacama Desert. I can't say enough about the management, staff, and guides at explora Atacama who played such a great role in making our experience here memorable.

I flew overnight from the US to Santiago... 10 hours from NYC or 8 hours from Miami but the same time zone as the East Coast makes it an easy trip. No jet lag! A quick connection to Calama and an hour drive to San Pedro de Atacama and we arrived at explora in time for lunch and excited to get exploring.

San Pedro de Atacama is in the valley under the famous Linkancabur volcano and in between three mountain ranges... Sal, Domeyko, and the Andes. Bolivia is just across the Andes on the other side of the volcano. It is the driest desert in the world; moisture from the jungles of central South America can't make it over the Andes and moisture from the Pacific can't make it over the other mountain ranges. The minerals that make up the mountains and landscape of the desert (especially salt) are so soft and soluble that the landscapes are so varied as they've been affected by wind and rain.

The first afternoon we went out with our guides Camilla and Juanjo into Death Valley for a hike... not too strenuous to get acclimated, but an amazing intro to the destination... I couldn't tell if we were still on earth or the moon or Mars!! The photos do not do justice but I can't put it into words either. We stopped at the top of a huge sand dune almost 90 degrees down... it reminded me of the sand dunes of Peru's California desert where I did the 4 wheel off road vehicle excursion. But we had no vehicle here... how are we getting off this dune?  We are running down?? We let our inhibitions fly away in the (strong!) wind and felt like little kids running down the huge sand dunes!

Back at explora we had dinner at the quincho (BBQ) with different meats over the fire while traditional Atacameno dancers performed.

The next morning we met our guides Andres and Pistu for horseback riding. Andres is a rodeo champion who competes around Chile and internationally so we were in the best hands. Those of us with little experience took a leisurely ride through the stunning red rock valley while those with more experience were able to cantor or gallop. The guides at explora are so accommodating of all levels on each excursion so that everyone feels comfortable and is able to take advantage of the full experience.  The horses are all well tempered and you can tell well taken care of. Explora is the only lodge in Atacama with its own horses and stables.

In the afternoon the group split up to different excursions and I went with Carolina on a hike called Kari. This is a protected area and only 6 hikers are allowed at a time, and due to the weather, it is usually only open once or twice a year. Only explora and Alto Atacama have access to this hike and it was a highlight.  We started in the Moon Valley and the unbelievable view is self explanatory! Then we hiked into Kari, incredible canyons shaped out of the salt. If you stand in silence at sundown you can hear the salt and quartz crackling as they expand with the temperature change... literally hearing the landscape growing and changing, feeling the earth alive. You can lick the salt right off the walls and see it bubbling up from the ground where the water has evaporated so quickly it leaves the salt behind.

Salt!

Our guide Carolina is from a town not far from San Pedro with only 30 inhabitants.  She said many of the towns like that are disappearing as the young people leave for higher paying mining jobs in Calama. They are trying to educate the young people in their environment to encourage them to stay and maintain the traditional agrarian lifestyle or become local guides.

After dinner on Day 2 we followed our guide Alex to the telescope on explora property.  Explora Atacama owns the largest telescope that is available for purchase by lay people (non science institution). Since there is such low moisture in the Atacama Desert (therefore no clouds) and little light pollution since it is so remote, it is the perfect place for stargazing.  All of us from cities in the Northern Hemisphere were amazed to take in the clear Southern sky freckled with stars. We saw the Milky Way, the Southern Cross, and with the help of the telescope we could see the rings of Saturn!!