Chile’s Mysterious Atacama

One of the world’s great deserts — and considered the driest place on planet Earth — the Atacama dominates the northern end of Chile. But it’s no ordinary desert: snowcapped volcanoes, endless beaches, flamingo-filled lakes, and old Spanish colonial towns are also part of the Atacama mix.

Chile Concept is poised to create your perfect Atacama adventure, a journey that includes natural landmarks like the Tatio Geysers, Valley of the Moon, the massive La Portada search near Antofagasta, and multicolored altiplano lagoons that seem like somewhere on another planet rather than part of this world.

And new things are being discovered all the time. Like of silicate glass rocks that probably occurred when a comet exploded on entering the Earth’s atmosphere and littered the Atacama with thousands of fiery fragments, which turned clumps of sand into stones. Or the recently discovered remains of a young Arackar licanantay, a previously unknown sauropod that may have been one of the largest dinosaurs ever to roam the planet.

While Mother Nature has certainly helped shape the Atacama, mankind has also left its mark on the desert through Hand of the Desert statue in the middle of nowhere, mining ghost towns, pre-Inca ruins, some of the world’s most advanced astronomical observatories, and the town of San Pedro de Atacama with its charming cafes and boutique hotels.

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