CHILE: Atacama Desert
Atacama Desert, Chile.
After seeing Santiago and Easter Island in December 2022 and then the highlights of Patagonia, Argentina in January 2023 we decided to dive deeper into Patagonia and Chile. Our second adventure to Chile was another epic trip starting from the south and heading north - and this time my mom and dad came along! We saw a wide variety of things from: the king penguins, beautiful Torres del Paine National Park, the stilt homes in Chiloé Island and Atacama desert.
3 DAYS IN ATACAMA DESERT, CHILE DAY BY DAY
DAY ONE - Land in Atacama Desert
DAY TWO - Horseback ride, hike and petroglyph exploration
DAY THREE - Geysers, cactus hike and thermal spa
09 APR 23 - TRAVEL TO ATACAMA DESERT
After two full days visiting Chiloé island it was on to the next adventure. My dad and Travis flew back to Montevideo and my mom and I flew from Castro to Calama to have a mini girls trip in one of my favorite places, Atacama Desert. I first visited Atacama desert 10 years ago while working on set for the film “The 33” and fell in love with it. With all work and little play, I was excited to get back to explore this unique and beautiful area of Chile.
Located in the north of the country and squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, the Atacama is the driest non-polar desert on the planet, receiving less than 0.6 inches of rain in an entire year. The lack of moisture, unforgiving sun and desert winds have, over millennia, created out-of-this-world landscapes with lunar valleys, high-altitude lagoons, cracked salt flats, and endless horizons.
WHEN TO VISIT ATACAMA DESERT: You can visit Atacama Desert year-round depending on what you want to see and do and if you like warmer or cooler weather. High season is December to February, which is their summer months and an ideal time to visit with daily temperatures at 74° F. Low season is June to August, which is their winter months and much cooler especially at night. However, it’s important to remember that this is a desert and it is located at over 7,900 ft+ so with warm days from the sun, the evenings are usually cool year-round.
DON’T FORGET TO PACK: Two important facts about Atacama Desert - it is a sunny desert so it’s hot but it is also cold at night (a lot of people don’t realize this). Also, majority of the desert is located at high altitudes! With that in mind:
Altitude Sickness Tablets - high altitude can affect people differently (I did surprisingly well considering I notice any change of altitude due to always living at sea level, because I took it super slow and drank a lot of water)
LAYERS! LAYERS! - This should just be a known fact when traveling anywhere. You are always better off having layer. Especially in the desert where the days are warm but the evenings are much colder without the sun.
Sun Lotion - it’s sunny!
Hat - great for protection on hikes
Lip Balm - or my favorite, Aquaphor, as it is the driest desert in the world.
Atacama desert is a huge region that spreads over 40,000 square miles with elevation levels from 344 ft below sea level to 17,600 feet above seal level and there is A LOT to see and do in this area. I am going to focus on where we were, San Pedro de Atacama, which is a small oasis and ancient village with dirt streets and adobe houses. This city is the hub of Atacama tourism and a great place to go for your first visit to Atacama Desert.
HOW MANY DAYS SHOULD YOU SPEND IN SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA?: Four days would be ideal. We had two full days there and wish we had more time to explore different parts of the desert. I love this post on the best things to do while visiting San Pedro de Atacama.
GETTING TO SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA: The closest airport to San Pedro de Atacama is Calama which is a small mining town (don’t be discouraged by the trash everywhere) and it is about a 1.5 hr drive from here to the village of San Pedro de Atacama.
TRANSPORTATION TO SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA: After landing in Calama you can rent a car, take a bus or many hotels and pre-booked tours include transportation from the airport.
EXPLORING THE SURROUNDING AREAS OF SAN PEDRO ATACAMA: You can use a rental car to drive around and see some of the highlights on your own. There are many tourism shops on the main street or you can book tours in advance through Viator.
MONEY AND PAYING FOR THINGS IN SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA: There are a few ATM’s in the pedestrian walking zone of San Pedro de Atacama to withdraw Chilean Pesos. Every store and restaurant accepted credit cards. Some stores offered a slight discount if we bought their product with cash.
DRINKING AND EATING IN SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA: I would stick to bottled water or water provided by your hotel as the water here has a lot of minerals in it. Some people may not be affected by this. It is safe to eat the food, especially if you are at a luxury hotel.
WHERE TO EAT IN SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA: Our hotel provided all the meals, so we did not eat out in the town. However, this blog post has some great recommendations if they are still open post covid. We did have some of the best empanadas ever at Emporio Andino, a corner bakery that I 100/1000 recommend.
WHERE TO STAY IN SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA: This, as usual is all about preference. You can find places through Airbnb and Booking.com or other hotel search engines. San Pedro De Atacama has a small pedestrian friendly walking zone which starts at this corner. There are plenty of low budget hostels and hotels around this area. There are also more luxury style hotels located in and on the outskirts of the town.
WHERE WE STAYED: EXPLORA ATACAMA
Located in the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama, on the beautiful Ayllu de Larache, once inhabited by ancient Atacameño families. San Pedro is a beautiful adobe town surrounded by the desert’s most dramatic features: salt-flats, volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, windswept sand dunes and many others.
As a part of the Explora Hotel chain (like where we stayed in Torres del Paine) every day you pick from a “menu” of activities that is within your comfort level, in order to explore the local area. There are half day AM and PM options and full day options. A guide and driver are provided and most of the excursions are a max of six people. It is such a wonderful way to see as much as possible and choose what excites you the most.
We didn’t have much time to enjoy the nice pool area, but we did take advantage of booking an evening massage through reception, which was just what both our bodies needed after all the traveling and activities.
Don’t miss out on the spectacular views from the rooftop of Explora Atacama if you decide to stay there. We were blown away by how far you could see and the sunsets were beautiful.
10 APR 23 - EXPLORE ATACAMA DESERT
We wanted to make the most of our two days here and see as much as possible without too much physical activity, because my mom has bad knees and I didn’t want to push it with the high altitude. So we spend the morning participating in a two hour horseback ride through the desert. What incredible views of the volcanoes in the distance! Our guide even made sure to get a cute photo of my mom and me together.
After our horseback ride we strolled down to the cute town of San Pedro de Atacama. There is a pedestrian walking area between the adobe homes, which is just so freaking adorable. These streets had tons of stores to buy souvenirs (although most of the things were from Bolivia and Peru!) but they all had that fun South America bright color vibe many love if you are looking for some little gifts to bring home.
There were also tons of little restaurants, bars and tourism shops that had daily excursions you could purchase and even a trip to the famous Bolivia salt flats. This is a great option if you decide to stay in a hostel and do things on your own without a car. We really wanted to visit the inside of the Iglesia San Pedro church, but didn’t have much luck with them being open. Still super cute to see from the outside.
Mentioned in the where to eat section - Mom and I shared an amazing empanada from Emporio Andino, a corner bakery that I 100/1000 recommend. We then went back to our hotel for a little lunch before heading out on our evening adventure.
One of the benefits of traveling closer to the off season in Atacama desert is my mom and I were the only two people on this evening excursion. So we stopped to take some photos of the panoramic views and took some time to observe foxes and guanacos on our way to Valle del Arcoiris. Known as Rainbow Valley because of all the colors in the hillside, the result of mineral deposits left over thousands of years and the wind that has carved interesting shapes, rocky spires, and small canyons into the valley.
After hiking through the valley we adventured to the Yerbas Buenas petroglyphs. This area features hundreds of ancient pre-hispanic petroglyphs of llamas, alpacas and more.
11 APR 23 - EXPLORE ATACAMA DESERT
Today was a full day of driving and seeing as much as possible with a tour guide from Explora Atacama. We got up early in order to see the steam at the Geisers del Tatio. Along the way we saw tons of wildlife in the marsh land including: birds, pink flamingos and vicuñas.
Chile is known as the land of volcanoes! You can really get a grasp of this in the wide open space of Atacama desert where you are surrounded by many different volcanoes. One advantage of getting up early is the air is still cold and therefore you can see the steam coming off the top of some of the volcanoes on the drive to the geysers.
Geisers del Tatio are located at 14,000 feet above sea level and is the third largest geyser field in the world, being the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Mom and I brought some trekking poles for extra comfort of balance in the high altitude as we didn’t want to fall into any geysers!
After strolling around the geysers we got back in the car and drove to Cactus Canyon. Here we did a short hike to a waterfall. Along the way the giant cacti reached to the sky and surrounded our walking path.
We wrapped up the day with a lunch and relaxing time in some natural thermal spas at Puritama. Explora hotel has access to drive up to a private spa for hotel members only. It is also open to the public, but you need to make a reservation and walk down a long dirt road to access the other eight pools.
We felt so VIP! Its water has a significant concentration of minerals, including calcium, magnesium, sodium and boron, all revitalizing elements for the body and mind. It was a great way to unwind after our mini hike.
When we returned to the hotel in late afternoon we had a drink at the bar and then dinner before heading out for a star exploration evening. This was offered at the hotel, only a two minute walk to a small observation platform and we could see the milky way. We learned all about the stars in the southern hemisphere and looked at many through a telescope. Atacama Desert is one of the best places in the world to see the stars. Wow!
We did as much as we could in the two full days we had in Atacama desert, but I still have a desire to return because my soul is definitely the most alive in the desert! My mom and I are definitely desert babies. Some people may not enjoy the dry, arid climate, but we LOVED it and had such a lovely time together on our girls trip!
Things I really want to go back and see in Atacama Desert because we didn’t have enough time this trip (P.S. Message me if I am missing anything else super cool to see in this region):
Mano del Desierto - a giant cement hand rising 36 feet out of the sand. It's La Mano del Desierto, "the Hand of the Desert."
Valle de la Luna - We drove by this numerous times, but did not have time to stop! It is known for its moonlike landscape of dunes, rugged mountains and distinctive rock formations
Stargazing way out in the middle of nowhere!
Looking to add on some cities in Chile. Check out this total 12 day deep into Chile Itinerary.
12 DAYS DEEP INTO CHILE DAY BY DAY
DAY ONE - Arrive in Punta Arenas, Chile
DAY TWO - Visit Reserva Pingüino Rey to see King Penguins
DAY THREE - Transfer to Torres del Paine National Park
DAY FOUR - Half day hike in Torres del Paine
DAY FIVE - Full day hike to base of the towers in Torres del Paine
DAY SIX - Half day hike and horseback riding in Torres del Paine
DAY SEVEN - Fly to Puerto Montt and transfer to Castro on Chiolé Island
DAY EIGHT - AM exploring Chiolé Island and PM gastronomic experience
DAY NINE - Hike Muelle de las Almas
DAY TEN - Fly from Castro to Calama to visit Atacama Desert, Chile
DAY ELEVEN - Horseback ride, hike and petroglyph exploration
DAY TWELVE - Geysers, cactus hike and thermal spa
PERSONAL CHILE TRAVEL ADVICE:
Phones: We still have our American phone numbers with T-mobile. They offer free international usage in over 200 countries and it’s such a breeze to be able to land in a new country and instantly use our phones. I believe Verizon has a $15 USD a day rate to travel overseas with your phone.
If you live in South America, you already know this, but if you are coming from United States - Download WhatsApp. It is free and you use your own cell number. It is the most used form of communication in South America. You can text restaurants, taxis, guides etc.
Money: We never travel with a lot of cash since our ATM cards through USAA work at most ATM’s. Just make sure you choose/find the international option. If you don’t have this option of removing cash on site, every city we visited had a cambio (money exchange). Most places we went to i.e. restaurants and stores accepted credit cards in Chile.
Below is our itinerary which was once again put together by my favorite company, Timbuktu Travel. We had a lot of moving parts and wanted to see as much as possible in 12 days. This company is the best at listening to what you want and creating an epic custom trip that fits within your budget. I seriously cannot stop raving about them as it takes all the stress out of traveling. I really hope these details and photos inspire you to get out there and explore!
12 APR 23 - RETURN HOME TO MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY
After a wonderful deep dive adventure into Chile we got on a plane early morning and returned to Montevideo.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions OR get more travel inspiration by checking out our Patagonia in 10 Days Argentina Trip!
THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY OF THE LINKS, HOTELS OR TOURS. THESE ARE MY PERSONAL OPINIONS AND ALL FACTS, DETAILS, INFORMATION ABOVE COULD CHANGE WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF COPYING THIS ITINERARY DOES NOT GO EXACTLY AS PLANNED OUT ABOVE.