My experience on the Atacama Desert

In 2023, I started my journey living like a digital nomad, and Chile was my first destination. Before going there, I kept hearing the same comment over and over from my friends: “It’s just a desert. Why Atacama?” After going there, I can say this pretty confidently: it’s not just a desert.

The Atacama Desert had been on my list for a long time, and even after traveling through many other countries since then, it still ranks among my favorite places I’ve ever visited.

For those who don't know, San Pedro de Atacama is a small town in the Andes that works as a base for almost all tours in the desert. Life there revolves around early mornings. Very early. Most days start before sunrise.

I did a six-day trip there. During these days, I did the following:

  • The astronomical tour with naked-eye stargazing and massive telescopes. It's insane that you can look at a sky like that, with the Milky Way clearly visible before your eyes.
  • A lot of huge mountains with blue lakes offering an amazing landscape.
  • There is a lagoon where flamingos feed in shallow salt water at high altitude.
  • They have the Geysers del Tatio. You go there before sunrise, at around -5°C. Freezing, but absolutely worth it.
  • Cejar Lagoon, where the water is so salty that floating takes zero effort. Slightly terrifying at first, but impossible to sink.
  • A full-day salt flats route near the Bolivian border, with constant wind, huge open spaces, and a lot of strange rock formations.

I’m sharing some photos from the trip here.

https://preview.redd.it/boprvl6kd1eg1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=666667df96918c19e8feeeb666dc8b32fc9b5d82

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https://preview.redd.it/u3sbr48kd1eg1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b8f442805210b0fb935d3b9eedb9c405bf773ed

https://preview.redd.it/rso2zn6kd1eg1.jpg?width=1330&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d5976617b0c72b715389f213812e2dd84680d187

https://preview.redd.it/gvn0zl6kd1eg1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d332d5b93197a111c3a1dc0da6ca7d073d283bf3

https://preview.redd.it/vsb7rl6kd1eg1.jpg?width=2365&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8daf4d878dfc1ce2b36aa30851a3ff2160e4e925

https://preview.redd.it/g7xyv8zrd1eg1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12fa43f15676807cd0029a754e920c5ba7da0e40

Author: Lumpy_Caterpillar648