19/03/2023 to 21/03/2023 - San Pedro de Atacama / Chile

We have now arrived in country number 7 of this journey - Chile, the richest country in all of South America. We drove to San Pedro de Atacama, not far from the border with Bolivia. San Pedro is a place on a dry high plateau in the Atacama Desert, the driest desert on Earth. Surrounded by deserts, salt flats, volcanoes, geysers, and hot springs, San Pedro de Atacama is mainly a place full of tourists, souvenir shops, bars, restaurants, and high prices. Originally, we thought we would do many excursions in the area, but actually we have already seen so many things bigger, higher, and further in Bolivia that we couldn't top these great impressions anymore. So we rested, walked through the sandy town, and only took a trip to Valle de la Luna. This vegetation-free desert landscape reminds of the surface of the moon and rightfully bears the name "Valley of the Moon". We walked to the Duna Mayor, the big dune. From there we enjoyed great views over the valley and then went to some salt formations and an abandoned salt mine. In the evening, we drove up high to observe the play of colors in the valley during sunset.

We said goodbye to the desert and drove a seemingly endless road through the Atacama Desert to Calama airport to fly to the capital of the country.