The driest desert in the world

Carina and I spent a total of six days in the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world. Most backpackers usually don't spend half the time here. But because there is so much to see and discover, we were grateful for every extra day we had.

We stayed in San Pedro de Atacama, a small village that serves as the gateway for all tours. San Pedro is located on the edge of the desert and consists mainly of travel agencies, restaurants, souvenir shops, and hotels.

Our first tour took us to the "Salar de Atacama," the largest active Evaroit basin in Chile. The spectacular salt lake is surrounded by other lakes, numerous volcanoes, and colorful landscapes. Here we also saw flamingos for the first time.

The next day, we visited the Moon Valley and the Death Valley, "Valley de la Luna" and "Valley de la Muerte." And it really felt like we had landed on the moon. The endless expanse and the bizarre landscapes impressed us a lot. The trip was topped off by a beautiful sunset with all kinds of color reflections in the hilly landscape.

For the next tour, we were woken up by the alarm at 4:30 a.m. The destination was the El Tatio Geyser Field, which is located at an altitude of 4300 m and is therefore the highest geyser field in the world. When we arrived, we got off the tour bus at -5 degrees Celsius. It was worth getting up early. The sight of the bubbling, steaming, and smoking geysers was impressive! Our guide told us a lot about this natural phenomenon, then quickly took a few photos before we warmed up with a hot chocolate. After sunrise, the timing was perfect for a dip in a hot spring. On the way back to San Pedro, we stopped at a cactus valley and admired the cacti plants that are up to 600 years old.

After a little siesta in the hammocks of our hostels, the next tour awaited us: we went to Laguna Cejar. This lake consists of 40% salt, more than the Dead Sea in Israel. We floated on the water with a magazine and had a lot of fun trying to keep our legs underwater. What a great experience!

In addition to the swimming experience, I was also impressed by the nature around the lake. Reflections in the lakes, color contrasts from water, hills, and sand - beautiful!

But the week was only halfway over. We still had a horseback riding tour, Salad de Tejar, and the stargazing tour ahead of us. On a day with no tours, we learned a lot about the history of San Pedro and its people on the FreeWalkingTour.

Carina convinced me to go on the horseback riding tour, and in the end, it was one of the highlights of this trip. We set off on the backs of our two new means of transportation. After about an hour, I had become good friends with "Dieciocho" (Eighteen) - the name of my horse - and the ride turned into a fantastic experience. Our guide led us through rivers, through the Devil's Throat "Gargante del Diablo," and through the Catarpe Valley. The tranquility, the vastness, and the nature were breathtaking. We rode with the horses through landscapes where we would never have gone otherwise. It was fantastic! After a total of 5 hours, we got off the saddle with a slightly sore butt and rewarded ourselves with a delicious pizza at our favorite restaurant.

The driest desert is also the best place in the world to observe stars. Why? Due to the dry air, the high altitude, and the numerous cloudless nights. It is no wonder that ALMA - the world's largest observatory for stars and planets - has settled here. So we had to stay awake until midnight for the "Sky Observation Tour" to start. The tour started several kilometers outside the city. Everything was black around us, so we tilted our heads back. It was incredible! I had never seen so many stars - I couldn't believe it. The Milky Way was directly above us, and the view was fantastic!

With a laser light, the tour guide explained a lot about stars, distances, constellations, planets, and much more. It was so exciting that we didn't feel tired. While listening to the explanations, we excitedly discovered a shooting star here and there. I saw a total of three of them!

On our last day, we had another full-day tour on the agenda. We went to the "Salar de Tara." Known as the most popular tour among tour guides, it also became one of the best tours for us. We passed by volcanoes and stopped for the first time at the "Cathedrals of Tara" - huge rock formations that have been formed by erosion over thousands of years. Off-road and on gravel and sandy tracks, we finally reached the Salar de Tara, a huge salt lake. The seclusion and tranquility captivated us. We observed the flamingos in their natural habitat and let ourselves be carried away by the calming feeling.

A week in the desert town and it was simply fantastic! While Carina has to go back home now (university is waiting for her), I get to travel a little longer, my next destination is Bolivia.