Why You Need to Go to Chile’s Atacama Desert, in 17 Spellbinding Photos
Northern Chile’s Atacama Desert takes the prize for being the world’s driest, as well as one of earth’s most surreal adventure destinations. From lunar landscapes that NASA used for testing Martian rovers to nighttime star fields you might as well reach up to touch (plus archeological sites, dune surfing, and pink flamingos), you can do it all without wanting for luxury. Here’s how.
The Atacama Desert’s 41,000 square miles of diverse terrain includes spurting geysers best visited at dawn, wind-sculpted golden dunes perfect for surfing, salt lagoons for a bracing float, and cliffs of colorfully striped strata known as Rainbow Valley. Those are just the terrestrial offerings.
It’s also one of the best locations on earth to appreciate our Milky Way’s glittering collection of stars, with April through September the best time to see it. For the darkest skies, time your visit to a waning rather than a full moon—or better yet, a Lunar Eclipse (the next will come on March 23). Prepare to be wowed by the most amazing natural light show on earth.