San Pedro de Atacama

Images of San Pedro de Atacama

Expect: Otherworldly terrain, desert raves and an epic trip to Bolivia. 

Pack: Camera, walking shoes and lots of water.  

The landscape outside my window had suddenly become otherworldly. For hours I had been staring at dull, clumpy sand. So dull, in fact, that I had instead turned away and begun reading Paul Theroux’s eloquent, if long winded, moan; The Old Patagonian Express. However, now we were driving through a hallucinogenic, purple landscape; framed by chiselled mountains and rounded volcanoes; which in the late-afternoon light glowed a dusty red. The openness of this rugged land played tricks with the eye. The desert heat and sandy wind created a trippy haze, on which the distant horizon bobbed. It is not surprising, I thought, that conspiracy theorists point to this unearthly part of the world as the location for the ‘staged’ USA lunar landing. 

The emergence of an absurd streak of green marked our arrival. San Pedro is an oasis in the middle of the Atacama Desert; a desert 50 times drier than California’s Death Valley. This alien green, however, was not the bright, courageous green that cartoons had led me to expect. The trees were a self-conscious, lonely green; as if only too aware of their complete isolation. 

San Pedro de Atacama is a backpacker hub. From this cute village travellers explore the stunning surrounding scenery. It is a concentrated place. A few narrow streets host numerous international restaurants, tour agencies and hostels. The village, in reality, is a comfortable and well stocked base. Here you can get everything you want and need, but the place is pricey and on the quiet side.

San Pedro, however, is not the mere tourist creation it might seem. There has been a settlement on this site for at least 600 years. Being an oasis, it served as a vital stopping point for pre-Colombian nomadic tribes, and was even populated by the Incas shortly before the arrival of the Spanish. The modern archaeological university attests to the villages fascinating past. 

Although San Pedro dies after about 11.00pm (due to insanely strict licensing laws), the party often continues in hotly-anticipated, illegal desert raves. Spontaneous taxis ferry locals and gringos alike out into a ‘secret’ desert location. Here, under the stars you can drink and dance till dawn. This is many people’s finest memory of San Pedro. Out in the middle of the desert, raving under a sky swollen with stars; life really can’t get much better. To get the lowdown ask the waiters, they seem to be in the know. 

The most popular tour takes you a few kilometres out of town, to the impressive Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). This compact park is packed with a variety of phenomenal rock formations, sand dunes and salt sedimentations. Most people visit on the ‘sunset tour’, when you can watch the valley turn a silky purple.

From San Pedro you can also begin the epic, three-day tour to Uyuni, Bolivia, through neon lagoons, remote villages and the must-see salt flats. If you are heading north into Bolivia this is the best way to go. You will hear a number of horror stories about this trip. In my short stay I heard of flipping jeeps, wheels flying off, and even tourists that had simply been left in the middle of the desert. Whether or not you let this deter you is, of course, up to you. I did the tour with Colque Travel and had an awesome time, but in reality it is all down to the driver not the agency. It is, however, worth bearing in mind that if you bail you are missing out on one of the most spectacular trips in Latin America. 

• La Serena
• San Pedro de Atacama
  • San Pedro Media Library
• Iquique