Polaroid of the Week: The Surreal, Otherworldly Landscapes of the Atacama Desert
We're back in San Pedro de Atacama, picking up where we left off in April before heading to the U.S. and Europe for the summer. We adore this high-altitude haven and are thrilled to return before embarking on a 3-day jeep tour to Bolivia via the Salar de Uyuni.
While many travelers pass through just once, it's easy to see why so many choose to stay longer. San Pedro and its surrounding Atacama Desert boast some of Chile's—and the world's—most breathtaking scenery. Driving into this surreal terrain feels like stepping onto another planet. NASA has even used the desert to test Mars rovers, as its soil at 3,000 meters (10,000 ft) elevation mimics Martian conditions. In a recent summer project, NASA's solar-powered, four-wheeled robot Zoë searched for subsurface microbes to prepare for the 2020 Mars Perseverance rover mission.
The Valle de la Luna, featured in our photo, evokes the moon's surface—true to its name. Stretching over 1,000 km (600 mi), the Atacama is Earth's driest desert, home to vast salt flats, geysers, volcanoes, and sinkhole lakes. We've explored much of the area on prior visits but saved one highlight for last before entering Bolivia: the Geysers del Tatio in the El Tatio geothermal field, among the world's highest-altitude geyser fields with around 80 active vents.
