Exploring the Wild, Unexpected Beauty of the World’s Driest Desert
More than just sand and sun, spreading across 104,741 km², the Atacama stuns with flamingo lakes, volcanic hot springs, and otherworldly landscapes—a desert full of surprises.
Volcano in Atacama desert | Photo by Adriano Becker
by Angelica Pajic
17 de mayo de 2025
When most people hear the word “desert,” they don’t expect geysers shooting from the ground, lakes full of flamingos, thermal rivers winding through volcanic valleys, or hidden waterfalls. But that’s exactly what you’ll find in the Atacama desert, one of the driest deserts on Earth, yet paradoxically one of the most vibrant places I’ve ever seen.
The Journey Begins
It all begins with a short flight from Santiago to Calama, a small, dusty airport where you’re instantly hit by the dry heat and a landscape that feels more like Mars than Earth. The airport is surrounded by nothing but sand, rock, and heat shimmer. A few stray dogs wander about, somehow surviving in this harsh environment. Even the air feels different: thin, dry, and sharp like it’s been filtered through a thousand layers of stone.
From Calama, the easiest and safest way to get to San Pedro de Atacama is by taking a colectivo, a shared van that runs between the airport and the town. While private taxis are an option, they're often overpriced, and you can’t always be sure of the safety or honesty of the drivers. In a colectivo, you’ll share the ride with a few strangers, but it’s part of the local experience (and much more budget-friendly).
The drive from the airport to San Pedro is both meditative and surreal. For nearly an hour, the road cuts through a barren, windswept landscape of dust, rock, and silence. Massive freight trucks pass occasionally, dwarfing the few civilian cars you’ll see. You feel like you're crossing a forgotten frontier. If you’re lucky enough you might spot a fox darting across the road or a group of vicuñas, cousins of the llamas, grazing in the distance.
When you finally arrive in San Pedro de Atacama, it’s like stepping into another time, or perhaps another world entirely. Everything is the color of the earth (ochre, dusty, muted brown) blending perfectly with the surrounding terrain, especially the low houses. There’s no rush here, you can truly feel that place that’s been standing still for centuries.
Cycling through the Atacama desert | Photo by Luiza Braun
Cycling through Valle de la Luna
We spent just a few days in San Pedro, as it was only the launch point for a longer journey northward toward Peru. Still, in that short time, we managed to pack in a lifetime of memories. One of the most memorable experiences (and most exhausting) was biking through the Valle de la Luna. I’ll be honest: it was tough. The desert sun is relentless, the air is dry, and the terrain is anything but flat. But the reward? Absolutely priceless. The entire valley feels like another planet, with salt-covered rock formations and wind-sculpted dunes that stretch toward the horizon. The 20-kilometer route includes several stops where you can park your bike and explore on foot, climb hills for panoramic views, walk through canyons, and take in the haunting silence that fills the air. The route takes around 4 to 5 hours, depending on how often you stop. By the end, we were drenched in sweat, legs shaking, but filled with a kind of pride that only comes from pushing yourself through something extraordinary.
Not Just Desert: Volcanos, Rivers, and Geysers
Yet, the real magic of Atacama isn’t just the desert, it’s what surrounds it. The landscape is framed by enormous volcanoes, many towering above 6,000 meters. Their snowy peaks gleam white in the cloudless blue sky, visible from nearly every corner of the region.
Thanks to a stroke of luck, we made friends with the owner of our hostel, a local guide who had spent years exploring every hidden corner of the Atacama. With his help, we rented a car and drove deep into the mountains to camp in one of the region’s most magical spots. There, tucked into a high-altitude valley near the geysers, we found a river of geothermal water, so hot you could barely dip your hand into it after dark. We set up our tents at over 4,000 meters above sea level, high enough to feel the effects of altitude. The sun disappeared quickly, and the temperature dropped sharply. We went from sweating in T-shirts to layering on winter jackets within an hour. The night was cold and windy, but the sky was unreal. The stars felt impossibly close. We lay in our sleeping bags, listening to the rush of the hot river nearby, the tent shaking with gusts of wind, and yet, felt completely at peace.
The next morning, we woke up early to visit the geysers but nature had other plans. The wind was too strong, and the site was closed, the danger of boiling water blowing unpredictably through the air was too great. So instead, we returned to our campsite and slid into the hot river. Immersing our tired bodies in the steaming water as the sun rose above the peaks was the perfect start to a new day. We didn’t need the geysers, this was better.
Vicuñas grazing peacefully beneath volcanic peaks | Photo by Angelica Pajic
The Secrets of the Desert: Flamingos and Waterfalls
As we descended from the highlands, the landscape transformed once again. In less than an hour, we reached an enormous green plain, filled with vicuñas grazing peacefully under the volcanoes. It looked like a scene from a painting. We stopped for a quick breakfast, a sandwich and some fruits and we were ready to get back on track.
Not long after, we reached a lake unlike any I’ve seen, dotted with flamingos, dozens of them. Their pink color glowing in the morning light. I had seen flamingos before, but never like this.
And just when we thought we had seen it all, our guide took us to a place we never would have found on our own: secret waterfalls hidden in the middle of the desert. Tucked among tall cacti and dry ravines, these cascades flow with meltwater from the snow-capped volcanoes. The water was a bit cold, just enough to awaken your senses. After trekking through rough, rocky paths under the sun, diving into these hidden pools was just what we needed. These aren’t places you’ll find on a tourist map, only the locals know them, and we were lucky enough to be in good hands.
To close our time in Atacama, we drove to a high dune and watched the sun set over the desert. The sand seemed like waves in the sea. The sky’s colors changed minute by minute, from orange to deep red, then soft purples and pastel pinks, it felt just like the perfect time and perfect place to be.
Way More Than Just a Desert
So if you’re planning a trip to Chile, you cannot miss Atacama, a place full of contrast and wonder. It’s filled with amazing landscapes, from thermal rivers to flamingo lakes, from bike trails to starlit skies. And best of all, from Atacama, you can continue north to Peru or Bolivia, each with its own stories to tell. But trust me: no matter where you go next, Atacama will stay with you, a desert, yes, but so much more.