11 Best Things To Do in the Atacama Desert | Flamingos, Moon Landscapes & Floating in Salt

foreign [Music] places and I'm currently at Kalama airport right now and if you're watching this video you're probably wondering what are the best things to do in San Pedro de Atacama well keep watching because you're gonna find out after you land in the airport of Kalama yeah it's over an hour's drive into the town of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile this desert town will be where all of your adventurers begin from we're going to start with Laguna chaksa which belongs to the larger Atacama Salt Flats quick tip don't trust Google Maps on this one as we initially got lost before finding our way after you arrive you'll go through a quick orientation session and then you'll head out on a one-way trail that takes you to various stops along the way learning about brine shrimp the surrounding mountains and eventually out to the salsa lagoons where you'll see all of the flamingos feasting at the viewing area alongside Laguna chaksa you'll find yourself mesmerized watching the flamboyance of flamingos eating flying around and resting quite a sight to see flamingos in the wild at number 10 we have a grouping of all the different sites that you can see from the roadside that eventually lead you to What's called the autoplanic Lakes this is the part of your Atacama itinerary where you'll be reaching the highest in altitude going Beyond four thousand meters or 13 000 feet so just a word of warning you're going to feel it driving from San Pedro to Atacama the landscape Comes Alive especially as you go beyond the Tennessee care feel free to stop on the road to take in the views also be on the lookout for the extremely cute vicuna cousins of alpaca with their extremely long lashes fluffy wool and smaller size the first of the roadside views is this stop with awesome views of Aguas Calientes and Piedra Rojas notice all of the pastel colors of the mountains and salt Lagoon along the main Highway and the furthest you'll go is to take a look at tayuto Lake there's a Viewpoint above and you can also get closer to the lake down below turning back around you'll then stop at the Viewpoint called Mirador de Aguas Calientes there's a pathway that takes you all the way up but a word warning it can be crazy windy from here you'll see the cunha in the lagoon below and also more flamingos but wait a second we have to go backwards so care because we made a pretty critical mistake that you need to know about okay so here's the story we try to go to Aguas Caliente but they wouldn't sell us tickets they told us we had to go back to soccer to buy tickets we're like what and then we met somebody that told us we need to buy them online but when we went online and got signal couldn't buy them online for the day of took us a while to get to sell care it's an hour back this is the metal container you need to go to to pick up your tickets or validate them if you bought them online luckily you can buy them in person for the day of so we filled out a form got this ticket this is a combo ticking 15 000 CLP which will allow us to go to the anti-plantic lagoons in August also aquascaliente this definitely ruffled my feathers because it wasn't on any of the older guides so after doing the trip back to so care we bought our tickets and then had to drive all the way back to Pedro Rojas where they accepted our tickets and started with another orientation walking walking picturing Petri walking yes now of course all this could have been avoided if we did one of the many tours that are offered in town but we wanted to see Atacama with our own car rental for a bit more freedom walking along the Trail Loop your breath will be taken away by the surrounding landscape that you had a sneak peek of earlier especially those pastel colored slopes it can be incredibly windy though so that and a high altitude will literally take your breath away be on the lookout for vicuna as they're all around eventually the trail will take you to a peculiar section of rounded Red Rocks that Piedras Rojas is named after you'll be able to walk to the edge of this formation and see what might initially look like sheets of ice but are in fact Jagged crystals of salt it's all quite amazing foreign tickets for Piedras Rojas you can combine it with the twin high altitude lakes or altaplanic lakes of muscati and muniques these are two large crystalline lagoons next to each other and consist of several trails and viewpoints that you can drive to you'll start off with muscati Lake where you can see it from afar but also get quite close to it with their well laid out trails and then you can drive over to Monique Lake each Lagoon is incredibly Serene and calm with a mountain and Sky reflecting off the water as Birds including flamingos bask look for food on your way back home or on a separate day you can drop by the Roadside Attraction that demarks the line where the Tropic of Capricorn cuts through from the parking lot there's a short walk along a path where you'll see this structure this Trail is also part of Camino Del Inca an entire network that was built by the Incas foreign [Music] right now way before the crack of dawn you'll drive a good hour and a half to get to geyser Del tatio the largest Geiser field in the Southern Hemisphere and third largest in the world the reason why you come this early is because the geysers are the most active at this hour with the water at a blistering 85 degrees Celsius or 185 degrees Fahrenheit you'll see a vast range of activities from small burps to water bursting up to 75 centimeters or two and a half feet or if you're lucky maybe even up to 6 meters or 20 feet there are 80 active geysers here and throughout the morning as the sun rises you'll be able to explore the entire park that spans two main areas it does get pretty chilly though in the morning and This Is Us exploring the first section at the second spot you'll drive over and walk past the hot springs that is currently closed and here you'll find just even more geysers it's a magical place with its Symphony of geothermal activity especially as the Ethereal steam blankets the floor while geysers burst with water and creates large plumes of cloud after your morning at the geysers you'll make your way back to San Pedro de Atacama except this time you'll see everything that you pass along the way with your own rental car you'll be able to take your time and enjoy the amazing scenery and Wildlife at number five we have one of the most popular attractions in atsakama first things first you're going to want to buy your tickets online currently Val de la Luna or Valley of the Moon only has a few spots that are open to start this is Duna mayor a one-way trail that eventually splits between Mirador one and two murder one is the longer way around and I definitely felt my vertigo kick in the views of the Sawtooth crust that rise from the desert canyons are really impressive though you'll walk along the top of the ridge where the moon like Vistas continue eventually the trail joins up to where Mirador 2 takes you up to this is the fine sand desert Dune that also has great views of the amphitheater in the distance next on the route is Mina Victoria an abandoned salt mine with examples of Machinery dwellings and access to the underground you'll get a glimpse of the entrance of the mine but you won't be able to go in just pay attention to the details though there's a lot of salt here this is designed as a one-way Trail for those that are on the tour but if you have a car rental you'll turn back the way you came the last place you're allowed to visit is Tres Marias a trio of rock spiers that's located at the far end of the park this can be a simple photo stop but there's usually a long line of people trying to take photos as you can see here there's also a Lobster Claw like rock sculpture here so how does sunset work you don't actually get to see it for it from within a park but from a separate Viewpoint that's owned by the park when you get your entrance ticket to Val de luna they'll also give you a separate ticket that's for a place that's called Miro Ducati and Piedra de coyote twin viewing points that are next to each other there's a specific cutoff point for entry so make sure you get your timing right this is the view from Mirador the cart there are a few blocks for sitting or you can sit on the dirt as well keep going to the right and pass the shelter is Piedra de coyote which has nearly the same view but a clearer view of the desert flat now if you want to enjoy the sunset over Val de luna without tickets I got you covered this is Mirador liken antai right off the highway and just a little bit over to the left of the previous Viewpoint we think that this view is better because you get a more direct view of the cascading ridges but the trade-off is that you don't see as much of the desert flat Laguna's boltonage is a bit of a crazy drive to get to but totally worth it this is one of the more hidden salt lagoons in the area and has two separate pools that you're allowed to enter the first and our favorite is the one closest to the entrance where there are several picnic benches with shade this is smaller of the two but we think this is better for photos as well because of the extreme concentration of salt you will float immediately once you go in it's a strange sensation to say the least but definitely worth a try oh wow it's fun for a quick dip but if it's a windy and cooler day like ours you'll probably won't be spending too much time in the water once you get out the salt starts crusting right away so you have to have your towel ready the two pools are connected by a path where you'll encounter smaller lagoons that are in otherworldly combination of turquoise Clear Water amongst the Sea of white salt you can also park closer to the back of the lagoons where there's a wooden Boardwalk to the larger second Lake that can definitely accommodate more people but we think this is less convenient because it's further from your car and doesn't have those picnic tables nestled in the Andean Canyon is puratama a unique hot spring experience you probably didn't expect in the desert you select one of the two three hour time slots or discounted slot at Sunset and when it's time you're allowed to enter there's a hike down this dirt road and you'll see the Oasis below the river is naturally heated and fills eight natural pools that are carved into the Rock there are bathrooms and change facilities for everyone to use and a shaded picnic area pool is unique and ranges in temperatures with the higher pools warmer and the lower ones a bit cooler you're free to jump around between each if you had to choose though pool number five is the best one and where we spent most of our time this is a great way to add some natural relaxation in your Atacama itinerary all right we're headed out for some stargazing with Atacama Desert stargazing we're going to meet Jorge next with its high altitude lack of humidity and clear skies Atacama is one of the best places in the world for stargazing so with our last of the top things to do in at Tacoma we have stargazing experiences we booked our tour with Jorge of Atacama Desert stargazing and the tour starts with an astronomy class which was really helpful to learn the history astronomy Basics and the southern sky in between they treat you to all sorts of snacks drinks and hot soup that pretty much turns into a full dinner the second half has Jorge lining up his high-powered telescopes to see an impressive array of star clusters nebula shooting stars and planets including Jupiter and Saturn stargazing is definitely a tour you'd need to book early and one that you can't miss are you in the middle of planning your trip to Atacama and looking for an in-depth guide and itinerary we got you covered our articles on going awesomeplaces.com have all the information that you need that you won't find anywhere else and even correcting some of the mistakes that we made looking for deal on trips to Atacama while we've partnered with Eco Chile where you can save five percent on pre-packaged tours that they offer for Atacama or really anywhere else that they sell tours for all you have to do is book through our special booking form of course all links are in the description below thank you for watching and keep going to awesome places thank you

Channel: Going Awesome Places

Views: 11,421

Keywords: goingawesomeplaces, Going Awesome Places, atacama desert, things to do in atacama, things to do in san pedro de atacama, atacama desert chile, san pedro de atacama travel, things to do in atacama desert, stargazing atacama desert chile, laguna chaxa, geyser del tatio, piedras rojas san pedro de atacama, atacama road trip, atacama desert road trip, valle de la luna, valley of the moon, puritama, lagunas baltinache

Id: o1gV2D0zBVs

Length: 13min 43sec (823 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 18 2023