Blogs from Atacama, Chile, South America

The driest desert at the highest altitude in Chile where some places have not seen rain in hundreds of years! Yes, that’s Atacama our next destination! Our flight from Punta Arenas to San Pedro, Atacama was scheduled to depart in the wee hours – close to 3 am. We didn’t have much choice. Punta Arenas is in the deep south of Chile – it is the gateway to Patagonia. And Atacama Desert is in the north of Chile. One needs to cross over 3000 km in the middle. One of my friends who has spent considerable time in Chile told me, “Are you crazy that you wanted to cover everything in Chile in one go – Patagonia to Atacama? Just in 10 days?” I just smiled...”Yup, ‘Crazy’ is my middle name”. So, there we were, sitting ... read more

From Fodor's: The Atacama Desert meets the Pacific Ocean in the Antofagasta region of Northern Chile. Rich in history, the desert-scape is peppered with abandoned nitrate mining towns and active copper mines around the Pan-American Highway. Dramatic cliffs drop to long beaches formed by the Pacific Ocean’s belting waves. Dry and arid winds have resulted in salt basins and lava flows throughout the Atacama Desert, lending it a moon-like landscape. The Valley of the Moon in Los Flamencos National Reserve is an exceptional spread of dunes, rugged mountains, and distinctive formations. At this remote location by the Pacific Ocean, dark skies offer some of the world’s most beautiful and clear star-viewing. I am reposting a funny story from our visit to the Atacama: After a few days on the coast of Chile, we rapidly tired of ... read more

Have you ever visited one of the oldest and driest deserts in the world, the Atacama in Chile? Well, on the long drive through the "Thin Country", we spent a few days in the Atacama before heading south. They say some parts of the desert have not seen rain for over a hundred years. As I recall, Mr. Mike and I were there during the early spring. The nearest town, San Pedro was a cold and windy frontier town, on the edge of the Atacama. But on the few occasions it rains, the desert transforms into a beautiful cascade of wildflowers. NASA uses the Atacama to mimic Mars. The Valle de Marte resembles the red planet. The unique colors have also provided landscapes for Hollywood movies. The desert is also ideal for stargazing, with cool, clear ... read more

I was reading an issue of Travel and Leisure today at work. I had a choice of You Tube, doing a few hours of Continuing Education, or reading. I did all three to be exact, but this caught my eye. This article made a few good points, and missed a few as well. First, we need to define responsible tourism. In other words, how do we affect the locations and businesses we visit? Are we helping the community, and helping their businesses through our actions? Basically, our objective should be "making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit." Next, does it make a difference to us travelers? Yes, a better informed traveler helps make it easier to connect with locals, creating a more authentic experience. The idea is to ... read more

Enjoy the open road? Jack Kerouac might have said it best in his famous novel On the Road: “I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future.” His words serve as a testament to the power of a road trip; how the process of packing a car and driving long distances has the ability to transform us. Yet, what about the roads themselves? What makes this form of transportation more life-changing than, say, flying in an airplane? Or taking a url=https://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?geo&redirect&q=cruise&uiOrigin=MASTHEAD&ssrc=A&returnTo=__2F__&pid=3825&startTime=1487962374801&searchSessionId=37417A2CEAA317B65E3C4B1E454192721487962367241ssidcruise? The answer could be in the old chestnut: It’s not the destination but the journey that matters I always think of the old Willie Nelson song, "On the Road, Again" when... read more