San Pedro de Atacama: I think I landed on the moon

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I wasn´t sure whether I took a wrong flight or not, but when I arrived in San Pedro de Atacama the landscape outside the town looked more like I had arrived on Mars or the moon. I spent three nights here as it was the starting point for my trip across the Andes. That time gave me an opportunity to experience the charm of a small oases and the out of this world sights of the desert.

San Pedro is a small oases in the Atacama desert, the driest desert in the world. It is located in northeast Chile at the foothills of the Andes only about 30-40kms from the Bolivian border.

San Pedro is just a small town with a handful of adobe streets and a centre plaza. The main street is lined with restaurants, shops and tour operators. What dominates the view from San Pedro is Liscobaur, a perfectly coned-shaped volcano. This region has the highest concentration of volcanos in the world.

To the east lies the Andes and the west the Atacama Desert. The second day in San Pedro I took a tour in Valle de Luna in the desert. It is here that you could mistakenly think you have landed on Mars or the moon. Rock formations and landscape all come together here to make some amazing sights.

The last day was spent mountain biking around the oases and out closer to the desert. Outside of the main tourist area is the real town with its adobe homes with tin metal roofs and dust and dirt filled streets. The day was capped of by literally looking at out of this world objects on a star gazing tour in the desert. I got to look at planets, stars and far off galaxies at the best public observatory in South America. I even got to see the full moon up close for the first time and got a picture of it. It was fitting to end my out of this world stay in San Pedro with viewing some out of this world objects.

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Photos

The moon as seen from the Atacama Desert
My first up close look at the moon. Taken at a public space observatory outside of San Pedro in the Atacama Desert.

Atacama Desert
On my way through the Atacama Desert to San Pedro de Atacama after flying into Calama, Chile.

Lunar Rock formtions
Looks like the surface of the moon or Mars. The white stuff is salt which is very prevelant in the area.

At the Three Marias
Another strange rock formation next to the Thre Marias.

The Three Marias
The Three Marias are over one million years old. A combination of gravel, clay, salt and quartz which were subject to extreme erosion.

San Pedro de Atacama
The main street in San Pedro - Caracoles

San Pedro de Atacama
The main street in San Pedro - Caracoles