- Address: Arica, Atacama Desert, Chile;
- Area: 105,000 km²;
- Type: sandy, stony;
- Annual precipitation: less than 50 mm.
Between the Pacific coast and the chain of the Andean mountains, is the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world. Its first inhabitants were Indakamenos Indians, who lived in rare oases; In the future, the name of the tribe began to be called the land itself. The Atacama Desert is an amazing place where, due to the nature of the terrain, there is almost no rain, but there are beautiful salt lakes, mountains up to 6 thousand meters high and lunar landscapes, beyond which people are ready to travel from other parts of the earth. The Atacama desert on the map looks like a long strip occupying 105 thousand square meters. km in the north of Chile , while in its territory there are several national parks.
World Atacama Desert
What is really the Atacama Desert, interesting facts about which excite the imagination of tourists? Animal and plant world in it are practically absent, only in several places where rare rains pass, life is supported. However, in 2015 the world saw a stunning photo, which shows the blossoming Atacama Desert! The reason for this unexpected phenomenon was the El Niño current, which caused heavy rains on Atacama. Given the tropical desert climate prevailing in the desert, it is difficult to understand where the inhabitants of the Atacama Desert take water. The answer is simple: the cold current of Humbolt drives the streams of air from the ocean, then they turn into fog. To collect condensate desert dwellers install huge nylon cylinders, which allow to receive up to 18 liters of water per day.
Attractions Atacama
Today, everyone knows where the Atacama Desert is located, a photo of which is adorned with pages of popular geographic magazines. The most popular entertainment in the desert is sandboarding, snowboarding on sand valleys. And for those who prefer cognitive rest, we list the most famous places.
1. The sculpture "The Hand of the Desert" symbolizes a request for the help of a person in the desert. The photo of this 11-meter sculpture, made of iron and concrete, will confirm that the place you visited is really the desert of Atacama, Chile.
2. Moon Valley - a fantastic landscape, a place for filming science fiction films and tests of rovers in the framework of the American Space Project NASA. Especially effectively, the local "lunar craters" look at sunset.
3. The giant from the Atacama Desert , a huge drawing on the earth, similar to the famous geoglyphs in the Nazca desert. Its age is about 9000 years, and its length is 86 m, it is the largest anthropomorphic figure in the world. There is no unanimous opinion about its origin. Probably, it was created for the orientation of caravans in the desert, and the theory of the trace of extraterrestrial civilizations also takes place.
4. Observatory on the top of the Cerro Paranal mountain . The sky above Atakama is almost always clean, it offers great opportunities for observing the cosmos. Tourists are happy to view distant stars and galaxies in powerful telescopes.
5. Humberstone - an abandoned mining town, next to which were developed nitre. Deposits of valuable material were discovered in the Atacama Desert in the late 19th century and even caused a short-term military conflict between Chile and neighboring countries.
How to get there?
The southern tip of the desert is 800 km from Santiago . You can get by air to the cities of Iquique , Tokopyll or Antofagasta , then make the transfer to San Pedro de Atacama - all tourist trips and excursions to Atacama will start from this city. The cost of the excursion to the desert is about 30-40 dollars.
You do not need to go yourself alone, so as not to get lost and not to experience all the difficulties of living in Atacama on yourself.