After spending the morning touring ALMA, the largest land-based observatory in the world, we had a couple of hours to relax in San Pedro de Atacama before going on a tour of Valle de la Luna and Valle de la Muerte, Valley of the Moon and Valley of Death respectively. According to Lonely Planet, "It's not an exaggeration to call San Pedro de Atacama a once-in-a lifetime destination as there's no other place like it." After planning our itinerary for our 3.5 month trip to South America months in advance, we certainly were drawn to what was described as otherworldly landscapes around the quiet town and the opportunity to view clear blue salt lakes teeming with flamingos, steam-spitting geysers and salt-shaken valleys.
San Pedro de Atacama hardly appeared big enough to absorb the hordes of travelers like us that have been flocking to the area especially over the last decade. The town is little more than a handful of picturesque adobe streets clustering around a pretty tree-lined plaza and a postcard-perfect church. The popularity of this adobe oasis stems from its position in the heart of some of northern Chile's most spectacular scenery.
Just minutes outside of town, we were immediately in the desert in an area called the Valle de la Luna.
The valley's many stone and sand formations had been carved by the wind and water over thousands of years.
A couple of days earlier we had been in southern Bolivia where the surreal landscapes recalled paintings by Salvador Dali. This valley of soaring cliffs and barren ridges also brought to mind the acclaimed Spanish painter.
The vastness and grandeur of some of the formations was quite breathtaking.
We were lucky enough to visit just after extremely rare rain and the whole landscape was crusted with white salt deposits which looked like snow.
How amazing to think this was all covered by an ocean 150 million years ago.
Our guide, Pablo, said that within ten minutes, we would be hiking in the nearby Valle de la Muerte. Each time we got into the car, he had to walk up and down the van to verify that each of us had seat belts on as they were mandatory in Chile. Pablo stated the most important things to carry in the valley was water, a camera and faith. We wondered what we would be facing up ahead!
Pablo reported that the last eruption of one of the nearby volcanoes had been in 2015. That seemed uncomfortably recent!
The Valley's reddish-rock colors were even more spectacular than in the Valley of the Moon. Jesuit missionary and archaeologist Gustave Le Paige discovered many human skeletons when he explored the desolate area in the 1950s. The bones were from the indigenous Atacameño people who lived here until the Spaniards arrived in the late 15th century. He theorized that the sick and elderly may have come to this place to die.
What a hoot seeing this fellow riding his mountain bike down the steep hill of sand! We knew we could have rented a bike in town and ridden out here but the extreme heat, altitude and wind would have done us in, I think! The comfort of the air-conditioned van and the fierce winds made the decision to take the tour instead an easy one.
How magnificent it was to to see again the Andes in the background that we'd first caught sight of at least six weeks previously in Peru.
I am not a big fan of heights but this looked exciting.
Steven went first so I could take photos of his running downhill in a zigzag pattern as Pablo advised that would slow down what could be an out of control run if we just ran straight. Just before going down, Pablo said, "See you in the hospital!"
Our tour group:
We didn't realize we would have another chance to run down another sand mountain - yeah, I couldn't wait as the first time had been such a lark!
One of the vans down at the bottom of the sand dune aka mountain was ours!
Each of our sand dune runs had been about 300 feet long. I bet you can imagine how much sand had collected in our shoes once we reached the bottom!
Pablo informed us this Salt Cordillera had formed millions of years ago.
The white sediment, called 'evaporate,' looked like the biggest concentration of guano or seabird excrement I had ever seen!
We walked toward what had been the Victoria Salt Mine to learn how people lived in the area when salt had been such an important mineral and source of income for miners in the early years of the last century. Salt was considered a critical part of animals' lives as it helped improve their diets.
During the worldwide depression in the 30s, most miners emigrated to Chile's larger cities when times became too tough for them in the desert. Pablo said only five or six families then continued to live here. In the 50s, salt became a highly prized commodity as a brine so the mine was again active. However, the military forbade the use of dynamite in salt mining in the 70s which resulted in the end of salt production in the 80s.
The halite crystals in the rock looked like smooth glass.
Pablo stressed locals had to use all the resources nearby to build their homes. As temperatures were extreme both day and night, the people were required to be very hardy.
This air compressor, used in salt mining, was left over from the 1960s.
This semi-circular rock formation was called the Amphitheater because of its shape.
The path to the sunset view at Mirador de Kari/Piedra del Coyote where, Pablo assured us, we would see many changes in the mountains' colors as the sun set.
I wasn't surprised I had sand particles in my camera lens after running down the sand mountains earlier.
Luckily, the final ascent for the sunset view!
I like to think you will agree the following sunset views were as magical as I thought they were on that mid-November late afternoon.
Normally, when we make a point of seeing a place famous for its sunsets, there is but one view to focus on. Thank goodness Pablo had told us to keep taking in the spectacular views all around us as they differed so much with each tilt of our head.
If you ever have a chance to travel to faraway San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, I urge you not to think twice about it so you can also be mesmerized by some of this world's most unusual scenery and lunar-like landscapes.
We could see right away the reason for its adopted name as the terrain resembled a fragment of the lunar landscape. In 1982 it was declared a nature sanctuary and part of the Flamencos National Reserve. The area had been known by locals' ancestors as Las Salinas or The Salts.
We were glad to have a wonderful opportunity to walk among the sand formations to see up close the different colors and texture.
Originally a small corner of a vast inland sea, the valley rose up with the Andes. The water slowly drained away, leaving deposits of salt and gypsum.
From the viewpoint, we felt as if we were on top of the world and could imagine walking on the moon in the Valley of the Moon! It was so windy atop the viewpoint, we were glad we had toggles on our hats under our chins, as otherwise, they would have blown away.
A bad case of hat hair!
The name of the valley came from its Mars-like, red appearance and was originally called Valle de Martes or Mars Valley. However, Le Paige's foreign pronunciation of Martes soon became heard as muerte or dead.
The tiny black dots were people sand boarding down the sand mountain. We soon would either be going down on our bums or running down - not sure which sounded more appealing, right then!
Walking across the plateau gave us plenty of time to make the decision. As impossible as it seemed, Pablo said quinoa was farmed here. It was the best crop in such a dry area and farmers had access to water every two weeks via underground channels of water.
There was no turning back at this point!
It was a long way to the bottom, no matter how we got down!
It was a huge thrill and an adrenaline rush like none other I can remember having.
After hopping back in the van, we drove back to Moon Valley for yet more otherworldly views.
As we drove toward the Valley of the Moon, the rocky outcrops reminded us again of Salvador Dali's surreal paintings.
This was all that remained of a llama pen.
The old privy had a great view over the valley!
Pablo told us that when the temperatures are very low, people can actually hear the rocks cracking. I was glad not to wait around until it got that cold!
The last part of the tour to the the Valle de la Luna and Valle de la Muerte included a short drive and then hike to a lookout to view the valley from far above at sunset.
The clouds almost looked as if they were just above our heads.
All too soon, the sun had set and we began reluctantly, in our cases at least, to trudge back to the van and San Pedro de Atacama.
A final glimpse of one of the most gorgeous sunsets I had ever seen because it looked amazing everywhere we watched.
Next post: Geysers del Tatio, the world's highest geothermal field, and Cactus Canyon.
Posted on April 2nd, 2018, on a 70 degree afternoon in Littleton, Colorado.
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