Salt, sunshine and awesome views in the shadow of the Andes
Florian Oertel, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Chile
A group of Llamas looking for food cross the street at a leisurely pace in the glowing heat of the day.
They cannot be choosy. Not many plants can withstand the rigors of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, the driest desert in the world.
But this is a superlative which is unlikely to impress the visitor for long: the region, flanked in the east by the shimmering red-brown of the Andes, has too much else to offer.
The traveler starts from San Pedro de Atacama, a border post near Bolivia with a population of 2,000. Flat, single storied houses are clustered round the whitewashed church. Local people and tourists from all over the world meet in the dusty alleyways.
The 17,700-foot Licancabur volcano can be seen from almost everywhere in town. But visitor are warned against trying to climb it on their first day here. San Pedro itself is about 7,000 feet above sea level, and the lack of oxygen in the air is enough to take away the breath of newcomers.
Instead, it is probably better to take a trip to the south, to Salar de Atacama, salt flats about 60 miles long and 35 miles wide.
Travel guide Patricia says: "There is so much salt here that after a few days you even begin to think the snow on the mountains is salt."
The surface of the flats turns out on closer inspection to be a collection of innumerable little piles of crystals just a few centimeters high blinking in the sunshine.
In the middle of the salt flats and about 25 miles from San Pedro is the Chaxa lagoon. Here a dozen flamingos wade ankle deep in the water. A strong smell of sulfur irritates the nose. Dragonflies hum through the air. Look around from this point and no fewer than 19 Andes peaks are visible.
Some nights are too short for the traveler - because sleepy heads miss an impressive natural display: the Tatio geysers putting on their show at dawn. But the area is two hours drive from San Pedro. There, on a plain nearly 13,000 feet above sea level, the mountains spurt out their hot liquid - 80 degrees - in fountains of steam.
And when the sun suddenly climbs above the peaks, the plain is bathed in a golden light.
Another essential destination are the mountain lagoons of Miscanti and Menique about 60 miles from San Pedro. The drive takes the visitor along the salt flats and up into the mountains.
A stop at the tiny village of Socaire is recommended. It is not only impressive for its two churches but also for a panoramic view down to the salt flats and up to the mountains.
In the foreground are terraces of fields which smallholders use to cleverly trap the flowing underground water.
About 30 per cent of the people who live in the Atacama Desert are of Andino origin. They form just 6 per cent of Chile's population. Patricia explains: "The term Indios is degrading. We are Andinos."
The 32-year-old former English teacher belongs to the Aymara ethnic group, which forms the major ethnic group in Bolivia. She says that, by contrast, they are discriminated against in Chile.
Many visitors are speechless when they see the Miscanti and Menique lagoons. They seem almost too perfect. Two lakes with blazing blue waters and framed by reddish, shimmering mountains and hills dotted with ankle-high bushes.
Immediately west of San Pedro is the Valle de la Luna, the Moon Valley. Here, it is hard to find tranquility. Too many tourists know of the bizarre beauty of the salt formations which ring the valley.
It is probably better to head for an evening stroll through the neighboring Kari Gorge, a narrow ravine which winds slowly through the salt formations. Hardened lava covers bubbles of salt pushed up from the ground.