San Pedro de Atacama

Last week, Dec. 2-5, I visited the other of Chile's most famous destinations for international travelers: San Pedro de Atacama. (I consider Torres del Paine to be the first must-see destination for visitors to Chile.) San Pedro is situated mid-way up the altiplano ("high plateau"), at 2300 meters (or about 5000 ft) in elevation. The town itself is very small, with only a few hundred permanent residents and perhaps another thousand or so people working in tourism. The structures are all adobe-style clay, which make them pretty effective climate stabilizers, protecting against the hot day-time sun (highs routinely between 80-90F) and the cool to cold nights (below 50F and occasionally toward freezing). However, neither the weather nor the town itself is the reason San Pedro is a "must-see" destination. Instead, it is famous because just a short tour-van drive from town is an abundance of natural wonders: volcanic geysers, salt lagoons, and deep canyons, just to name a few. I only spent 3 days there, but was wowed by all that I saw.

Here are a few photos, as always. Enjoy!