{"id":140,"date":"2020-01-03T16:06:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T16:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chileando.contactchile.cl\/en\/?p=140"},"modified":"2020-01-20T19:32:39","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T19:32:39","slug":"explore-san-pedro-de-atacama-with-a-camper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chileando.contactchile.cl\/en\/2020\/01\/03\/explore-san-pedro-de-atacama-with-a-camper\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore San Pedro de Atacama with a camper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Nicole Reis for ContactChile<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Pedro de Atacama is an oasis located in the northern part of Chile at 2.408m above sea level and is surrounded by volcanoes, most of which reach above 5.000m. They form the natural border to Bolivia and Argentina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntown can be easily reached by car in an hour’s drive from Calama airport, a\npaved road which leads through the desert. The city centre is very touristy but\nhas managed to look quite authentic, mainly due to the way the houses are constructed,\nwith lots of brown natural stone and wood. It is the logistic center of the\nregion, where you can and must stock up on gasoline, water and food before a\ntrip to the surrounding sights, as there is no more gas station until the\nArgentine border. A traffic sign on the Ruta 27 informs: “no mobile phone\nnetwork until the pass”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have rented a campervan and will be exploring the desert of San Pedro de Atacama together with a friend. Having the bedroom on wheels offers the possibility to discover the sights around San Pedro in the absence of most tourists. This is rather nice as at certain times, they arrive numerously by car and flood the affectionately arranged paths and observation platforms chattering and posing for selfies, some more respectful than others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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El Tatio – Photo: Nicole Reis<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

El\nTatio <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Anyone\nwho has visited geysers in the U.S. or in Russia before will not be taken aback\nby El Tatio, but who can claim to have strolled over a volcanic field at 4,300\nm above sea level? Spending the night in the parking lot of the park guards is\nnot a good idea though, as the temperature drops to several degrees below zero\neven in summer. However, this little adventure allowed us to enjoy the natural\nhot springs of the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere two times<\/em>,\nonce at night and a second time in the morning. The best time to visit the\nbubbling, steaming and gurgling holes is in the early morning. The air is clear\nand cold. You will dive in and out of clouds of vapour, which smells slightly\nof sulphur. At this time of day, the eruptions, are the biggest, because the\ncold night air provides the necessary pressure difference. Geysers range in\nsize from cracks and small holes in the earth to a small hill. Impressive is\nalso a big hole with crystal clear water, which looks temptingly like a hot\ntub, but be careful: the water is boiling hot, at around 86\u00b0C. You can walk\naround quite freely with red painted stones limiting the way (no guide needed).\nSlowly there are more and more tourists gathering around us and our fingertips\nare ice-cold, so we decide to make our way down to the natural pool and warm up\nin the volcanic water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valle\nArcoiris <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Back in San Pedro we refuel and set off for the “Rainbow” valley, which can be reached by car in about 1.5 hours. The rocks in this canyon shine in countless colours, red, white, yellow, even green. The furrowed rocks glitter magically in the afternoon sun thanks to crystals enclosed in the fissured rock. On the way back you can admire the petroglyphs of Yerba Buena. <\/p>\n\n\n\n