I'm pasting this from something I wrote earlier this year for anyone who's a fellow desert-lover or considering a trip to Chile....

Day 2 in Chile's Atacama: Swimming in the Driest Desert in the World

After hiking through the lunar landscapes of San Pedro de Atacama (Chile´s desert) yesterday, today I felt like I visited the Dead Sea. I had signed up for a tour at one of the 10 thousand local agencies in town (picking Maximum Experience, because it takes you off the beaten path.) Boy were we off the beaten path. The desert I saw today looks nothing like the desert I saw yesterday! I knew there were lakes in the Atacama. Afterall, I chose to come here in part because I wanted to see the flamingoes, but seeing the lakes was still surreal. After driving through miles of low shrub-like vegetation typical of any desert, we came upon our first one--Laguna de Saja. To give you an idea of how in the middle of nowhere these lakes are, I should mention that right before we arrived, our driver pointed to a tree and said this is how he knows where to find it. Picture the Sahara with one lone tree in the middle. Yep, if that arbol were ever to die, I think these lakes might go with it.

But soon we came upon a gorgeous little lake with very high salt content and marveled in the way we could float without any effort. It’s a pretty surreal experience to be inside a small pool of water in the absolute middle of nowhere—with no people or vegetation within miles and miles—just the scorched, fissured desert surface, this little pool of water, and you.

One of the young women in our 5 person group (Jillian) was, ironically, a synchronized swimmer from Canada. We quickly dubbed her the Atacama Synchronized Swimming Champion. Heck, we all looked like synchronized swimming champions. I could have stayed floating in the water all day.

But there were more lakes to see so our guide promptly doused us all in water. After a few minutes, I understood why. Parts of my back turned solid white and the parts of the body that weren´t splashed looked like they were peeling. And my hair currently feels so stiff, I feel like it has the amount of hairspray one would find in the tresses of a Texas beauty pageant queen.

After visiting several lakes, we concluded the afternoon with a sunset in one of the most remarkable landscapes I have ever seen--picture a flat hard sea of salt for miles, with mountains and volcanoes and the background and occasional pools of water poking through.

But one of the best parts of the whole day was the fact that our guide, Juan Carlos, didn´t speak a word of English. And the Canadians didn´t speak a word of Spanish. I probably wouldn´t have signed up for the tour had I known, but it was a blessing in disguise. To practice one´s Spanish and swim in the desert-now that´s a day well spent.