Cutting and pasting this from an earlier travel blog of mine....

Chile´s Atacama Desert: No Need to Visit the Moon Anymore
March 2006

Saludos desde the Atacama Desert! After being deluged with rain in Patagonia during the riverrafting trip, I was excited to be spending four days in the driest desert in the world. Given that one part of this desert hasn´t seen rain in over 300 years, I figured my sunshine odds were pretty good. And pacha mama has come through so far.

The town of San Pedro de Atacama (the gringo base for all travel here) is a funny one. The road from Calama, where the nearest airport is, seems like it couldn´t possibly lead to any kind of human life. But after an hour, small adobe structures and whitewashed churches began to appear. The town is full of character and charm, although many of the locals look like Chilean versions of the grungy teenagers that hang out on Haight Street in SF--the number of stray dogs (as in all of Chile) only adds to this unfavorable connection. Bur you don´t come to the Atacama Desert to spend your time in San Pedro buying tshirts.

I began my first full day in the desert with a visit to the tourist office in the hopes that the book of visitor feedback would help me wade through the 100 travel agencies here. Some of the comments were hilarious (guide was drunk the whole time, hadn´t planned on spending night in the desert, etc.) I decided to take a trip with Cactus Tours because Martin (lovely Brit on my Torres del Paine trek) recommended them and all the feedback seemed to agree. what´s nice about them is that they don´t just show up at a place and join the 14 seater nondescript minivan brigade that shows up at all the popular spots. Instead they head out early so that people can walk for a few hours first.

The hike was utterly spectacular. We walked through canyons of clay and salt with every texture imaginable--a true geological paradise. There were areas of rocky erosion that looked like miniature Gaudi pinnacles from La Sagrada Familia. And after tour hours of oohing and aahing, we reached our natural mecca for the day: Valle de La Luna, as otherworldly a landscape as I have ever seen. It looks like different ecosystems have been put together in Photoshop by someone who didn´t know how to make the edges blend. Dark sand dunes end abruptly and clay hills take over. My favorite part was a landscape that looked like an expanse of pinched dough but silvery blue in color as the sun set.

That´s my short recap of uno dia fantastico. More landscapes to explore tomorrow!

A few tips and links for fellow travelers:
San Pedro has a wide range of places to stay, from 20 bucks a night to the super luxe Explora hotel, 4 nights minimum, several thousand dollars...But the spot is so popular, I do recommend booking in advance if you are going at a peak time. I ended up splurging and staying at Altiplanico Hotel in S. Pedro. It was absolutely beautiful and tranquil and about a 5 minute walk from town. ( www.altiplanico.cl. email: )

There are a million tour agencies so ask around to find good ones. Cactus travel was my favorite and is owned by a local Atacamenan, unlike most of the others. Go visit Valle de la Lune (a trip offered by everyone) and if you have time, Salar de Tara is a full-day trip but easily the most spectacular place you could ever set your eyes on. Its also the place that all locals love the most. If I had had more time, I would have done one of the several day trips into Bolivia. Everyone who went said it was amazing.

The Atacama is one of the best places to star-gaze in the world. The cloud cover has to be right for the local astronomer to invite people over to look through his scopes but this is a must for anyone who loves looking at stars.