A Dusty Little Town In The Middle Of Nowhere And It’s A Tourist Mecca

Most of the streets are just dirt, it gets hot in the daytime and unusually cold at night and there’s often a wind that’s blowing the dust around…

Exploring the Atacama Dessert from San Pedro, Chile

Welcome to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile’s gateway to the Atacama Dessert. This desert in northern Chile is the world’s driest non-polar desert, a starkly otherworldly plateau situated between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, known for stark landscapes like salt flats, geysers, volcanic peaks, and hosting unique ecosystems and Moon-like terrain. Significant features include the Valley of the Moon, El Tatio Geysers, flamingo-filled lagoons, and high-altitude plains.

Even though the town’s character is mostly adobe one story buildings and dirt streets, San Pedro has become an international travel destination that now receives more than one and a half million tourists annually. The small town, with a local population of less than 2,500, serves as the gateway and main hub for exploring the Atacama Desert.

Because of this growing popularity San Pedro de Atacama offers an incredible range of high-quality hotels and restaurants, blending rustic desert charm with luxury and excellent local cuisine. Top accommodations include luxury lodges like Awasi Atacama, Nayara Alto Atacama, and Explora en Atacama, along with boutique options like Terrantai Lodge along with an assortment of economy hostels.

From a base in San Pedro you can explore incredible desert landscapes, from the lunar formations of Valle de la Luna & Valle de la Muerte (don’t miss seeing a sunset), colorful mountains in Valle del Arcoiris, high-altitude lagoons like Lagunas Miscanti & Miñiques, and surreal salt flats and floating in the salt ponds at Laguna Cejar. Don’t miss the sunrise geysers at El Tatio, ancient petroglyphs at Yerbas Buenas, and unbelievable stargazing into the dark clear heavens, plus hiking, biking, and exploring charming villages like Machuca.

Getting There

The nearest airport to San Pedro de Atacama is El Loa Airport (CJC) in Calama, Chile, located approximately 70 miles northwest of the town.It is the main gateway for visitors to the Atacama Dessert, offering regular, 2-hour flights from Santiago via LATAM, Sky Airline, and JetSMART several times a day. From Calama there are numerous transfer options to San Pedro starting at about US$25 per person. Check out transfers and tours at Get Your Guide HERE.

Dining Options

The town is known for the number of four and five star food in cozy, Adobe-style restaurants, particularly along the main street (Calle Caracoles). Noted for featuring Lickan-antay (Atacameño) cuisine, that includes ingredients like quinoa, chañar, and llama. Also a surprising number of places offer live music, charming, and sometimes romantic settings, often with outdoor seating under the stars.

Key Tips

The Environment: If you’re planning a visit you need to understand that you will be above 10,000 feet most of the time, that the humidity is near zero and the winds can be strong. Sun screen, chap stick and sun glasses are a must and carry water!

Payments: While most places accept credit/debit cards, it is essential to carry Chilean pesos for smaller establishments, tips, and excursions.

Our Recommendations

For our visit we stayed at the Don Raúl Hotel located in the heart of town a half block off Calle Caracoles. The rooms were comfortable, the shower hot and it included a great breakfast in the attached Restaurante Agua Loca (also a good option for dinner). If you are exploring on your own we’d recommend looking into tours available from Get Your Guide (see the link above).

The Don Raul Hotel San Pedro de Atacama

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A Really Hot Day In Amsterdam

Air conditioning is not common in Northern Europe. It’s probably a combination of normally cooler weather and a cultural attitude, but when it gets really warm you’ll hear a lot of complaining.

A couple of years ago there was an unusual hot spell in Amsterdam with a lot of people trying to deal with the heat. Above is a grab shot of a second floor window. Relief where you find it…

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Exploring Chile From Top To Bottom, An Introduction

If you are a lover of wild places and stunning landscapes, do not pass up a chance at visiting Chile!

Starting in the north the Atacama Desert is a region that is one of the driest places on Earth, famous for mining, salt lakes, cinder cone volcanoes, lamas and flamingoes. Spend some time in Santiago the capital and the very heart and soul of this remarkable country. Finish your visit at the bottom and Torres del Paine National Park with the incredible vistas of the Patagonian mountains.

Looking at a map of South America the country of Chile seems to be squeezed into this unusually thin strip with still over 4,000 miles of Pacific coastline. In fact Chile is so thin that there are sections where the country is less than 50 miles wide. The shape was not defined by geo-politics like many countries, but actually by extreme geography. The nation is squeezed between the high Andes Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. This narrow strip of land is also constrained by several extreme natural barriers with the Atacama Desert in the north, ice fields in the south, and mountains and ocean on either side resulting in an average width of just 61 miles.

For centuries Chile has been one of the most isolated areas in the Americas mostly because of its geography…

Geographic and Climatic Reasons for Chile’s Shape:


The Andes Barrier:
The towering Andes Mountains have prevented access to the east for centuries and along with the Pacific Ocean, create a naturally thin corridor.
Arid North:
To the north, the Atacama Desert is blocked from receiving moisture by the Andes along with the Chilean Coastal Range.
The Cold South
To the south, cold conditions influenced by its proximity to Antarctica and mountain glaciers limit habitable space, with the mountains of Patagonia reinforcing that thin, longitudinal shape.
Isolation: The combination of mountains, sea, desert and ice has physically isolated Chile from its neighbors by defining the eastern border.

Chile’s History
Chile’s history spans agers of thinly populated indigenous peoples, Spanish colonization (1540-1818) that saw fierce Mapuche* resistance, along with a long struggle for stable democracy after independence, punctuated by the 1973 socialist Allende government, the brutal military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), with a recent a peaceful return to democratic rule, focusing on resource export (nitrates, copper) that shaped its economy through periods of boom and crisis.

Pre-Columbian Era
Early Inhabitants: Humans arrived around 12,000 BCE, developing diverse cultures, with the northern people influenced by Incas and southern Araucanians (Mapuche) fiercely resisting conquest.
Colonial Period (1540-1818)

21st Century Chile today continues as a stable democracy, while still facing challenges like rewriting its Pinochet-era constitution, and ongoing important social and economic development.

*The Mapuche comprise the principal indigenous population of Chile as well as Argentina with about 84 per cent of the total indigenous population of southern South America and about 1.3 million in Chile.

Currently we’re planning to add a number of articles over the next weeks to help in planning a Chile trip, so be sure and check back…

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Frigates On Patrol

The Sky Pirates…

These incredible birds were photographed above the harbor in Charlotte Amalie, USVI while they repeatedly attacked other birds and stole their catches.

The Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens), are remarkable seabirds known for their unique adaptations and behaviors. These birds are often referred to as “kleptoparasites” because they steal food from other seabirds, including snatching chicks from nests. The Magnificent Frigatebird is also colloquially known as the “pirate bird” due to its aggressive feeding tactics and is a prominent sight across tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas;

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Exploring Chile’s Patagonia Mountains

Visiting Chile’s Patagonia Mountains with dramatic, glaciated peaks of the Southern Andes that feature iconic summits like Mount Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, and the Torres del Paine. These rugged mountains offer world-class trekking, amazing ice fields, and dramatic granite towers, with peaks reaching over 12,000 feet that includes Cerro San Valentín.

More in future posts from exploring Chile.

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Top 12 Florida Beaches for Your Perfect Winter Getaway

A Dozen Of The Best Florida Has To Offer

Get a jump on Summer and get in some serious beach time. There’s no better time for sun on the beach than Florida in the Spring with its hundreds of miles of sandy beaches lined with palm trees and lapped by crystal turquoise waters. If you’ve been dreaming about a Florida beach vacation here’s some tips on what consider.

Floridas best beaches

First, Florida is not all hot tropical weather all the time. The state has three primary temperate zones:

  • A sub-tropical zone with mostly warm winter months that includes the Florida Keys, Miami through Palm Beach on the Atlantic coast and Marco Island up to Tampa on the Gulf. High season is Winter.
  • A moderate zone with cool evenings and nights through the Winter months that stretch from the sub-tropical zone north for 50 to 100 miles on both coasts. Can at times see very cool days.
  • A mild temperate zone with a climate stretching through Northern Florida that can see average winter days in the 50° to 60° range and where frost is not uncommon. These are popular Summer beaches

The Panhandle – This piece of Florida is a popular vacation destination but its season actually runs from Spring to Autumn because of its mild temperate zone location. Also because there are no major airports nearby it is often a summer driving vacation destination for Southeastern families and Spring Breakers.

Destin

Destin Beach

A stretch of Florida coast heading east from the Alabama line that features some of the cleanest, whitest sand in the whole world, gorgeous Gulf waters and frequent sunshine. Centered on Destin this stretch of Florida coast is one of the state’s most affordable beach areas. Along with stretches of resort hotels and beach communities Destin also offers some remarkable state park beaches like June White Decker Park and Crystal Beach. Again season runs from Spring to Fall.

Panama City Beach

Panama City Beach’s 27 miles of beautiful white sand Gulf beaches offers a range of accommodations. Because of its resort vibe and wide selection of activities and restaurants it’s a popular Spring Break destination and a Summer family vacation destination.

The Treasure Coast

The best moderate Winter beaches are mostly found on the central East Coast and include wildlife refuges, long barrier island beaches, the Space Coast all within easy driving distance of Orlando.

Merritt Island

Daytona Beach

Famous for its wide expanse of white sand beach Daytona also draws Spring Break crowds, a biker week and the famous Daytona 500 race. It also has the advantage of the theme parks of Orlando only an hours drive away. If your looking for a bit more action than just lounging on the beach this city has a lot to consider.

Merritt Island

The unincorporated “town” of Merritt Island is located on Florida’s largest island and is adjacent to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and also serves as the home of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with its launch activities and the popular Visitors Center. Located on the north end of a stretch of coast that includes Palm Bay, Melbourne, Titusville, Vero Beach and Hutchinson Islands there’s a lot to take in.

Clearwater

The coast from West Palm Beach south to Miami includes the beautiful beaches of the Fort Lauderdale area, the excitement of Miami’s South Beach with incredible diving and sport fishing just offshore.

Ft. Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale

Located on a strip of land south of Boca Raton and North of Miami between the Florida Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean, it includes towns like Pompano Beach, Hollywood and Dania Beach. This area draws Winter vacationers to its warm weather, white beaches and crystal clear waters all packaged with the excitement of a major metropolitan city.

Miami and Miami Beach

Miami Beach

This world class city has a decidedly Latin vibe with its famous South Beach, incredible resort hotels and magnificent beaches. You could spend a month here and never run out of things to do.

St. Petersburg

The Florida Keys draw boaters, sport fisherman scuba divers and snorkelers to its warm clear waters. Hundreds of islets, islands and quays (keys) stretch south from Miami to Key West. But, if you are looking for fantastic beaches this isn’t what you are looking for with only a few small exception:

Key Colony Beach

Located just east of Marathon this small town features one of the best beaches in the Florida Keys. The beach stretches for less than a mile in front of a row of classic beach motels but you are only minutes away from the attractions of Marathon, Islamorada and only about 50 miles from iconic Key West.

Naples

Florida’s Southern Gulf Coast includes another hundred plus miles of fantastic beaches. After crossing through the Everglades from Miami on the Gulf Coast you’ll discover a number of famous islands and beach resorts. Starting in the south is Marco Island, farther north is Sanibel and Captiva and in between is the upscale beach town of Naples. Traveling north along the coast are great beaches at Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Dunedin along with stretches of sany barrier island beaches.

Naples

Wall to wall with golf courses, gourmet restaurants and fancy boutiques, Naples is a seriously upscale Florida beach town. While the luxury resorts and fancy restaurants can make Naples seem a bit expensive there are moderately priced accommodations to be found and luckily, the beautiful beaches are free to enjoy. Watch for the frequent dolphins swimming near the beach and visit Naples’ iconic fishing pier.

Sanibel Island

Great beaches and one of Floridas best places for shelling. Shell hunting there even has a name – the Sanibel stoop. Like its sisters, Marco and Captiva, Sanibel has a laid back feel that benefits from its sense of being off the beaten path. Perfect choices if you are trying to just get away.

Tampa Bay Clearwater Beach

Vero Beach

Another major metropolitan center is Tampa Bay with its string of white sand beaches the area also offers major attractions like the Florida Aquarium, Busch Gardens, the Dali Museum and some of the best Sunsets anywhere. At Clearwater Beach’s Pier 60 watching a breathtaking sunset is a popular pastime. The 1,000-foot pier with its lights draws anglers here at night to fish.

When the cold gets you down and your dreams start drifting to tropical climes, remember Florida has an antidote for cold and snow just waiting for you.

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