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The glory of the desertThe Atacama is a geological desert, not the result of erosion or evolution. Here you can see salt lakes, geysers, oases and mineral rock formations plus a fascinating variety of wild life. Trekking, guided tours or visit on your own, with San Pedro as your base. This is a paradise for people interested in outdoor recreation, nature, ecology and adventure.The Atacama desert is said to be the driest in the world, with places where it did not rain for 400 years. Some weather stations in the Atacama have never received rain. Evidence suggests that the Atacama may not have had any significant rainfall from 1570 to 1971. With zero humidity and numerous natural mineral sources the desert takes on rock formations of a fantastic kind, with a background of volcanoes in the distance. Wild life, plants and archaeological remainsIn spite of the lack of humidity there are places where wild life abounds and one of the excitements is seeing animals and birds in such unexpected surroundings. There are salt lakes full of flamingoes, the altiplano with vicunas and llamas or the occasional nandu, geysers which erupt at daybreak, oases of a miniature and perfect kind, countless archaeological relics from the ancient graves which were perfectly preserved by the dryness and minerals. There are special plants and cacti and, in parts of the desert after a rare fall of rain, flowers. Then the southern Atacama bursts into life, known as the flowering desert, with stunning colors and rare exotic flowers covering hundreds of kilometers of normally desert land.Astronomy, Mars and stations in the desertIn the twenty first century tests used by the Viking Mars landers to detect life on Mars were duplicated in the Atacama desert. No signs were detected in the desert soil. The region may be unique on Earth in this regard and is being used by NASA to test instruments for future Mars missions. Darwin writes in his journal, amazed at the aridity of the southern Atacama, although he comments also that the locals were excited because there had been rain in June. This means that had he returned in September/October he would have seen it flowering in all its glory.The European Southern Observatory operates two major observatories in the Atacama Desert: The La Silla Observatory and the Paranal Observatory , which includes the Very Large Telescope . A international astronomy project is building a new radio astronomy observatory, ALMA, also in the Atacama Desert. The team is composed of astronomers from Europe, Japan, and North America. Another radio astronomy observatory, ACT , is being built on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert. The reason for so much activity is that fhe sky is clearer here than almost anywhere in the world, and so, for the ordinary visitor, the night is a feast of stars and planets.
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