Discover Top Posts Tagged with #starkbrilliance

The Atacama Desert Experience - One Not To Be Missed

You cannot go to Chile without going to the Atacama Desert. As I write this, I am looking out over red rock formations and snowcapped mountains. It is like Sedona Arizona on steroids. There really are no words to describe the juxtaposition of brilliantly colored desert landscape and vast expanses of desert and Andean Mountains.

We stayed at the Alto Atacama. It is based loosely on the concept of a local village, so you meander around adobe, stone, and modern petroglyphs. There even are four resident llamas to complete the picture. The outside spaces are beautifully picturesque, with mineral baths, six pools to lounge around in and tremendous privacy. The spa is lovely, small, lined with black stone and an inner courtyard, steam, sauna and Scottish showers. You can also get a massage outside on a special platform overlooking the red desert and mountains. Spa treatments are based on indigenous materials and are quite unique. Paths are landscaped with native foliage and pomegranate trees. We had a Tilo Suite which are the largest. They have beautiful patios with a daybed and two chairs and table, overlooking the pond where ducks land and surrounded completely by red mountains. Views are amazing. One of the best features of the room is the outdoor shower and enclosed day bed for lounging. Since stargazing is a big activity in the desert here, it is thrilling to take a shower in the evening and watch the stars from the bed, decorated with local weaving. Alto Atacama has its own stargazing platform, with eight swiveling beds to make viewing easier. Stargazing lectures are available almost every night. This particular part of the world is the number one stargazing and astronomical capital of the planet, with the Canary Islands and Hawaii behind them.

In terms of the room, this has a negative impact as they strive to reduce ambient light. While there are lights scattered about the suite, it can be challenging to pack and find the odd sock under the bed. Rooms are also decorated in local materials, which tend more towards earth tones and less toward lighter colors.

The whole emphasis at every lodge in the Atacama Desert is on excursions. All properties offer approximately 34 different excursions, led by guides. Maximum group size is around six. The excursions range from the very slow to the extremely arduous. You could easily spend five days here and never walk more than 100 yards, as there is plenty to see and do. The larger emphasis is on hiking, horseback riding, volcano summiting and mountain biking. There is an extensive variety of activities, from archaeological sites to flamingo watching to sundowners in surreal lunar landscapes. The basic paradigm is similar to an African safari—an excursion in the early morning, resting in the middle of the day, and an excursion in the later afternoon or evening. The Valley of the Moon and the El Tatio geysers excursions are fantastic, and I loved mountain biking in the Devils Gorge —if you are not a novice biker. Just a tasting of a much larger menu, including cultural, geological, and archaeological activities! Which brings me to the next point—acclimatizing. Since you are at 7,000 feet when you are in the hotels, they will recommend various time frames for some activities in order to acclimatize. For example, the geyser excursion is at 14,500 feet so you cannot go until your third day there. I would recommend a minimum stay of three days, and I could’ve easily stayed five. The process of acclimating is rendered more challenging because this particular desert is the driest place on earth. They recommend drinking tons of water, eating light, avoiding alcohol and any other dehydrating substances for the first day. The altitude and the sun also contribute to quickly seared skin, so constant sunscreen is a must.

I quizzed the guides for info on the other properties as they seem to rotate among them. Awasi is by far the most exclusive, where you are assigned your own guide and your own private driver for the length of your stay. However it is located in the small town of San Pedro, population 9000, so not as picturesquely sited as some of the others. It caters more to an older US population. Explora has its own stables, so very good for those who are keen on horseback riding. Tierra Atacama has a sizable Brazilian clientele. The client base at Alto Atacama is mixed—US, UK, Australian, German and Japanese while I was there.

Food and service are a mixed bag at Alto Atacama. They do a wonderful job keeping variety in the food, for example offering an extensive sideboard of salads, canapés, and soup before dinner. The next night might be entirely off a different menu or by the pool. Food ranges from excellent to mediocre, but always plentiful. They were more than happy to accommodate my gluten and dairy allergy with alternates. Most of the hotels are all inclusive, including cocktails and wine. The same can be said for the service. While the guides were uniformly excellent, the service ranges from superlative to nonexistent. English language ability is similar, from fluent to non-speaking. So far I have found the same in all the best hotels in Santiago as well.

Oddly winter is the dry season so there is no snow on the mountains. In summer you will get more snow on the peaks so the views are spectacular, however you may get some rain. In February days were warm and 85 degrees, nights around 50, and windy. Higher altitudes are much colder. With the preceding caveats, I would not hesitate to return to and recommend Alto Atacama.

#atacamadesert #starkbrilliance #treatyourself #WhereOnEarthTravel #chile