Atacama Desert

The location of the Atacama Desert right next to the Pacific Ocean is a bit curious from the geographical point of view. In contrast to the other popular deserts in the world, the Atacama Desert has a comparably cold temperature. Even though Atacama is devoid of rainfall, there is no absence water in this desert in the form of salt lakes, snow, underground water, fog and dew.

According to the popular belief deserts are synonymous with a forsaken and uninhabited place where neither can anything live nor can it be sustained. There are disjunct patches within the Atacama Desert where you can come across plants that support animal and insect life.

You will also get to spot a number of flamingoes that frequent the salt lakes and feed on red algae growing in the waters. For those not in the know, more surprises are in store. There is human settlement in Atacama. Calama is a self-sufficient town that is replete with motels,

food joints and shops. The artifacts that the archaeologists have retrieved from the desert signify that Atacama Desert has a long history of human habitation. There are ample relics strewn all over the desert that are reminiscent of the presence of South American Indians.

Several mummified bodies of these Indians have been recovered from the Atacama Desert. In fact some of the oldest mummies in the world have been chanced upon in the Atacama Desert.

During years of heavy rainfall in the distant past, enough water accumulated in basins found throughout the Andes to create lakes. Some of the lakes got their water from melting glaciers at the end of the last ice age.

But in some lakes in the Andes mountains, such as Atacama, more water is lost through evaporation than is replaced by rainfall so the lakes are drying up. As the water evaporates, the mineral salts in the water become more concentrated, creating very salty water.

Your Atacama Desert expedition will be nothing short of a thrilling experience. Rarely will you come across the lofty volcanoes, stark lava fields and massive rolling trackless dunes at one place just for you to explore.

The El Tatio Geyser is the highest geyser field in the world at a height of about 14,000 feet. Capture the moment when the geyser squirts steam against the backdrop of the blue, desert sky.

The vision will be etched in your mind as one of your most enduring memories.

World Travel 4 Indians is an international travel site and a repository of useful information on Atacama Desert and other places of interest in Chile and other countries round the world.

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