| Over 1000km long and trapped between the | | | | Atacama Desert, and even climbed some of the |
| Pacific and the Andes this harsh and arid land is | | | | 6000m peaks, where sacrificial burial sites have |
| one of the most inhospitable places on earth. The | | | | been found. In the nineteenth century the British, |
| days can be burning hot and the nights freezing; | | | | in their quest for sodium nitrate, built mining towns |
| precipitation levels are so low that no rain fall has | | | | throughout the region. When the need for these |
| ever been recorded in some areas. It might not | | | | nitrates disappeared overnight the towns were |
| sound like a tempting place to visit, but a land of | | | | abandoned and became ghost towns that still |
| such extremes can't fail to impress.The absence | | | | stand very much as they did then.The list of |
| of life and the wind-sculpted rocks give many of | | | | amazing places in the Atacama goes on - there |
| the landscapes an eerie Martian or lunar | | | | are emerald green lakes, geysers, live volcanoes, |
| appearance. NASA have even used the area to | | | | geoglyphs on hillsides, a salt desert populated by |
| test their autonomous vehicles designed for the | | | | flamingos, oases, hot springs and more.Andrew |
| exploration of other planets.It is also the unlikely | | | | Chaundler worked and travelled in South America |
| setting for a wealth of human history and culture. | | | | for many years before setting up Optimundo, a |
| The museum in San Pedro has a fine collection of | | | | travel company that specialises in Chile Holidays |
| artefacts and extraordinarily well preserved | | | | and Argentina Holidays that have been designed |
| mummies from indigenous cultures. Recent studies | | | | with expert knowledge of the region. The |
| have discovered that the ancient peoples of this | | | | company also provides an efficient and friendly |
| region were using sophisticated techniques to | | | | tailor-made service, so that you can specify the |
| mummify their dead long before the | | | | elements that you want in your perfect trip to |
| Egyptians.The Incas also left their mark on the | | | | Chile and Argentina. |