Michael Batson

The Atacama Desert is often described as the world’s most perfect desert. Parts of the desert haven't seen a drop of rain since recordkeeping began. It is the second driest place on Earth after Antarctica. The desert stretches 1000 kilometres from Peru's southern border rising from a thin coastal shelf to the pampas—virtually lifeless plains that dip down to river gorges layered with mineral sediments from the Andes.

The mineral deposits here are so valuable the nations bordering this region went to war for its control. The outcome of this conflict, which has disadvantaged Chile’s neighbours, left a bitter after taste.

Along this geographic zone rise some of the highest volcanoes of the Los Andes cordillera.

It is a shock then to learn that more than a million people live in the Atacama today crowded into coastal cities, mining compounds, fishing villages, and oasis towns like San Pedro de Atacama (San Pedro for short).

San Pedro is a small village located in one of the many oases which are founded in the northern altiplano region of Chile. The altiplano is a plateau of the Andes, covering two thirds of Bolivia and extending into Southern Peru and Chile and ranging in height from 3000m to 3900m

Formerly the center of the Atacama culture, today San Pedro's population is about 2500. These days the town is considered the archeological capital of Chile.

The main economic activities of San Pedro aside from tourism is farming. Once it was a sort of hippie drop-off point, and point of interest for hardy travellers. I saw cyclists bent over their handlebars struggling through the desert on a road that disappeared out of sight in both directions.

Now the tourists come in by the bus load making this tiny settlement almost cosmopolitan.

San Pedro itself is a collection dusty streets and white washed abodes. To see in town are the small church originally built by the Spanish in 1577 and the

Gustavo le Paige archaeological museum. The present walls of the San Pedro church date from 1744 and following a fire were restored in the mid-1800s. The interior beams are made from the carob tree bound together with heavy leather straps.

The museum is a surreal site amongst all the antiquity. A modern construct octagonal in shape, it illustrates the evolution of the towns that populated the Atacameño Territory in their eleven thousand years of development with exhibits selected from over 380,000 archaeological pieces.

In pre-Hispanic times, before the Inca Empire, the region was inhabited mainly by the Atacameño tribe, noted for their construction of fortified towns, the remains of one of which can be seen a few kilometres outside town.

Locals intermingle with the tourists, or in some cases go about their business oblivious to the intrusion. It is said that tourism is “one of the most despicable, destructive industries on the face of the earth.”  San Pedro is a microcosm for those who live off the industry and those that seemingly live in spite of it.

The main attractions lie outside town backed by the stunning Andean backdrop. Seventeen kilometers from the town is the Valle de la Luna, the Valley of the Moon, located in the Cordillera de la Sal, so-called because of its apparent similarity to the lunar surface set in a huge natural coliseum. So like the Moon’s surface is this place that a prototype for a Mars rover was tested here.

Tours to the valley run from the town and the best time to visit is sunset to catch the spectacular colours against the landscape. Transport drops you near one of the biggest sand dunes I’ve ever seen, about 100m high and half-a-kilometre long.

Dusk then is the time when the tours arrive. After a climb up the steep dune a group of us sat on the ridge of this amazing creation, swept up over time by the elements, looking out over the panorama of a setting sun against one of the world’s most impressive geographic features.

Some were well-travelled, coming from the privilege of nations where people have discretionary income to lavish on such ventures. Unlike much of Latin America where people spend all their waking hours just to make enough to survive through to the next gruelling day.

I was getting the impression that there seemed very little social and economic mobility in these lands. If you were born poor, chances are unless you were extremely lucky, that you would probably die poor. Perhaps more the case in some other Latin American nations than in Chile, but not altogether absent there either.

Stories began to be exchanged, like the one about Indian ski fields and Sikhs on toboggans careering down the slopes in pairs laughing, resplendent in their turbans. It all seems light years away from here.

Someone rolled a rock down the side of the dune. It tumbled end over end and each turn gave the off the unmistakable sound that this giant dune was hollow. So we all tried it, a cacophony of hollow rumblings echoing around this giant bowl.

South of San Pedro is the impressive Salar de Atacama. At 3000 square kilometres the largest salt flats in Chile and the second largest in the world after the Salar de Uyuni in neighbouring Bolivia. Across the eastern backdrop is the ever present sight of a number of volcanoes including the Lascar, Chile’s most active. The altitude of the salt flats averages 2300 metres above sea level, and consequently the area bakes during the day and freezes after dark.

Nearby is the Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos where the pink and white birds come to rest feed and play at the Chaxa Lagoon. You can get here by day trips from San Pedro. Gus and David, the French-speaking Swiss encountered earlier at the giant Chuquicamata copper mine seemed impressed with the vast flat openness of this land.

Coming from a comparatively congested and small country it all seemed a bit much to take in. Someone pointed out that the Swiss air force can only fly 10 minutes in an direction before having to change course least they violate neighbouring airspace.

Flamingos may seem docile and statuesque but some of their neighbours are not. It was while standing here looking out across to the horizon, that we narrowly missed being struck by a stray bullet, which flew by imbedding itself behind us in one of the saline outcrops with a “thwack”. The Swiss had not long since finished their compulsory military training back home, and were sure that this is what had just occurred. Later back at the hotel we were informed that there was indeed nearby a military base complete with a firing range for cadets. One of the shots had clearly missed the target and just kept on going.

Other geographic wonders nearby to San Pedro are the El Tatio geyser field. Comprising over 80 active geysers, El Tatio is the largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere and the third largest field in the world after Yellowstone National Park and Russia’ s Dolina Giezerov. El Tatio sits at over 4000m above sea level so if the sun’s not high in the sky, it’s cold, so come prepared.

Not all San Pedro’s sights are ancient or natural wonders. A quantum step away is a step into the realms of science fiction, Atacama Large Millimeter Array, or ALMA for short.

Because of its high altitude, clear skies, dry air, lack of pollution and radio interference from the very widely spaced cities, the Atacama around San Pedro is one of the best places in the world to hold astronomical observations.

ALMA is a multi-international project and is the largest astronomical project on the planet. The project is a multi-national undertaking and is the largest astronomical event on the planet. Located at the observatory at Llano de Chajnantor 5000m high, just assembling the 66 radio telescope dishes was a major feat of engineering and of logistics. So far, it’s cost over US$1 billion and is the most ambitious ground-based telescope operation yet attempted. ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation.

San Pedro sits in this expanse of nothingness, emptiness. To get here and away you can go north and south or east to Bolivia or Argentina. Buses run to and from Salta over the Andes in Argentina, and to Bolivia.

Yet this landscape hides a wealth of riches; archaeological, mineral, historical, natural. Recently, it was much in the news as were the 33 miners trapped below the ground surface in a copper and gold mine.

Tourism may blight some societies but it may also save some from perhaps a worse fate, a life underground in the mining pits, facing injury or death by disease.

All this in a long, lean land with a flag modelled on that of Texas.