San Pedro de Atacama

Overview

A small settlement in the middle of the world's driest desert, San Pedro is a popular tourist detination, espeically for backpackers. The town is packed with countless agencies offering tours into the desert to see El Taito gaisers and El Valle de la Luna - a valley whose erosion-shaped formations appear not unlike the surface of the moon. Excursions are also offered to the flamingo-laden lagunas of the Bolivian altiplano and on longer multiple-day trips to the salt flats of Uyuni, also across the border in Bolivia. The town of San Pedro is mostley made of adobe mud bricks and it really takes only a short afternoon to explore its small streets and artesan shops but it is a unique place and well worth a visit. The town sports several hostels and campings as well as numerous restaurants.

History