Desierto de Atacama

Description

Desierto de Atacama

An open road in the Atacama Desert at sunset.

Situated on the Pacific coast of South America, the Atacama Desert stretches over 1,600 kilometres west of the Andes Mountains, and is the driest non-polar desert in the world.

With an incredibly interesting, and at times alien-looking landscape, the Atacama desert is composed of sand, salt lakes, stony terrain, and felsic lava (low temperature lava). Clear skies at night make it an excellent place for star gazing and astrophotography, with the Moon being very visible for about 10-12 days each month.

Along with extremes in landscape, the temperatures in the Atacama are extreme too, and can reach around 40°C  during the day, dropping to 5°C at night.