As was recommended to me, I booked tours with a local agency from San Pedro de Atacama. I certainly love driving myself around but this was a trip I am glad I didn’t do that in. Perhaps on a future trip I would drive but the area is not consistently well labeled and some of the places to go are quite remote. Our first day took us to the Valle de la Luna and the Laguna Cejar.
Valle de la Luna
A short drive from San Pedro, it was an ideal place to watch the sun set. The mountains in the distance, anchored by Volcan Licancabur, changed colors as the sun set. We also had a small amount of clouds which “wore” spectacular colors as the sun set. We hiked up to a sort-of ridge and sat there until the sun went down. It was a bit cold but we had coats and hunkered down against some rocks. There was also a large sand dune next to the ridge and it provided me some good photo opps! It was indeed a majestic sunset…
View of Volcan Licancabur
Sand. Footsteps.
Laguna Cejar
This laguna is a spot to enjoy the salty water by jumping in. Of course, it was cold when we were there but apparently, it was tolerable. I didn’t go prepared to jump in so I observed as others dipped in and floated in the salty water. Of course, photo opps kept me entertained…
The sun and clouds above
Observing tourists observe the ever-present Volcan Licancabur
Of the two places, I could have missed the Laguna Cejar and not have missed tons but that could be because I didn’t jump in. However, the Valle de la Luna is a must for sure! I did not get to see the Valle de la Muerte or the Valle del Arco Iris but now I would look forward to visiting them should I ever return…
