We flew from Puerto Natales to Calama airport in Atacama. We hired a 4WD car at Calama Airport and drove to San Pedro de Atacama. On average, Atacama is at an altitude of 2400 meters. Key sightings like Lake Miscanti and Tatio Geysers are at altitudes of 4200-4300 meters. Highly recommended to buy oxygen canisters to prevent altitude sickness.
We spent four days exploring Atacama. Unfortunately, a couple of lakes were closed due to rains (Laguna Cesar and Laguna Tebinquiche).
On our next morning, we drove to Piedras Rojas / Salar de Talar. We had booked our entrance tickets for Piedras Rojas & Laguna Miscanti in advance. The drive was very scenic. At Salar de Talar, we had to walk about 30m to reach the Red Rocks / lake. The views of the volcanic mountain and the lake were awesome.
Laguna Tuyajto is a short drive from Salar de Talar. There is a nice lookout a short distance before the lake.
Next we drove to Laguna Miscanti and Laguna Minisque. The roads were not great, especially the last 6-8 kilometres. The views of the lake with surrounding mountains were awesome.
The next morning we drove to Valley of the Moon. We had booked tickets in advance as well. There are essentially four areas to visit in the Valley of the Moon. The first point is the Duna Mayor, followed by Mirador Achaches, then Salt Mines of Victoria and the last is the Tres Marias. One needs to wear sun protection, have a hat and plenty of water, since the sun is quite harsh.
The visit to Valley of the Moon is really worth it, with really awesome views.
After lunch on day 3, we drove to the Rainbow valley. The mountains have rocks / minerals with different colours.
In the evening, we went to the lookout point Ckari, from where one can see the valley of the moon. The view with the setting sun was very nice.
On day 4, we left early from San Pedro de Atacama at 4.30am. We reached Tatio Geyser at 6.30am. The last 10-15 kilometres of the road was quite bad. We saw a number of geysers across 3 locations.
On the drive back from Tatio Geyser, we saw some beautiful lakes, with lots of flamingos.
Overall the trip to Atacama was totally worth it. It also helped to stay at Atacama at 2400 metres, since the next visit was to Uyuni, which has an altitude of approximately 3500 meters.
My Travels - by Sivamani 