Atacama desert News
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Death Valley -
Perfect conditions have led to a burst of colorful wildflowers in Death Valley National Park in Central California this month. The usually barren landscape has been transformed into a palette of vivid colors.
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Death Valley -
California's Death Valley National Park endured torrential rains in October this year, making it the wettest month on record. The hard-hitting storms and weather system were responsible for the 1,000-year-flood event that followed.
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Atacama -
Something spectacular has happened in South America this year. The Atacama desert of Chile, known as the driest non-polar place in the world, erupted in bloom, not once, but twice over the past year, a phenomenon never before seen.
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Arica -
The mummies of the Chinchorro culture, deemed the world’s oldest, are being threatened by environmental and biological issues that experts link to climate change. The Chinchorro Indians lived about 9,000 years ago in the coast of the Atacama Desert.
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Santiago -
Remember the ordeal of the 33 miners who were trapped for 70 days in the San José copper mine in northern Chile in 2010? They came together again to film a moving video in support of Chile’s national soccer team playing in the World Cup Brazil 2014.
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A team of adventurous filmmakers has made a documentary that shows the opportunities to see wildlife along Chile, from the arid regions of the Atacama Desert to the Patagonia and Antarctica, and from the high Andes to the Pacific Ocean.
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Calama -
There are locations on Earth that resemble otherworldly landscapes. Chile’s ‘Valle de la Luna’, or Valley of the Moon, in the Atacama Desert, near the Andes foothills, is one of those places.
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Llamas are Andean mammals related to camels and dromedaries. Llamas were first domesticated about 5,000 years ago by the Incas of the Peruvian highlands and they are still bred by the people of the Andes for their meat, wool and as beasts of burden.
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Calama -
Toconao, a small town in the Atacama Desert is home to an ancient native community. The charm of the village comes from its plainness, the calm of its people, its special climate, and its lovely religious architecture that has stood the test of time.
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Calama -
About a million years ago a volcanic eruption stopped the flow of mountain creeks. The water collected on a plateau high above the Atacama Desert forming two lagoons of breathtaking beauty now occupied by waterfowl species typical of the Andes.
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Calama -
This charming little village offers many historical and cultural attractions typical of northern Chile, and is surrounded by breathtaking natural scenery such as volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, and varied flora and fauna.
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Antofagasta -
In the middle of the Atacama Desert, in a parched and forsaken region, a giant hand comes out of the ground. It is a sculpture by Chilean artist Mario Irarrázabal representing the victims of injustice and torture during the military regime in Chile.
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Antofagasta -
The port of Antofagasta, located on the Pacific Ocean at the edge of Chile’s Atacama Desert, is mostly a mining and industrial center; however, fishing is also an important economic activity attracting local buyers and external visitors.
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Santiago -
Canadian mining company Barrick Gold Corporation said today that it will comply with the details of the resolution of Chile's Superintendent for the Environment (SMA) in which the authority fined the company US$ 16.4 million.
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Antofagasta -
The old Baquedano railway complex, located 90 kilometers northeast of the city of Antofagasta in the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile, was the converging point of Chile’s North-South railway line and the East-West Antofagasta-Bolivia Railway.
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Vallenar -
The Atacama Desert of Chile is known as one of the driest places on Earth; however, because of higher than usual winter precipitation related to El Niño phenomenon, the desert can burst in a sensational bloom of colourful flowers.
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Santiago -
The fossil remains of a prehistoric bird of huge proportions discovered in coastal sediments of the Atacama Desert of Chile, near the town of Bahía Inglesa, has been described as a new species.
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La Serena -
Chile is home to several astronomical observatories located at the foothills of the Andes Mountains in the Atacama Desert, where around 300 clear nights per year and a very stable atmosphere allow international astronomers the study of the southern sky.
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Santiago -
A message in a plastic bag written in red ink on a paper stuck to the end of the probe that carries out rescue operations brought extreme joy to the families of 33 miners trapped 17 days ago at the site of the San José mine in the Atacama Desert of Chile
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Atacama desert Image
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Altiplanic lagoons Miscanti and Miñiques. A gravel road from the town of Socaire leads to the mountains and the lagoons. At this altitude, just a few plants populate the ground, such as the Yareta and Paja-Brava.
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A section of the Antofagasta Fisheries Terminal looking towards the city.
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A long dock facing the ocean leaves a protected quay for the boats and where a large number of sea-lions live off the fish scraps from the fishermen and fish cleaners.
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San Pedro de Atacama Cemetery. This cemetery follows the ancient Atacamenian tradition of marking the graves with stones and a small mound of earth. Many tombs bear no name. There are also a few above-ground mausoleums, some of which follow the style of houses in the small "pueblo".
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San Pedro de Atacama Main Square. Tourists enjoy refreshments at an Internet Cafe and Bike Rental Shop accross the town's Main Square.
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This simple construction is the oldest building in San Pedro de Atacama and perhaps the oldest in Chile. It dates from June 1540 and was constructed to provide refuge to Spanish conquistador Don Pedro de Valdivia during his visit to the budding town.
Some rare plants grow on top of the large cacti.
The Atacama desert turns into a blooming carpet of wildflowers after El Nino's heavy rains this year. MlordandGod
Cactus and other rare plants show their best appearance during the blooming season, after the occasional winter rains.
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The fishing cove is protected from the wind and the waves of the Pacific Ocean by a long dock leaving a channel between the red and green light signals for the boats to come in and out.
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Sunset at the Altiplanic lagoons Miscanti and Miñiques. Snow, not common during the winter months in the high mountains at this latitude, covers the ground in the proximity of the lagoons.
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Late afternoon at the Altiplanic lagoons Miscanti and Miñiques. Several species of waterfowl use the grass in the margins of the lagoons to nest in the spring.
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Early morning at San Pedro de Atacama. In order to preserve the original appearance of the old town, no street has been paved. The dirt roads have been covered with "vichufita", a mixture of clay and salt compacted with water.
Large extensions of the Atacama desert change colour with the sequencial blooming of the desert flowers.
Succulent desert plants show their bright green color contrasting with the blooming flowers.
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San Pedro de Atacama Church. The building is constructed of adobe walls and ceilings made of wood from native trees covered with a mixture of straw and clay. In 1951, the old church was declared a National Monument.
Head of a black mummy from the Chinchorro culture, found in Northern Chile. Pablo Trincado
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The man wearing a red shirt is one of many "fish-cleaners" at the Fish Terminal. He works cleaning fish for customers in exchange of tips. Fish cleaners have "devoted followers" among the local marine birds.
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Around San Pedro de Atacama there are impressive landscapes of great natural beauty with large Andean mountains and steppe-like grasslands vegetation.
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The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens), also known as the Patagonian sea lion, inhabits the coasts of Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina and Southern Brazil. They are not very popular with fishermen because they damage nets and steal fish. Those living as families at the Antofagasta fishing cove are very tame.
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