Chile sounds like the end of the world to me… Like really really far! I was not planning to go over there at first, neither had I ever heard about the wonderful Atacama desert, the driest non-polar desert in the world. Fortunately, a Mexican friend who was traveling with us told me about it, so we decided to cross the border from Bolivia to Chile, after our Uyuni and South Lipez tour. The landscape that we discovered just left us in awe but the aridity of everything that surrounded us was quite disturbing, especially for an ocean lover like me.
The desert of Atacama is located in the North of Chile and may be the oldest desert in the world. That certainly explains why I felt like I was on another planet. In fact, among the dozens of tours proposed in Atacama, there is the Moon Valley, the Mars Valley and the Death Valley… What a program! The main village in this desert is called San Pedro de Atacama. All the tours start there so it is quite touristy but the good side of it is that there are plenty of hostels and restaurants. I was planning to stay just for a couple days and I ended spending almost a week. The atmosphere is very laid-back. The people are cool and there is a far-west kind of scenery.
To take our flight back to Lima, Peru we needed to go to the closest international airport in Antofagasta, the largest city in Northern Chile. Not much to see in this port city, closely linked to mining activity, but I appreciated seeing the Pacific ocean and being surrounded by no tourists.
In this video, I share our travel in San Pedro de Atacama, the desert of Atacama and Antofagasta with my dog Shark. I hope we will come back some day to explore Chile until its extreme South, Puerto Natales, in the Antarctic region.
Enjoy the video and feel free to share it 😉
Photos & contents @ The Tropical Dog 2015-2017.
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Hi Maria, I love your blog. Can you remember what documentation you needed to go to Chile from Bolivia with Shark? Did you need a veterinary inspection etc? Thanks
Thanks Richie! You can find out about the pet import policy in Chile here: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/CL-Chile-customs-currency-airport-tax-regulations-details.htm#Pets
Make sure to meet each and every rule. I stayed 3 hours in the border because my dog had received her deworming treatments before the indicated period. Safe travels!