Kaj početi v San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Hitre informacije: Rain falls on average only a few millimeters per year, and some measuring stations in the desert landscape have never recorded a single drop. NASA has test-driven Mars rovers here because the soil is surprisingly similar to the surface of the red planet.

Poudarki: Astronaut Neil Armstrong reportedly said the landscape reminded him of the moon's surface, and the name stuck after his visit. Stay seated on a salt ridge as the sun goes down, and the rock walls slowly shift from gold to pink to deep purple.

Hitre informacije: Polje leži na 4.320 metrih nadmorske višine, zato voda vre pri samo 86 stopinjah v redkem zraku. Okoli 80 aktivnih gejzirjev se pokaže v zgodnjih jutranjih urah, preden sonce ogreje zrak in para izgine.

Poudarki: Ime tatio pomeni "dedek" v jeziku kunza, jeziku ljudstva, ki je živelo tu veliko pred prihodom inkov. Ob zori parni curki segajo do treh metrov v ledenem zraku, že uro kasneje pa je polje skoraj tiho.

Hitre informacije: Nearly 3,000 square kilometers of white salt crystal gleams here, one of the saltiest places on the planet. Beneath the surface lies one of the world's richest lithium sources, while three flamingo species thrive in the lagoons around.

Poudarki: The salt forms perfect hexagonal crack patterns that crunch under your shoes, like giant porcelain dried in the sun. As the heat rises, the crystals' reflection makes the surrounding mountains seem to float, and the sound of your steps bounces strangely far across the surface.

Hitre informacije: Laguna, ki jo napaja staljeni sneg z dveh vulkanov, se lesketa na več kot 4 100 metrih nadmorske višine. Barva se spreminja od turkizne do globoko modre, ko se svetloba spreminja, andske vrste flamingov pa se običajno pasejo ob obali.

Poudarki: Ob osmih zjutraj leži led kot krhek stekleni list nad obalno vodo in vsak korak po prodišču se sliši kot pokanje v popolni tišini. Karakara običajno kroži vzdolž grebena, medtem ko imaš vrh Miñiquesa, visok 5 910 metrov, tik ob sebi.

Hitre informacije: At an altitude of 4,500 meters, the oxygen-thin air makes every step an effort, while the shallow lagoon shifts between turquoise and emerald depending on the sun. The iron oxides that color the rocks red stand in sharp contrast to the white salt crystals that have formed over thousands of years.

Poudarki: Small Andean flamingos wade through the icy, mirror-still water and their reflections double the explosion of color against the blood-red stone. When the wind dies down, the surface becomes as silent as glass and the salt crystals crunch under your boots as you follow the trail across the chalk-white deposits.

Hitre informacije: Osem naravnih bazenov nenehno polni 33-stopinjska voda, ki žubori iz skale v ozki soteski. Izvir leži na 3.475 metrih nadmorske višine in so ga domorodci puščave uporabljali že več sto let.

Poudarki: Voda ima stalno 33 stopinj in teče v mirnem slapu iz bazena v bazen, medtem ko se para dviga proti s kaktusi porasli steni soteske. Ležati pri miru v toplem, jasno modrem izviru, medtem ko puščavski veter hladi obraz, je izkušnja, ki ji le malo krajev lahko konkurira.

Hitre informacije: Kamnite formacije so sestavljene iz soli in gline, ki sta jih veter in voda izklesala skozi milijone let, vlažnost zraka pa tu včasih pade pod pet odstotkov. Plast soli in gline se kot dolga hrbtenica razteza čez puščavo, sipina ob robu doline pa privablja ljubitelje deskanja na pesku iz vse Južne Amerike.

Poudarki: Na dnu doline kristali soli pod nogami škrtajo kot suh sneg, medtem ko popoldansko sonce povzroči, da glinene formacije žarijo v rožnati, oranžni in globoko rdeči barvi. Ko se vročina dvigne, lahko trepetanje zraka ustvari fatamorgano, zaradi katere se celotno dno doline blešči kot vodna gladina, čeprav je dež tu večino let redkost.

Hitre informacije: Around 15 stone structures lie scattered across a rocky height, a defensive fortress raised by the Atacameño people during the Middle Ages. A bloody battle in 1540 forced the defenders to leave the height, and the remains of the wall still stand today.

Poudarki: A single narrow opening in the wall served as a gate, a defense so effective that a few could keep an entire army outside. Up on the crest, just over 100 meters above the river, you get the whole valley and the 5,916-meter-high Licancabur volcano in the same view.

Hitre informacije: With a salt content of around 28 percent, the water is almost ten times saltier than the sea, so your body floats without the slightest effort. The green-blue color comes from microscopic algae that thrive in the extreme environment, while the temperature stays around 20 degrees all year round.

Poudarki: The water is so dense that nobody can dive, your body is pushed back up to the surface as if invisible hands carried it. Lie stretched out and hear the salt crystals crunch against your ears while the Andes' five-thousand-meter peaks reflect all around you.

Hitre informacije: The water holds nearly ten times the sea's salinity, yet it teems with life on the shallow bottom surfaces. Here at 2,300 meters above sea level, in the middle of the world's third-largest salt flat, up to 40,000 flamingos from three species gather when the season is at its best.

Poudarki: A single flock eats itself pink: the flamingos' color comes from the tiny brine shrimp Artemia salina that swarm in the saltwater, and the more prey, the stronger the plumage. Walk out onto the crust when the wind dies down and hear how every step crunches like broken glass while mirror-still lagoons double the mountains.