I had wanted to stay at Tierra Atacama since I visited its breathtaking sister property Tierra Patagonia in March 2019 (Tierra also has a third hotel on Chiloe Island, which is next on my list to visit). I absolutely loved my trip to Patagonia, and when Reuben and I started discussing a trip to Atacama, I told him we had to stay at Tierra. Thankfully, he listened, although he countered with a condition of his own: we also had to camp in a van. Fair enough.

We strategically booked our stay at Tierra after our camper van experience, as we knew we’d want some luxury after a grungy couple nights without a proper shower or toilet. We also planned our visit during a new moon in early January, as the Atacama Desert is known to have some of the best stargazing in the world due to its high elevation, low levels of light pollution, and minimal number of cloudy days. Finally, we decided to book for four nights, which felt like the perfect amount of time. We were able to do almost every excursion that interested us, and we still felt like we had time to relax, whether on our private terrace or at the stunning infinity pool.

Getting to Tierra Atacama

Tierra Atacama is located a few minutes south of the small town of San Pedro de Atacama. The closest airport is in Calama, approximately a 90 minute drive. Most travelers arrive on one of the many daily two hour flights from Santiago, operated by LATAM, Sky Airline, or jetSMART.

We chose to fly with LATAM as I was hoping my Delta Diamond status would get us some perks given the newish LATAM-Delta partnership. Nope, nothing. The fares seemed to be pretty comparable across all of the airlines, but LATAM offered the most frequent flights. Overall, the service was no-frills; we sat in coach, which was fine for a two hour flight. Our flight didn’t even have a business class cabin, and premium economy looked pretty similar to coach–just in the front of the plane, and with Europe Business-style blocked middle seats.

Our Tierra stay included roundtrip transfers, either from the airport or another hotel. Since we were starting our Atacama trip with the aforementioned camper van experience we had to figure out our own transportation to San Pedro, but we were able to have Tierra pick us up from the local Wicked Campers “office” and bring us to the hotel. The smooth ten minute ride in the sleek, air-conditioned SUV felt soooo comfortable after our dusty, bumpy Furgo Machine adventure.

Upon arrival at Tierra we were welcomed by Paula, the hotel manager. We settled into our seats at a long table facing a beautifully painted map of Atacama to complete the check-in process. Paula asked to see both our Chile mobility passes and the negative test results from our arrival COVID tests. We had an awkward few moments when Reuben pulled up his test and it read “pendiente” (pending). “When did you arrive in Chile?” Paula asked. “You are supposed to be quarantining for seven days if you don’t have a negative test.” Ummm. We had arrived six days ago and we definitely hadn’t been quarantining.

I couldn’t help but giggle because I knew that Reuben’s test was negative, but he had somehow saved the wrong version of the results. Eventually all was resolved when he figured out how to log back in to his account and access his negative test certificate.

While we’re on the subject of COVID requirements, I’ll call out that Tierra, like all of Chile, was quite diligent about masking. All staff members always wore masks and guests generally all did as well, except when seated at a dining table or at the pool. We did get a respite during the excursions, as we all took off our masks once we were outside and ready to go on our hikes/walks/bike rides, but the masks of course went back on as soon as we were done and getting back in the car to head back to Tierra.

Our Accommodations

Next Paula led us to our Oriente room located in the building on the eastern stretch of the property. There was another building (Poniente) of similar rooms located on the western stretch. Both the Oriente and Poniente rooms are technically the same category, as they are sold at the same rates and offer almost all of the same features (indoor and outdoor showers, private terraces, king-size beds, views of Licancabur Volcano). The main difference is that the Oriente rooms are located on the ground floor, while the Poniente rooms are accessed via a small staircase and also have bathtubs. I personally preferred the Oriente rooms with their floor-to-ceiling windows, but I don’t think you could go wrong either way.

The Property

The property itself is very well thought out, with expansive views of the Andes and lots of nooks for lounging and socializing. The walkway to the entrance passes by the onsite garden as well as solar panels that provide the majority of the hotel’s power. The lobby, living room and dining room are all very open, allowing guests with ample opportunities to mingle while never missing a glimpse of Licancabur.

The Dining Situation

We typically enjoyed breakfast indoors, snagged a table outside for lunch, snuggled into one of the cushioned communal seating areas outside for cocktail hour, then returned inside for dinner after the sun set and the temperature started to drop. All meals and drinks (excluding premium liquors and wines) were included with our stay, so we ate and drank quite well.

While the buffet breakfast was standard every day (scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, avocado, tomatoes, assorted cheeses and meats, various fruits, yogurt, cereal, bread, pastries, juices, tea and coffee), the lunch and dinner menus changed daily. We were always able to choose between a few options for starters, main courses and desserts. Of course some dishes were better than others, but everything was generally quite good. Insider tip: there is also an a la carte menu with a standard array of items (i.e. green salads, burgers). It is not included on the daily menu accessible by QR code, so you have to ask for it, but we appreciated the option of being able to order a simple salad on a day when we wanted to eat lighter.

The Bar Situation

While Reuben and I (okay, particularly Reuben) are low maintenance about some things, we will both admit that we’re picky when it comes to our drinks. I’m always wary about properties with all-inclusive offerings as I want good wine and well-crafted cocktails. All of Tierra’s included wines were from the same Chilean producer (sorry I don’t remember the name!) but they had a diverse set of varietals. I particularly liked the Sauvignon Blanc and the Carménère. Of course, you can always pay for a bottle if you are especially picky.

I was quite pleased with the cocktails. The menu offered a handful of signature specialties and a large list of classics. We tried the Atacama Sour (a local riff on a pisco sour) our first night but found it a bit too sweet, so we stuck with a dry martini or Martinez the rest of the time.

The Pools & Spa

The outdoor infinity pool at Tierra Atacama is just exquisite. At first I was thinking that we’d be too busy with excursions to spend much time lounging poolside but I was pleasantly surprised that we had at least an hour every day. The pool is not heated, but it was quite refreshing after just a few minutes in the hot desert sun. There is also a hot tub, as well as a heated indoor pool. Due to COVID the indoor pool was only available to one room at a time (by appointment in 45 minute increments). We made a point to schedule an appointment in the afternoon on our last day and created our own hydrotherapy treatment with alternating stints in the indoor pool (jets on), hot tub, and comparatively chilly outdoor pool. AHHH. Highly recommended–just don’t forget your sunscreen because that sun is strong.

I did not get to enjoy a massage at the spa, but I’m sure it would’ve been lovely.

Excursions, Excursions, Excursions

Finally we’re at the main event! While I loved our room and the food and the wine and the cocktails and the infinity pool at Tierra, you can get all of that almost anywhere these days. What I really think makes Tierra properties unique are the curated excursions on offer at each location, complete with knowledgeable, expert local guides. Upon arrival, we sat down with Tomas, one of the excursions managers, to discuss our personal interests and plot out the schedule for our stay.

After facing a number of challenges during the van life portion of our Atacama stay, I craved an experience that had already been fully researched, designed and coordinated for me. While Reuben lamented the lack of serendipity, I had had enough of the struggle. I think some places are better for self-guided travel than others–from my experience, Atacama could be done either way, but it fell closer to the guided travel end of the spectrum for me.

This was particularly true due to the fact that so many of the most popular sites were closed during our stay. Most of our research had been done using pre-pandemic blog posts, and we hadn’t been able to find much recent information online given that Chile had really opened to tourists less than two months before we arrived. However, Tierra had been able to alter its list of excursions based on the current conditions; while a number of the activities listed on its website weren’t available to us, they still offered no shortage of things to do and see. If we hadn’t known that a number of sites were closed before we arrived at Tierra, we likely never would have realized.

So here’s what we ended up doing:

Laguna Tebenquiche

Honestly, this was a bit of a default option as it was the only afternoon excursion available on the day that we checked in (check in is officially at 3pm and the Tebenquiche excursion started at 4:30pm). However, we were curious to see some of the lagoons in the south (if you read my van life post you’ll recall that we attempted to visit nearby Laguna Chaxa the previous day only to realize it was closed.

We showed up in the lobby around 4:25pm to meet our guide and group (all Tierra excursions are done with small groups of no more than eight people) only to find that we’d be having a private tour, led by our guide, Greg, and our driver, Santiago. We filled up our water bottles (provided by Tierra) and headed out to the red van to start the drive south toward Tebenquiche.

Greg was a chatty young Chilean originally from Santiago. He had recently relocated to San Pedro with his girlfriend after guiding in Patagonia for a few years. They had actually met while both working at Explora Torres del Paine (Tierra’s competitor), and his girlfriend now worked for Explora Atacama while he worked as a contractor. I delighted when Greg admitted that Tierra Patagonia was actually superior to Explora–yes, that is why I had chosen Tierra for my own visit and now recommended it to all my clients. However I will admit that I loved Explora for my visits to the Sacred Valley/Machu Picchu and Easter Island.

Okay, back to the excursion. It was about a 45 minute drive to the lagoon and it was sometimes quite bumpy as we were driving on unpaved roads for part of the time. When we arrived Greg took care of our entrance fees and we had to walk into the office to have our temperature checked.

As we walked around the lagoon Greg explained a bit more about the geology and wildlife of the area. He also volunteered to take our picture at every viewpoint, an offer that I always accepted. Reuben started to crack jokes about how we’d have pictures of us in the same pose with a bunch of different backdrops, but I didn’t care. We had only taken a few (unflattering) selfies up this point of the trip, and I wasn’t about to turn down a proper photo opp. Yet another advantage to a guided tour.

Rio Salado hike

For our first full day at Tierra we had two hiking excursions planned: one in the morning and another in the afternoon. First up was Rio Salado, which was described to us as a unique trek into a canyon and through a river (literally–they warned us that we’d be walking in the water for a good portion of the trail and our boots would get wet).

Our guide, Peter, met us in the lobby after breakfast, and we realized that we were once again the only people on the excursion. On one hand it was nice to have private tours, but I was also looking forward to meeting some fellow travelers. Oh well, we could chat with Peter.

Peter was a jovial Chilean who had lived in San Pedro for over ten years and now had his own family there. He explained that we’d probably be the only people hiking in the area as it wasn’t a well-known trail for tourists and it required a driver since we would start and end in different places. We started the drive toward Calama, then turned right onto yet another bumpy, unpaved road that wound through some beautiful rock formations.

At a couple places we stopped to get out of the van and look at some of the petroglyphs carved into the rocks, which were estimated to be about a thousand years old. Finally we reached the unmarked start of the “trail,” where we hopped out and started the climb up the hill toward the river. Peter handed us a trekking pole each, which he wisely told us we would be happy to have once we got in the water.

The views of the Andes at the top of the hill were incredible, so we stopped to snap a few photos and then we started the short, steep descent toward the river. I was already happy to have a trekking pole, as the loose gravel made this section quite slippery.

Finally, we were in the canyon and ready to take the plunge into the river. We were actually starting in the Rio Grande, which would eventually meet up with the Rio Salado, where we would end the hike. The water felt chilly at first, but was also refreshing, as we had just been hiking uphill in the direct sunlight. The going was slow, as the mud brown water was opaque and we had to take each step carefully to avoid slipping. Again, very happy to have the trekking pole.

I actually found that once we were in the water it was much more relaxing to just accept that we were going to be wet rather than trying to hop from rock to rock like I normally would be doing. The water never came up above mid-shin level, and the river was moving at a calm pace so it wasn’t a challenging hike–we just had to be cautious given the uneven, rocky surface of the river’s bottom.

After about 90 minutes of hiking we met up with the much smaller stream of Rio Salado, then stepped out of the water for good and made our way to the van. Peter had suggested that we bring some sandals to change into for the return drive since our hiking boots were now soaked, and we were delighted to get out of our soggy boots and into much more comfortable flip flops. Then it was back to Tierra for lunch and some pool time. Upon returning to our room we immediately set our boots out in the sun, hoping that they’d dry in time for our next hike in a few hours. Fortunately it was hot and arid in the desert so this wasn’t a problem.

Guatin Gatchi hike

In the afternoon, we were headed north toward Guatin and the Cactus Valley. Once again our guide was Peter, but this time we had some other hiking companions: a couple from New York. Woohoo, we’d finally get to be a bit more social.

As we got out of the van and started the hike, we could easily see how the valley got its name: there were cacti everywhere. It was quite interesting to see so many of the spiky plants in this one area when we didn’t see them in any other part of the desert. Reuben and I were in awe of the variety of landscapes that Atacama had to offer. Even though we couldn’t be more than an hour (driving) from the site of the Rio Salado hike, the Guatin Gatchi hike was a completely different experience.

Of course, we also weren’t hiking through a river this time either. Peter advised us to do our best to keep our shoes dry since these rocks were a lot more slippery. We were back to testing our balance hopping from rock to rock.

Similar to Rio Salado, we were the only people on the “trail,” along with one other group from Tierra. Again, the van would be picking us up in a different place than where we started, so having a driver made the experience much easier. I reminded Reuben of the benefits of traveling with Tierra–we certainly would not have done either of these hikes on our own with Furgo Machine.

The hike itself wasn’t too difficult, although there were some tricky sections where we needed to cling to the sides of boulders or dash across a few slippery rocks to cross the river. Greg was also trying to get us to move quickly as we were all planning to do the Cerro Toco volcano trek in the next day or two, with a summit of approximately 18,400 feet. This was a good preparatory hike at a lower but still decent altitude (9,000 feet).

In total the hike was another 90 minutes or so. We met back up with the van and were on our way back to the hotel for the evening. After staying at Tierra Patagonia and completing several all-day hikes there I had been expecting some longer treks at Tierra Atacama, but many of the excursions were either half day or shorter full day outings. The pace at Atacama felt much more relaxed, which was fine with me. The hotel itself was so peaceful and beautiful that I was glad to be able to spend some time there.

Ruta de los Salares drive

For our penultimate day we decided to do the Ruta de los Salares drive (“salares” translates to salt flats). By this point we had driven west, north and south from San Pedro but we had yet to drive east to see this area of the desert. The road would take us out toward Chile’s borders with Bolivia and Argentina, and we’d get to see a different perspective of the Andes, as well as various viewpoints along the way to our final stop at Salar de Loyoques, also known as Salar de Quisquiro.

Once again we had a private tour, led by our first (and only) female guide of the trip, Grazna. We also had a female driver, Emma, who was fortunately driving a smooth-riding SUV rather than the clunky vans we had been bumping around in the past couple of days. We were going to be in the car for several hours, so we were glad that we would be more comfortable. Emma was also playing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, which we must have listened to at least four times throughout the day. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to hear Pink Floyd without thinking about Atacama going forward.

We dressed a lot more casually for this excursion since we weren’t going to be doing any trekking, but we did bring layers since we would be driving into higher altitudes and the weather could get cool and breezy.

The drive itself was beautiful, and our picnic lunch overlooking the salt flat was quite enjoyable, but Ruta de los Salares was ultimately my least favorite excursion. We easily could have done the drive on our own, so it didn’t seem like Tierra added a whole lot of value to be honest. I also prefer to be outside doing active things rather than sitting in a car for hours.

We both ended up falling asleep on the drive back after our lunch in the sun; Grazna said that the altitude also made people sleepy, which may have explained why we were sleeping so well at night too. Even though Ruta de los Salares was categorized as a full day excursion, we returned to Tierra by 3pm, so we still had plenty of time in the day to chill.

Cerro Toco hike

Finally it was our last day in Atacama, and we planned to do the excursion I was the most excited about: hiking the Cerro Toco volcano. The trail itself wasn’t long (about 2.5 miles out and back), but the altitude made it challenging. We’d start at around 17,500 feet and reach the summit at around 18,400 feet, which would be the highest that I had ever hiked before. Due to the elevation Tierra strongly recommends that guests only do the hike after having four days to adjust.

Well, we had done our best to prepare and acclimatize to the altitude. It was our sixth day in the desert, we had been doing some other hiking, and we had intermittently gone to higher elevations with some of our other excursions. Oh, and we were drinking a ton of water. I had never experienced altitude sickness before, but Reuben had when he hiked Kilimanjaro. We really didn’t know how our bodies would react, but I was hopeful that we’d be fine.

We also prepared by bringing lots of layers. While the weather had consistently been hot and sunny all week, guides kept warning us that conditions could change quickly in the mountains. Plus, we’d be going from an altitude of 7,900 feet in San Pedro to 17-18,000 feet at Cerro Toco, so we could expect cooler temperatures and windier weather. We both made sure we had warm hats and gloves with us just in case.

Our guide, Manfred, and driver, Pedro, met us in the morning. As I expected, we once again had a private excursion. It was about an hour drive to the base of the trail from Tierra, so we chatted with Manfred on the way. He was an energetic, fit guy who was clearly passionate about hiking and the outdoors. He also helped to set our expectations; although we had read that the hike could take 2-3 hours, we were hoping to get to the summit in less than an hour and then head down in half that amount of time. Manfred (Man or Manny for short) thought that was realistic, but it all depended on how we dealt with the altitude. We agreed to start slow and not push ourselves too much to give our bodies the best chance of adjusting well.

Shortly after reaching the trailhead, a small tour group pulled up near us. These were the only other people that we saw during the hike and they were going at a much slower pace than we were. Manfred explained that a lot of travelers in the tour groups didn’t take the time to properly acclimatize to the altitude so they ended up having to go very slowly and sometimes couldn’t make it all the way up. This reminded me a lot of what I had read going into Rainbow Mountain, and once again I was glad that we had our own guide.

Then it was time to start our ascent. The air certainly felt thinner, and the temperature was cooler with a light breeze. I had brought a windbreaker, but was fine just wearing my fleece and a baseball cap. However, it was cold enough that I put on my gloves to keep my hands from stiffening up.

Manny led us from the front, and Pedro joined as well, following in the back. We settled into a slow, methodical pace, and I quickly fell into a nearly meditative state. I was breathing heavier than usual, but not in an uncomfortable way, and Reuben seemed to be doing well, too. While part of me wanted to keep stopping to admire the views and take a bunch of pictures, I decided to focus on getting to the top. Then we could take all the pictures we wanted.

During most of the ascent we hardly talked, aside from Manny giving us updates on the trail. For example, “this is the steepest part,” and “we just have a few more switchbacks and then it gets easier.” It really wouldn’t have been difficult at all except for the altitude. However, we still managed to make it to the summit under our goal time (fifty four minutes to be exact) and we weren’t feeling any signs of altitude sickness.

And oh my god was the scenery worth it. We had panoramic views all around us: Licancabur was right there, we could see out to Bolivia (absolutely breathaking–I really need to go there soon), more volcanos, and salt flats of course.

Finally we decided it was time to head back down, which was mostly easy, although we did have to be careful not to slip on the loose gravel. We made it back to the car in less than 30 minutes, at which point we relaxed for a bit in the sun and drank a bunch of water. Manfred had some snack boxes for us, but we weren’t really hungry and decided to wait to have lunch back at Tierra.

While Manfred told us that people often fell asleep during the car ride back (likely related to the altitude–see our experience on the Ruta de los Salares the previous day), we felt great. Reuben noticed that a Latin rock band called Soda Stereo was playing and got into a long chat with Manfred and Pedro about their favorite Latin rock music that eventually turned into a dance party of sorts. I loved it.

Back at Tierra we waved goodbye to Manfred and Pedro. “We’re going back to Toco tomorrow. I can’t wait,” Manfred told us. “Brave Brazilian girl. Hopefully we can make it up in less than an hour again.” I loved his energy and passion and was so glad that he and Reuben had bonded a bit. My mission to convert Reuben seemed to be going well. I doubted that he would ever fully go to the #andreastyle side, but he was at least enjoying himself and appreciating what my travel style had to offer.

Cerro Toco did not disappoint. My only regret was that we didn’t have another day to do the longer Lascar volcano hike. Oh well, I guess I had a reason to go back.

Stargazing excursion

While Tierra offered either one full day or two half day excursions in our rate, we couldn’t not do the stargazing excursion on our last night, even though Cerro Toco technically counted as our full day excursion. One of the primary reasons that we wanted to visit the Atacama Desert was for the incredible stargazing. It would be a late night (we met in the lobby at 10:45pm and didn’t return until 1am), and we were charged $75 for the excursion, but we knew we would regret it if we didn’t go. We could sleep another time.

Well, the stargazing excursion turned out to be the least private of them all. There had to be about 20 people waiting in the lobby, finishing their pre-excursion cocktails, when we showed up. We all piled into a large van and drove about fifteen minutes along a wooded road to the Alarkapin Observatory. There we were split into three groups (English, Spanish and Portuguese speakers) before beginning the tour.

Our group was led to a classroom of sorts to start with a PowerPoint presentation. Honestly, this part was pretty lame and I began to question our decision to go on the excursion. Bed was sounding pretty wonderful. But then we went outside to actually look at the stars and our guide redeemed himself. We both learned new things (i.e. where the Southern Cross really was and why our astrological signs are technically off by a month!) Plus, the night sky was just mind-blowing. I couldn’t stop staring even after my neck started hurting from looking up for so long. Finally, we got a chance to use their fancy telescope and take some pretty effing amazing pictures with the night sky. I was exhausted when we finally got back to Tierra, but it was well worth it.

And that was our trip. While Tierra Atacama wasn’t quite as active as Patagonia (as I mentioned earlier), I wouldn’t have changed a thing. It got so hot in the afternoons that it was nice to have some built-in siesta time, and I had no regrets about having time to enjoy the incredibly-designed property in between excursions. I also think that the Atacama property could appeal to a broader group of guests–for example, families with kids or people that wanted to hang out at the pool and relax at the spa just as much as they wanted to be out hiking, biking and exploring the desert.

Well, I guess Tierra Chiloe is next up, so stay tuned for more on that. Hopefully I will be able to make it happen in early 2023!