Ep 80 - Dust in the wind... Wandering the Atacama desert, Devil's Throat, Valley of the Dead, in 4K

San Pedro de Atacama lies on the main paved road from Argentina over the Paso de Jama, 160 km from the town. This is one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world, so San Pedro seemed like the obvious place from which to base this exploration. The Atacama is the driest non-polar desert in the world and the largest fog desert on Earth. Extreme aridity results from its position between the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range, creating a two-sided rain shadow. The areas around San Pedro were first settled 11,000 years ago. Descended into the valley, the greenery of San Pedro emerged as a literal oasis in the driest part of the world. With a population of 2,599, San Pedro is the region's metropolis. Other than a 17th century adobe church, in the classical Andean style, there is not much to see in this quaint desert town. The conical volcanoes on the horizon and the lunar landscape outside the town are another story altogether, otherworldly, and worthy of exploration. The Tropic of Capricorn is located about 45 minutes’ driving time south of de Atacama. A recently discovered area in the nearby territory of Puna de Atacama, may have similarities to Earth during the Archean eon, the environment of the first life forms on Earth. It could also be similar to conditions on the planet Mars during earlier Martian times. In this episode we'll explore a bit, before climbing a remote hill to get a panoramic view of the Atacama near San Pedro. Then we'll take the back door into Valle de la Muerte, the Valley of Death. Finally, we'll walk a dusty 8 kilometre route through the Devil's Throat, or Garganta del Diablo. Valle de la Muerte is located near the town of San Pedro de Atacama, at an altitude of around 2,500 meters. We walk through bizarre formations of jagged dark brown loose rock, with a view over the valley, the surrounding rock formations, and the distant volcanoes. The Devil's throat, or Garganta del Diablo, is one of Atacama’s hidden gems. Garganta del Diablo is a few miles north of San Pedro de Atacama. Here, we walk through narrow slot canyons and huge red rock formations, before climbing up to a beautiful viewpoint that could be on Mars! Here are some key moments: 0:26 – Intro scenes 1:26 – About the Atacama desert, and where we'll be going in this episode 2:03 – Getting the lay of the land, by checking out some cool views of the Atacama desert, accessible by car from several locations 6:38 – Wind and dust will be a re-concurring theme ; ) 11:24 – The scenic summit ridge, after a bit steeper section 13:12 – Panorama view of the Atacama desert from the top 17:54 – A quick descent into the sunset 20:45 – Finding a back door to Valle de la Muerte, the Valley of Death 22:05 – Crossing the Valle de la Muerte, towards that ridge. Surreal topography 23:11 – Route finding here involved some backtracking, through this awesome terrain 25:08 – Gaining the razor ridge earns spectacular views of the Valley of Death, and beyond 28:37 – A river crossing, with no bridge, on the way to the Devil's Throat, or Garganta del Diablo, one of Atacama’s hidden gems. 30:14 – Checking out some interesting side paths 30:55 – These cool translucent rock layers, and other geological features, are prevalent throughout 32:37 – Very pronounced rock structure through this narrow gorge 33:35 – You can see how this canyon got its Devil's Throat name 34:21 – The Devil's Throat shows us the Devil's Tonsils ; ), before ducking under a low spot 35:19 – The next minute probably shows us crux of the Devil's Throat, and how it got the name 41:00 – The end of the trail, and the start of the short climb up to the viewpoint 42:35 – An enjoyable short scenic ridge walk 45:19 – The viewpoint 46:36 – Enjoying the scenic ridge walk going down If you enjoyed this please consider hitting the like button, hype, and subscribing. This helps the channel get noticed, so that others get a chance to see it, and may just surprise you with some interesting new videos! 100% of the ad revenue that this channel generates is donated to charities working to conserve the amazing planet that this channel explores. Thank you!