A Celestial Adventure in Chile’s Atacama Desert

Alto Atacama is the first property outside Costa Rica for the eco-hospitality brand Nayara. It opened just prior to the pandemic, then was shuttered until reopening in September 2021. Our stay at the lodge was a busy one. We traveled by mountain bike into the nearby Devil’s Throat, a series of twisting slot canyons. We hiked the Rainbow Valley, ringed by striated peaks that looked like Neapolitan ice cream. We visited the Valley of the Moon, a landscape so barren that it’s been used by NASA as a stand-in for Mars. And in a setting framed by active and inactive volcanoes, the snowcapped peak known in the Indigenous Kunza language as Licancabur always loomed largest.

When the altitude caught up with us, we stayed on property, feeding bunches of algaroba pods to the hotel’s resident llamas, or lazing around one of the pools. A few times, we caught a shuttle into San Pedro de Atacama, the nearby town. At first, it reminded me of Mos Eisley, the noisome spaceport in Star Wars, with its trinket sellers and tour operators. But soon, as we ate ice cream in the plaza, even it cast a spell.

Late in the day, we went for walks along a dry riverbed close to Alto Atacama, past the archaeological site where a pre-Columbian fortress is being unearthed, watching the shifting hues of the lunar terrain. As Urbano Mena had said of the night sky when we first arrived, the landscape looked like nothing. But after our eyes adjusted, we began to see everything.

Plan it

For a one-of-a-kind astronomical itinerary, Black Tomato‘s seven-day Atacama experience includes guided stargazing as well as adventures like private trekking along the Rio Salado and flamingo-spotting at Laguna Chaxa. 

More celestial adventures

Torunn Tronsvang, the founder of Up Norway, says now is the perfect moment to glimpse the northern lights in Norway’s town. NASA is predicting a bumper few years of solar activity, which means the aurora borealis will be more intense and more frequent than ever, reaching a climax in 2025.

In South Korea, Yeongyang Firefly Eco Park , the first park in Asia designated as a Silver-tier International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association, is 175 miles from Seoul. Abercrombie & Kent‘s Gerald Hatherly can plan a two-night excursion to gaze at the Milky Way, or—for those who want a soundtrack with their planet-spotting—attend a night concert.

Due to its dry weather, high elevation, and vast empty spaces, the southern area of Utah offers unparalleled nighttime visibility. Melissa Wu of Woodlyn Travel suggests Bryce Canyon National Park as an ideal base camp, which allows visitors to partake in daytime activities like hiking and ATV tours. 

This article appeared in the April 2023 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.