Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley)

Valle de la Luna or Moon Valley in Chile (more specifically: Cordillera de la Sal or Salt mountain range) is considered one of the driest places on earth, its located about 13 kilometers to the west of San Pedro de Atacama’s downtown and is acessible throught the south of the new highway CH-23 (it’s a really smooth 20 minutes ride).

The Moon Valley is an interesting area of formation of stone and sand, makes up a part of the Reserva Nacional los Flamencos (Los Flamencos National Reserve), and it was declared Sanctuary of the Nature in 1982 for its amazing natural beauty and uncanny lunar landscapes.

Its various formations carved by wind and water through millennias, a stunning range of color and texture and the white covering made of salt makes up the composition of a landscape somewhat very similar to the surface of the moon.

For its harsh properties there is no life in this valley and it’s considered the most inhospitable place of the planet, some people say scientists tested a prototype for a Mars rover here due to the valley’s dry and forbidding terrains.

One of the biggest formations here is the so called Amphitheatre rock formation. Why it’s called that? Well, here’s a bit of wikipedia for you: (:

A natural amphitheatre is a performance space located in a spot where a steep mountain or a particular rock formation naturally amplifies or echoes sound, making it ideal for musical and theatrical performances. The term amphitheatre can also be used to describe naturally occurring formations which would be ideal for this purpose, even if no theatre has been constructed there.

Singular, unique and outstandingly beautiful.