The Atacama Desert in Chile – The Driest Place On Earth

How dry is the driest place on the planet?

This dry!

As we say in Australia, it’s ‘as dry as a dead dingo’s donger!’. I don’t think there’s a Spanish slang equivalent for that!

So dry that hardly anything grows there – even cacti! You’d be hard pressed to find any sort of vegetation out in these parts.

But there are hardened people who live out here – and hats off them, there’s no way I could live in a place like this long term – even though it’s nice to visit.

Anyway, the Atacama Desert in Chile is known as the driest place on the planet. On average, the most some places would receive is around 15 mm a year (0.6 inches) of ‘rain’ or precipitation per year.

But there are some weather stations here that have never recorded rainfall!

Now for someone who grew up in a tropical area where rainfall is measured in metres (see the Golden Gumboot), I found that this desert was the complete opposite of everything that I had grown up with.

Just to give you an idea of how dry this place is, compare it to the bits of green which have been created by the artificial irrigation of water.

The Atacama Desert – Impressively Dry

Yep, just a bit of green in a dust bowl!

For me, the Atacama Desert is one of those ‘impressive nothing’ kind of places – where there are kilometres of open space of the same kind of landscape that just seem to go on forever! 

For those who like their motorbike and car racing, the Atacama Desert is almost a mandatory stage of the Dakar Rally since it was moved to South America.

The air is so dry here, is that I to buy a truckload of moisturizer to stop my skin from cracking – and I normally have oily skin!

But if you’re ever in South America, a trip across the Atacama is well worth it. Especially if you’re the kind of traveller who likes going out in to the wilderness for a while to escape things.

But make sure you bring a lot of water because you’ll need it!

It will evaporate in no time!

If you’re planning a trip soon, check out my best travel insurance tips, and get a quote on some Backpacker Travel Insurance.