The June 2021 issue of National Geographic Traveller has a beautiful 10-page feature dedicated to the “dramatic moonscapes of Chile’s Atacama Desert” as experienced by British travel writer, Jamie Lafferty, during his stay at Awasi Atacama.
Lafferty travelled to Chile in December 2020 spending some days living ‘the Awasi experience’ in the Atacama Desert. He stayed at our 12-suite Relais & Chateaux lodge and his private guide was Lily Marchant.
“The guide from Awasi Atacama hotel has a habit of bounding; enthusiasm comes to her more readily than it does to a sugar-spiked toddler,” writes Lafferty. “I can hear it in her voice when she asks: “Beautiful, no?””
Lily is pictured in the article, below with the orange top, the photograph was taken by Lafferty:
Making the most of the Awasi concept of no set excursions, Lily created an itinerary best suited to Lafferty’s interests:
“One afternoon, Lily takes me hiking along the waterways, following the Puritama River to the hamlet of Guatín. Leaving the bare rock of the roadside behind, we descend to the riverbed where a dozen or so plant species have set up home along the banks. They’ve been joined by dragonflies, lizards and a peculiar rodent called a viscacha.”
Lafferty also enjoyed uncovering some of the myth and legend entwined into life in this epic corner of Northern Chile.
“The Atacama does strange things to the body and the mind, just as it does to the land and air. My guide tells me that salt miners used to hear voices while working at saline rock faces. They became so convinced that some kind of sprite was watching them that they’d leave offerings each evening.”
You can read the full article in the June 2021 issue of National Geographic Traveller Magazine, the award-winning UK travel magazine.
For information about a stay with Awasi Atacama (all bookings are fully inclusive with excursions carried out by a private guide included) simply email us at info@awasi.com