Travel writer Stephanie Vermillion recently travelled to Northern Chile to stay at Awasi Atacama, our 12-room Relais & Chateaux lodge. 

Writing for leading US-travel magazine, Travel + Leisure, Vermillion explained how the “arid, Andes-mountain-flanked stretch of northern Chile has the perfect ingredients for stargazing: little to no light pollution; dry, typically cloud-free weather (it receives as little as half an inch of rainfall per year); and an elevation between 8,000 and more than 16,000 feet above sea level.”

“These superlatives have allured top astronomers and some of the most powerful observatories,” writes Vermillion. “Its Martian landscapes are also so extreme that NASA uses it as a training ground in the search for life on the red planet.”

Her reason, however, for visiting the Atacama “was a bit simpler than hunting for proof of alien life: I’d come to regain perspective.”

“Throughout the pandemic, domestic astrotourism adventures and documentaries like Cosmos had become like therapy, constantly reminding me of my tiny place in the universe and how little hiccups like my double-postponed COVID wedding or canceled trips actually mattered in the grand scheme of life.”

“I’d also promised myself that once travel lockdowns lifted and I felt safe to jet set again,” Vermillion tells Travel + Leisure readers, “I’d spend at least one night beneath that dense splash of constellations that Chile’s wild desert is known for. Any international trip, let alone a voyage to one of the world’s most extreme deserts, felt far-fetched at the time. As I learned this spring, it was definitely worth the wait.”

Navigating the Atacama Desert

Credit: Stephanie Vermillion

“What I didn’t realize was that I’d find nearly as much grounding and serenity during the daytime desert adventures, too. Awasi distinguishes itself from other Atacama hotels by offering private, tailored, and adventurous guest itineraries — similar to an African safari. Each room has its own private guide for the duration of the stay, and our guide, Alonso Matías Vielma Sepúlveda, was on top of it.”

Photo of Awasi Atacama private guide Alonso Matías Vielma Sepúlveda taken by Stephanie Vermillion

“What kind of things do you want to do?” Sepúlveda asked as we sat down for itinerary-planning and lemonade by one of Awasi’s numerous adobe fireplaces — a Chilean desert aesthetic that continues throughout the property, from the thatch-roof round guest rooms to the cocktail bar adorned with stones from the local river.

“I’ve heard Valle de la Luna [Valley of the Moon] is great,” I said, trying to recall even one non-astro experience I’d scanned so I didn’t look entirely ill-prepared. Then, I stopped myself. If I wanted peace and recentering, I needed nature sans crowds — and the top 10 list I was attempting to recite just wouldn’t cut it. “Actually, scratch that,” I said quickly. “We like hiking, wildlife, and landscapes. Is there an itinerary that combines all of this?”

Sepúlveda grinned and nodded, the wheels already in motion. What came next was a daytime Atacama Desert itinerary that would rival my once-in-a-lifetime night beneath the stars.

The Awasi Relais & Chateaux restaurant by Stephanie Vermillion

The Desert by Day

“We only had two days to find awe in the Atacama Desert,” writes Vermillion “but Sepúlveda’s itinerary made the most of it.”

“First up? Hiking in the desert’s Altiplano, an Andes-fringed plateau with an elevation of more than 14,000 feet. We shared our off-the-beaten-path trail with foxes, viscachas (large rabbit-like animals), vicuña, and not a single other tourist. In fact, the vicuña, a wild camelid, outnumbered us by at least five to one — and that total jumped even higher once they got comfortable with us around.”

Photo by Stephanie Vermillion

Finding Solace through Stargazing

“The night of the main event — that Atacama desert stargazing I’d long dreamed about — started in the most appropriate of ways: a celebratory feast. Each Saturday, Awasi hosts a traditional Chilean barbecue, known as asado, complete with grilled meats, fish, vegetables, and sides like the tomato-and-onion Chilean salad.”

Stargazing in Atacama with Awasi captured by Stephanie Vermillion

“As delicious as the feast smelled, I could hardly eat a thing. I was too excited for the starry skies and astrophotography adventures that would soon unfold — and I was right to be. Just stepping foot from our guide’s truck into the lunar world of Vallecito at night felt like walking onto another planet — and that’s before I even looked up at the stars above.”

“The constellations and far-flung galaxies weren’t just sparkling; they felt within arm’s reach. We had four hours of nearly pure darkness to count the shooting stars, admire the glowing Milky Way, and name the galaxies, constellations, and planets astonishingly visible to the naked eye.”

“We begrudgingly ended the night around 2 a.m., knowing those 7 a.m. flights would come all too soon. On my last glance toward the cosmos, a final and humbling Sagan lesson came to mind: “All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star,” he wrote in “The Cosmic Connection,” before concluding with his most famous quote: We are made of star stuff.”

Stephanie stayed at Awasi Atacama in April 2022.