Spend a night in the Atacama Desert, Chile

So harsh it’s uninhabitable, at least on a permanent basis, the Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on the planet.

It draws astronomers for its nearly always cloud-free skies and photographers to capture its remarkable salt flats, geysers, lagoons, thermal pools, and soaring volcanoes. The Chaxa Lagoon at Los Flamencos National Reserve is inhabited by Andean and Chilean flamingoes that paint a stunning contrast, while the El Tatio Geysers, the southern hemisphere’s largest geyser field, boasts some of the most breathtaking sunsets. The low light deepens the red, green, yellow, and even blue hues that are splashed across the landscape.