Great pics, great place to visit one day! Thanks for posting.

Before we flew to Patagonia, we took a side trip to San Pedro de Atacama...



The Hotel we stayed... apparently the owner of the Hotel is a member of the ranger service...


Valley of the Moon...







Farther East...




The high desert landscapes were out of this world stunning!








Salta area...

... more...


Salt flats....















The most insane road I've ever driven! 2200M elevation change in 15km... 15kmh speed limit on gravel!!

I finally found the time to upload some pics. Check it out!

I finally found the time to upload some pics. Check it out!

I finally found the time to upload some pics. Check it out!

beautiful pics. Reminds me of Iceland with the glacier and differing scenery. Far more mountainous though

Thanks! The thing that grabbed me, was the drive to and from El Chalten---- you are in a desert driving beside this emerald lake for almost an hour (huge lake!), then you notice icebergs in the lake in the distance.... as you round a mountain you are presented with these incredible jagged mountains, and to the West, a massive glacier calving into the lake.... and you're more or less in a desert!! Absolutely mind blowing!

I've been checking them out as you post them, awesome scenery!!

Excellent scenery pictures!

Did you get any night pictures of the sky near Atacama?

I so want to visit the Atacama Desert and spend a night (or more) just to look at the best view of the Milky Way on Earth.

@poleclimber63 This looks like the trip of a lifetime!
AND a Diesel Hilux 6 speed!??!?!

AND you're from Vernon!!!!

All great things and places!

That’s some beautiful country! I would love to go there and do some fishing and kayaking.

The Hilux trucks are amazing!

We stayed in San Pedro de Atacama for 5 days, and on the night of our wedding anniversary, we did a starlight tour--- which consisted of heading out of town a bit, to an observatory park, where they pointed out all the note-worthy objects in the sky and then we had a chance to look at some objects through 6 each 12in telescopes set up. I'd never been to the Southern Hemisphere before, so it was really awesome! Completely different view from what we're used to!!!
San Pedro was one of the few locations we didn't rent a vehicle, and I think if we'd been there longer, it would have been good thing to do. In the short time we had, we took several tours (not particularly expensive) which hit most of the high points my Wife and I wanted to see.
Later in the trip we stayed in Salta Argentina, and explored the opposite side of the Andes by vehicle. We visited some of the most beautiful high desert, mountain scenery and primarily indigeous villages in the region!! A similar geography, but an interesting contrast to San Pedro.

My workmates say the same thing, every time my Wife and I head out, its a trip of a life time!! In the last 3 years we've been to Nicaragua, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Czech Rep., the UK, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. I think next Fall my Wife is researching either Tunisia, Morocco or maybe Jordan. I'll let her surprise me!

Yes, that Diesel Hilux was a huge surprise! We had rented a small car but they upgraded us to the Hilux for nothing--- I'm so glad they did!! This may be sacrilegious to say on this forum--- but I'd trade my 4R AND Celica without hesitation, to have that Hilux Diesel 6 spd at home!! That truck was no less powerful (probably more torque) than my 4R but with insanely fantastic fuel mileage!!

Rafting, Kayaking and fishing--- all possible! Off-roading goes without saying!! I loved the Hilux!!! I believe it was a 2017--- with none of the electronic junk in the vehicles here in N. America-- much like my 98' 4R!
It's too bad Toyota didn't import these trucks to N. America, but I suspect Toyota didn't want to go through the difficulty of getting the Turbo diesel through our emission standards. It appears their market research believes the N. American market demands larger displacements and larger vehicles..??