Chasing a Llama Across the Sky

When daylight fades over Cordillera de la Sal — whose ridges once formed the floor of an ancient lake — the sky lights up in a way most people have never seen. The Atacama is one of the last places on earth where the Milky Way appears to the naked eye in full: a luminous band bright enough on a moonless night to cast a faint shadow. Mirko or Nicolás will lead you on a starlit trek past ancient rock formations illuminated by the Milky Way. Rather than fixing you at a telescope, they guide you to see the galaxy behind one formation after another. Seasoned photographers, they'll show you how to frame the Milky Way against the foreground, or simply take in with the naked eye. They introduce the southern sky as you walk: planets, Southern Cross, Magellanic Clouds, dust lanes threading the galactic core. Along the way, you'll learn how to read the sky the Andean way, one that people here have used for thousands of years to mark the seasons and harvest time.

Unlike a telescope tour where you observe distant objects at a fixed station, here you walk throughout — it's more effort, but it keeps you warmer, too. Moving through the landscape beneath the Milky Way is the whole point. Each ridge and salt valley becomes a new foreground, so if you're an astrophotography enthusiast, you'll leave with frames a fixed viewpoint couldn’t give, guided by Nicolás and Mirko's eyes and expertize. Long before scientists installed powerful telescopes here, the night sky was an essential source of knowledge for the Indigenous. It was a working calendar for the Licanantay and other Andean peoples, read for planting and harvest — and read unlike anywhere else: not by joining bright stars into figures, but by finding shapes in the dark spaces of the Milky Way itself. Those dark shapes carry stories bound to the landscape, the wildlife, and the cycles of life below — one of which gives this walk its name. You'll have to look up to find it.

Mirko and Nicolás are friends, certified guides, and business partners operating tourism experiences in the Atacama Desert. A professional landscape and wildlife photographer, Mirko has devoted his career to capturing the raw beauty of the Atacama Desert and the rugged terrains of Patagonia. Nicolás is a cultural project administrator specializing in ecotourism. As a local, Indigenous guide, with extensive knowledge of the Atacama’s territory, culture, history, and natural heritage, his experiences focus on Indigenous peoples and the natural environment. Your experience may be hosted by Mirko, Nicolás, or one of two certified guides. If you have a particular interest in photography and wildlife, you may prefer to book Mirko. If you are interested in Indigenous culture, you may wish to book Nicolás. Please feel welcome to write to the Experience Makers via Fernwayer Chat before booking your experience.

Warm/comfortable clothing: evenings/nights are cold in the Atacama Desert. Beanie hat/gloves. Trekking boots. Camera. **Please share any health conditions, injuries, or mobility limitations with Mirko and Nicolás via Fernwayer Chat ahead of time. The trek is on uneven terrain at altitude in the dark. Passport information is required in advance.