The next day we drove from San Pedro de Atacama in our little Polo through a great mountain landscape to the Valle Arcoiris, the Rainbow Valley. There was nothing about it in our guidebooks; only a few reports and photos could be found in internet forums – why, I have no idea. We arrived later than planned, shortly before sunset, but there was enough time to explore this impressive valley.
The Rainbow Valley from the air
The aerial shots with the Mavic are among the most beautiful I brought back from this trip. Only from above do you see how many colours these slopes hold: red, green and white lie side by side, as if someone had painted the valley.
Old rock paintings at the edge of the valley
On the way back we stopped briefly at the edge of the Rainbow Valley, where old rock paintings were discovered years ago. San Pedro de Atacama grew over centuries around an oasis on the Puna de Atacama, overlooking the Licancabur volcano; until the War of the Pacific the town belonged to Bolivia.
A pale moon behind thin clouds – the sky over the Atacama is huge even by day.Two views along the way: brown ranges of hills and snow-capped volcanic cones.A lone columnar cactus on the scree slope, the track below, snowy peaks behind.Not a car in sight – right in the middle of the straight road across the brown plain.Eroded slopes and a road in the valley, a pointed volcano on the horizon.The road runs dead straight across the beige and red plain, just one yellow sign in the way.A bend, a pointed volcano and reddish hills under a clear sky.Grey-green bushes in front of the red, furrowed rock face – the first colours of the Rainbow Valley.The track winds between red slopes into the valley, the light already softening.Two aerials: red rock ribs and a gully with a pale trail.Tyre tracks between grey-green and red slopes – only from above do the colours show.Deep shadows in the furrows of the red slope.Green-white beside rust-red, as if someone had painted the valley.A pale ridge in green, white and red runs across the plain.Red and grey slopes with a winding track between them.A colourful hill in red, white and green – the Rainbow Valley from above.A steep slope in red and green, the track running along the bottom right.The colourful hill above dark, cracked ground.A summit in red, green and white – hardly any guidebook mentions this valley.A pale rock face beside a red slope, bushes on the gravel.Red rock towers above pale rubble, shortly before sunset.Red towers along the path and slopes in red and green-white with bushes.A layered wall in white, grey and red.A pale rock full of hollows, a heap of boulders on top.At the edge of the valley: animal figures carved into the rock long ago.Two rock carvings up close – animals in the reddish stone.The sky turns from blue to pink, the mountains become silhouettes.The last light: a mountain ridge and the road with its sign in the afterglow.After nightfall: the Milky Way with reddish dust clouds.
