Written by Mona Sho, who spent 5 days exploring the Atacama Desert by guided tour, based in San Pedro de Atacama. The Atacama Desert is located in northern Chile, spanning a 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) strip of land wedged between the Pacific Ocean coast and the high Andes Mountains. It sits on a high plateau in South America, just west of the Andes, bordered by Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, and Argentina to the east. While many travelers mistakenly search for i