Atacama Desert, Chile: Colorful and Dazzling Rainbow Valley

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Rainbow Valley, real name Matancilla, is another one of those excursions that not everyone has time or inclination to visit. I also thought, "More rocks..." but Rainbow Valley lives up to its name. Sedimentary, igneous, rocks with silica, rocks with tourmalines embedded (unfortunately, not gem quality tourmalines), rocks in every shade of the Rainbow.

Only four of the 70 tour operators in San Pedro schedule this trip which shows its popularity in the pecking order. Try to schedule more than the usual three days spent by tourists in the Atacama Desert to see it all and to see it all more leisurely; or you will be on the go from early in the morning until late in the evening.