San Pedro de Atacama
From Freepedia
San Pedro de Atacama is a pre-Inca town in northern Chile, and a popular tourist destination. Its permanent population as of 2005 was about 1,000. Image:Valle de la luna san pedro chile.jpg
San Pedro de Atacama grew, over centuries, around an oasis in the Atacama desert. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 100 km southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcano. It features a significant archeological museum, the Museo Arqueológico R. P. Gustavo Le Paige, with a large collection of mummies and other relics. Native ruins nearby now attract increasing numbers of tourists interested in learning about pre-Colombian cultures. Tourists also visit for other popular activities including sandboarding and star gazing, with the views of the stars from the Atacama unrivalled across the continent. Image:Tulor Settlement Chile.jpg
The town lies at an average altitude of approximately 2,400m and visitors often suffer from symptoms of mild altitude sickness such as dizzyness, lethargy and headaches. The local climate is extremely dry (with little or no rainfall recorded in the town itself) and mild, with daytime temperatures between 25-30 degrees in the summer (December to February) and 18-25 degrees in the Winter (June to August). Nighttime temperatures routinely drop below zero and can reach as low as -10 degrees in the winter.
In the past it was found that the town's water supply was naturally contaminated with high levels of the heavy metal arsenic which leaches from adjacent salt lakes, with levels of as high as 600µg per litre (60 times the WHO recommended maximum) being recorded. Interestingly the indigenous population seem to have developed a natural tolerance to this otherwise toxic metal and suffered few ill effects from drinking the water. Recently a filtration plant has been installed in the town which has reduced the levels of arsenic and other contaminants in the local water supply.
