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Travel

The best places to enjoy sunsets in Latin America

By Valentin Fuentes and TravelPulse
News Service
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The sun sets over a road in Chile's Atacama Desert.

The sun sets over a road in Chile's Atacama Desert. (Samuel Cohen/Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS)

Latin America offers great places to enjoy extraordinary sunsets. Its extensive geography includes beaches, mountains and deserts where travelers can enjoy amazing views amid wonderful natural diversity.

Here we dive into some of the most recommended places for photography lovers and those who seek to relax with the colors of nature at that special time of the day.

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Chile

Chile’s Easter Island offers one of the world’s most emblematic archeological sites with its colossal moai. These giant human-shaped stone statues tell the story of the Rapanui people and were created between the 13th and 16th centuries. It is also a great place to enjoy a remarkable sunset.

One of the top places set up is located in the ceremonial complex of Tahai, an impressive site that perfectly combines the beauty of the Pacific Ocean with one of the most important archeological sites on the planet. This was a strategic place for the old inhabitants of the island because it has freshwater springs and is close to the sea, where they would fish.

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Another great place for sunsets in Chile is the stunning Atacama Desert. San Pedro de Atacama offers some of the most privileged views that visitors can find, such as the Laskar Volcano, the Aguas Calientes Volcano, and the Atacama Salt Flats. Here, tourists can get phenomenal photographs of the incredible nature of the area. The characteristics of the land, which consists of salt basins, and sand and lava flows, more than 20 million years old, make the red and ochre colors dominate the landscape and make it seem that the visitor is on another planet.

The Atacama Desert is surrounded to the east and west by the Andes Mountains. The driest area of this region is near San Pedro de Atacama and Toconao, villages close to the famous ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) observatory, a privileged place in the world to study outer space.

Argentina

Lago Argentino is located in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. It is the largest freshwater lake in Argentina with an area of 870 square miles. On the shores of Lago Argentino photographers can find reserves of flamingos ducks and black-necked swans that live in this place and take advantage of the afternoon to bathe.

It is one of the 20 deepest lakes in the world and has a main body, plus two long western arms that are framed within the Los Glaciares National Park where the Perito Moreno and Upsala glaciers drain. On the south bank of the lake is the city of El Calafate, the most popular tourist base for those who like to explore the region to take photographs, among other activities.

Mexico

Playa de Los Enamorados, in Los Cabos, has one of the best sunsets in Mexico, especially in the spot where tourists can see the rock called El Dedo de Neptuno surrounded by a blue sea. It is a beach in Los Cabos that visitors can only reach by boat and has white sand and jade-colored water that changes as the sun sets.

In this place, tourists can enjoy fantastic sunsets at the same time as having experiences like kayaking, snorkeling, water taxi rides in the area of the iconic Arch, or glass-bottomed boats to enjoy the great marine diversity of the area.

Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the world's largest salt flat, stretching more than 4,000 square miles. It is devoid of wildlife or vegetation and is known for its extreme flatness and clear skies. This creates a dreamy, mirror-like reflective surface in the wet season and a fascinating pattern of polygonal cracks in the dry season.

Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the world's largest salt flat, stretching more than 4,000 square miles. It is devoid of wildlife or vegetation and is known for its extreme flatness and clear skies. This creates a dreamy, mirror-like reflective surface in the wet season and a fascinating pattern of polygonal cracks in the dry season. (Dreamstime)

Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia, is the result of a dry prehistoric lake that left a large expanse of bright salt with rock formations and cactus-filled islands. Those who seek to achieve the best photographs of this majestic place do so in the rainy season because the panorama of the sky reflected in the water forms an incredible mirror effect that allows the best shots.

Visitors can take tours of the desert, in special SUVs accompanied by expert guides, that include tasting local wines. The experience is complemented by a view of the landscape that changes color as the sun falls on the horizon because the terrain offers different tones due to rich minerals such as lithium, potassium, boron and magnesium, among others.

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Uruguay

Colonia del Sacramento is located on the west coast of Uruguay. It is an extension of more than 29 acres that is considered a World Heritage Site for the high cultural value of its old buildings. The most popular places to enjoy the sunset are in the so-called Bastion of San Pedro indicated with a high mast and an anchor. Here visitors can enjoy the sunset on the Río de la Plata, with San Gabriel Island in the background.

In this iconic place in Uruguay, visitors can walk the streets until they reach the Bullring, the Lighthouse of the Sacramento Colony, the Street of Sighs, the ruins of the San Francisco Convent, the Ciudadela Gate, as well as several beaches where they can enjoy the sunset, such as Playa Honda, Playa Ferrando, Playa de las Delicias and Playa del Rowing, among others.

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