El Tatio wakes before dawn, a high-altitude wonder tucked into the Andes of northern Chile. Perched above 14,000 feet, this sprawling geothermal field is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and the third-largest geyser basin on Earth. As the chill of morning clings to the altiplano, more than 80 geysers punctuate the landscape with thin plumes of steam and bursts of boiling water — an otherworldly show that’s at its most magical in the pale light just after sunrise.

The Atacama — the driest place on Earth — unfolds a surprising, otherworldly beauty: shimmering salt flats where pink flamingos gather, rust-red rock sculptures carved by time and jewel-toned blue lagoons that glow like hidden mirrors at Laguna Chaxa, Piedras Rojas and the Altiplanic Lagoons.

Lake Atitlán, born from a volcanic fury 84,000 years ago, now cradles a shimmering lake that sustains a dozen Mayan villages — where coffee, chocolate and honey are still crafted with ancestral care and orchards yield creamy avocados and other local delights.