Socaire

Socaire sits at about 3,500 metres on the eastern side of the Salar de Atacama with terraces stepping down the slope below it, irrigated from a stream and worked for potatoes, maize, quinoa and alfalfa - agriculture at an altitude and in a dryness that make it a considerable achievement, and one that depends on water rights the community has had to defend against mining abstraction. The church of San Bartolome is small adobe with a separate bell tower. The village is the last settlement on the road to Miscanti, Miniques and Piedras Rojas, and it administers access to those sites, so vehicles stop here.

What you actually see

• Terraces at 3,500 metres - irrigated and worked for grain and potatoes.
• A small adobe church - San Bartolome, with a separate tower.
• The gate to the high lagoons - Miscanti, Miniques and Piedras Rojas.
• Water rights under pressure - from mining abstraction in the basin.

When to go

Year round; nights are cold in every season. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The altitude is felt. Services in the village are minimal - a few small places. Most traffic passes through on the way to the lagoons rather than stopping. Access fees to the high sites are collected here.

Nearby

Toconao is north; Miscanti and Piedras Rojas are east and above.