Mars-like landscape at the ALMA site

Desolate and arid landscape at the entrance of the ALMA site, looking toward the south-east. The isolated bush is not the only survivor of the extreme conditions in this area, which surprisingly shows a considerable richness in terms of flora and fauna. The road to Chajnantor, home of ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is also visible. In the background are the high volcanoes belonging to the Andes range in the II Region of Chile, most of them with peaks above 5000 metres.