Documenting desert desires

Travellers impressed by the stunning vistas on show in the BBC's Planet Earth can now go and experience the wilds of the world themselves.

In the final episode of the hit wildlife show, the long-lens cameras visit the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on the planet.

Intrepid holidaymakers who think they can take the heat can see it for themselves with a 15 night trip through Chile, spending some time at the frontier-like town of San Pedro de Atacama (Sunvil, £2,482 per person).

The expedition also takes in the spectacular Tatio geysers and the Valley of the Moon, as well as Chile's buzzing capital, Santiago.

Away from the deserts of Chile are equally unforgiving landscapes of Mongolia. Explore is offering a 17 day package allowing travellers to investigate the milder but no less dramatic terrain of Inner Mongolia (£1,499 per person).

The trip is replete with salt lakes, beguiling desert forests and a grand finale at Datong, where 50,000 different sized Buddhist statues are chiselled into caves in steep cliffs.

If it is some animal trekking that takes your fancy, there is the opportunity to go desert rhino trekking in the Namib Desert and catch some candid wildlife shots of your own.

Want to be wildlife photographers can also experience the natural world with With Wild about Africa, a 15 day trekking adventure that costs £2,749 per person and allows animal lovers to take in the sights of elephants, giraffes, mountain zebras and the prevalent desert rhino in their natural habitats.

Staying in a mixture of specially built camps and top-class hotels, it mixes grittiness with luxury.

For more information on the above desert holidays, visit www.sunvil.co.uk, www.explore.co.uk and www.wildaboutafrica.com. XXX