Hola!

We had incredible luck with stargazing the entire trip in South America. The skies were clear, especially at high altitudes (and when you're in the bloody middle of nowhere, away from the city lights) and we could often see the southern cross, the milky way etc.

Because this was an extended 8-month "just-wing-it-round-the-southern-hemisphere" trip, I'm afraid I can't give any tips on car rental or hotels as we were el cheapo 99.9% of the way, and stayed in shoestring-priced hostels or with local families. In La Serena, we stayed with a local family for $2. Of course we didn't get to earn any hotel points there. Most of the accomodation we passed by the beach in La Serena looked nice! So I don't think you can go wrong there. The beach is about a 5-10 min cab-ride away from the towncenter though.

Our mode for getting around Norte Chile was by bus. TurBus (www.turbus.cl) was our mode of transport and they were excellent. Clean buses, safe drivers, and most importantly, the buses ran ontime. If you were to drive, I wouldn't see any problems with it. As far as I can remember, the road is fully paved up north. For local excursions, we mostly signed up with local travel operators.

rockdoc gave an excellent suggestion too. Arequipa is a beautiful Peruvian city. Loads to do, and soaking in the hotsprings at Chivay (with great views) after catching the condors soaring over the Colca Canyon is such a treat.

My camera threw a tantrum between San Pedro and Santiago, so I don't have any photos along that route. But I have a few pictures of Arequipa and the 4WD trip from San Pedro de Atacama posted online. Let me know if you want to take a peek.

Hasta luego!