Unfortunately, the privilege to drive anywhere and respect for the outdoors don’t always go hand in hand. Across the Americas, off-roaders have caused headaches by trashing the environment, then making their recklessness other people’s problems when they get stuck. It’s been happening even in the highlands of Chile for far too long, where off-roaders driving out of bounds have caused “irreversible” damage to ancient art carved into the desert itself thousands of years ago.
Off-roaders’ impact on Chilean geoglyphs in the Atacama Desert was recently reported on by The New York Times. The geoglyphs are huge, earthen artworks dug out of the desert as long as 3,000 years ago, which have endured almost unchanged since due to the Atacama’s unique climate.
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