The Atacama Desert gets its water from fog caught on nets.
WATER
The Atacama Desert of South America is the driest non polar desert on earth.
Unless you live in a city or town with access to piped-in water and food deliveries, it will be very difficult to live without these necessities.
Fresh water is available in a few oases found in the desert and also from very sparse rainfall and, in some areas near the coast, dense fog. There are rivers and streams in the Atacama but they rarely have any water. In some parts of the desert there are salares, salt lakes, but the water has such a high salt content that it cannot be used for drinking or irrigation.
Yes, a person can stay in the Atacama. If they bring a tent and plenty of water and food. To stay in a hotel a person would have to stay in one of the cities or towns found in the Atacama.
The Peru Current, also called Humboldt Current, cold-water current of the southeast Pacific Ocean passes along the west coast of South America and is partially responsible for the Atacama Desert.
The Atacama Desert is not noted for its heat. It is actually a cool, but very dry, desert due to the proximity to the cold Pacific Ocean which moderates the temperature. The heat will not kill you but the lack of water may.
The Incas moved into parts of Chile, including the Atacama Desert. The Atacameno tribe was already living in the desert prior to the arrival of the Incas. There are also a number of cities along the Chilean coast as well as some smaller towns in mining areas.
In some areas of the Atacama that receive dense fog from the Pacific Ocean, they have conducted experiments with equipment that can condense liquid water from fog with some success.
According to google, the driest place on Earth is the Atacama desert in Chile. There are places in this desert where rain has never been recorded. But even here, the air will contain trace amounts of water vapour (very, very little though). To my knowledge, there is no place on or even in the Earth that is entirely without water.
The Atacama and Antarctic are the driest deserts, not he Sahara. The Atacama is so dry because the Andes mountains act as a block that prevents moisture from the Amazon and Atlantic from crossing into Chile and Peru, this forming a desert. The temperature in Antarctica is so very cold that the air can hold very little moisture that could form snow. It also does not have a source of warm oceanic water to act as a moisture supply for forming rain clouds.