ATACAMA DESERT

Atacama Explorer

4 Days 2550 ex San Pedro de Atacama (based on 2 or more guests)

Accommodation

3 nights hotel

Transportation

Mostly by foot
Transfers via vehicle

Included Meals

3 Breakfasts
1 Lunch

Trip Grade

Category 1
Joyful Jaunt

It’s here, listening as it rips through sharp rock formations that I hear, for the first time where, the expression “Screaming wind” truly comes.

The landscape here is otherwordly.

Apparently, this is the driest desert in the world, yet oddly, the craggy walls that hem me in, look as though they’re blanketed in snow!

The sky above is cloudless, the sun beating down incessantly, yet it still feels cold.

With no company but that wind, that pallid crust beneath my feet breaks beneath each tentative step.

This eerie place is in fact dusted with salt, seasoned like a packet of crisps.

Otherworldly in feel, the same is clearly felt by the locals, who have dubbed this place with the moniker Valle de la Luna.

The Valley of the Moon.

Most fitting indeed…

“South America’s great Atacama Desert is a place unlike any other. Its climate is different, with close to zero rainfall but occasional thick fogs.

Its plants and animals are different—what there are of them, which is to say almost none—capable of living with almost no water. Even its rocks are different. The floor of the Atacama is crusted and shot through with a riot of strange chemicals…

“so extraordinary,” a researcher wrote, “were it not for their existence, geologists could easily conclude that such deposits could not form in nature.”

Thomas Hager, The Alchemy of Air

Take in the raw beauty of the Atacama Desert and admire its unworldly salt plains, geysers, volcanoes, and cultural history on this superb exploration.

Prepare to have your mind boggled by the immense, surreal, and beautiful terrain of the Atacama, the driest desert on the planet!

“El desierto no ofrece siquiera la ilusión de que uno podrá ser alguna vez otra cosa que un intruso..

The desert does not even offer the illusion that one can ever be anything other than an intruder.” 

Ariel Dorfman, Desert Memories: Journeys Through the Chilean North

Atacama Chile
Aerial Valle de la Luna

The Journey

We arrive at Calama Airport and are driven straight to San Pedro de Atacama, past the impressive rock formations of the Cordillera de la Sal (Salt Mountains).

Upon arrival, you will receive the itinerary for the upcoming days. We’ll spend the first day of the trip just relaxing, so feel free to explore the village, visit its shops and other sites on our own.

Get ready for an early start (6am) to witness the Tatio Geysers, where steam shoots up to 40 meters high.

We will travel through the Andean highlands, stopping at Machuca village, and then visit the impressive El Tatio geyser field.

Before heading back to San Pedro, we’ll explore the thermal waters of Geyser Blanco. (B)

After breakfast, we’ll head south to explore the “Puna” region, featuring unique lagoons and salt flats, including the impressive Miscanti Lagoon. We will also visit the Village of Socaire to experience the local indigenous culture.

In the afternoon, we will visit the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) to enjoy the sunset and then return to our hotel to relax.

(B, L)

Today we will depart from our hotel in a private transfer to board our flight onto our next destination. Adiós Atacama! (B)

Single Supplement & Upgrade Options

Solo Traveler (only 1 traveller on trip): $4,800AUD

Single Room Supplement: $400AUD per person   

Upgrade to 4 Star Hotel (Single Room): $860AUD per person  

Upgrade to 4 Star Hotel (Double Room): $400AUD per person  

Upgrade to Private Excursions (1 guest): $810AUD per person  

Upgrade to Private Excursions (2+ guests): $620AUD per person  

Additional Half Day Excursion add-ons are available for:

  • Half Day trip Puritama Thermal Reserve
  • Half Day trip Astronomical Stars and Fire Tour
  • Half Day trip Archaeological Tour
  • Half Day trip Day Rainbow Valley

Season

Year Round

NOTE: Children must be a minimum 16 years old

Includes

  • Three nights at a 3-star hotel (Hotel Kimal or similar)
  • English-speaking guide on excursions
  • Daily shared excursions as specified in the itinerary
  • Entrance fees to national reserves and indigenous communities visited
  • All meals as indicated in itinerary (Breakfast – B, Lunch – L and Dinner – D)

Note: Optional upgrade to Hotel Altiplanico (4-star accommodation)

Excludes

  • International Flights
  • Domestic Flights (Santiago to Calama and return)
  • Travel Insurance (this is mandatory)
  • Personal spending money
  • Tips 
  • Any meals not listed as included

Your Guides and Safety

An excellent guide can make the difference between a trip of a lifetime and just an ordinary trip. Our handpicked professionals come from a range of backgrounds. Each has extensive outdoor experience, a knowledge of the lands in which you’ll walk, and a passion for the beautiful country that is Chile.

Accommodation

Our first option will be Hotel Kimal, a boutique hotel in the desert town of San Pedro de Atacama.

In the historical center of town, Hotel Kimal provides a full range of services in a setting of traditional local architecture. With a pool and outdoor hot tub, bar and restaurant open all day.

If Hotel Kimal is not available, a similar option will be offered.

“In the Atacama, I saw the future, when the sun eats up the last of its hydrogen and burns into its red-giant phase, big enough to cook life and clouds and oceans off this naked orb.

It wouldn’t be a fast process, not by our standards. Millions of years in the execution, our sky would finally be half filled by a sun the color of a red-hot moonrise.

After that, the sun would probably collapse into a white dwarf, meanwhile blasting away its outer shells of gas into an explosive planetary nebula.

I imagine that all of our minerals will pay off as we make a rainbow streak flaring off into space. We will be beautiful.” 

Craig Childs, Apocalyptic Planet: Field Guide to the Ever-Ending Earth

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