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San Pedro de Atacama off the crowds

Expeditions

San Pedro de Atacama off the crowds * 7 DAYS * From USD$1,075

A trip visiting the most popular area of the Atacama Desert without getting into the crowded spots and the tourists traps. On this trip we focus in the culture, nature and geological landscape of this beautiful and interesting area.

Price

If the tour group consists of 4 to 5 people the price per person is USD$1,075  | If group size is 2 or 3 people; USD$1,500.

Group Size

2 to 5 people.

Tour Length

7 Days.

Date

Any date upon reservation.

Meeting Time

09:00 am.

If you are traveling alone or more passengers are required, please contact us to design a non-binding custom proposal for you or you can join a tour with a programmed fix departure.

Pick Up from Accomodation

Yes.

Included

Transportation on a private 4×4 vehicle, filtered water all the way, food and accommodation as mentioned in the itinerary and specialized bilingual guide.

Not Included

Travel insurance, accommodation at Calama (available on request), everything not mentioned in the itinerary.

Route (Referential Map)

Itinerary

DAY 1

CALAMA – CHIU CHIU – TAIRA PETROGLYPHS – CHIU CHIU

We’ll meet at the Calama airport or at your accommodation in the city of Calama, from here we have a drive of about an hour to the little town of Chiu Chiu, we’ll drop our luggage at the hostel, freshen up and get ready to go. First stop on our drive is the little village of Lasana, here we’ll visit a small local museum and the ruins nearby, this is our first encounter with the Atacameño culture on our trip, this is going to be our first sight of the Loa river; the longest in Chile and the only permanent river crossing the Atacama Desert from the Andes to the Pacific Ocean.

Keep on driving north till the abandoned ancient settlement of Taira, were we’ll have a hike to find ruins and petroglyphs. We are starting to understand the ways of life of the old inhabitants of the desert.

Back in the town of Chiu Chiu for a nice dinner at a local restaurant. Good night.

Food: Box lunch and dinner.

Accommodation: Chiu Chiu hostel; double room with private bathroom.

DAY 2

CHIU CHIU – HIERBAS BUENAS PETROGLYPHS – VALLE DEL ARCOIRIS – VALLE DE MUERTE – SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

A good breakfast and let’s keep exploring… as we drive to San Pedro de Atacama, our first stop is Hierbas buenas, to meet some well-preserved petroglyphs and the nearby geological formations of the “Valle del arcoiris”, where you’ll witness a real rainbow of mineral colors on the surrounding hills.

Before reaching San Pedro, we’ll drive up to a large hill which dominates the Valle de la Muerte; one of the sections of “Cordillera de la Sal”; which is the main geological formation of this area.

Once in town, you’ll be taken to your accommodation.

Food: Box lunch. Dinner is not included (there are many restaurants in town).

Accommodation: Cabin located on a quiet area; double room with private bathroom. Kitchenette available.

DAY 3

SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA – LAGUNAS ESCONDIDAS (BALTINACHE) – SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

Lagunas escondidas (local name: Baltinache) is our destination for this morning. Located about 2 hours from town and following a dusty and bumpy road, the site will not leave you indifferent; 7 gorgeous cristal-clear water ponds located inside the salt flat were kept in secret from tourist for many years, now, they are open!.

On the first and the last pond it’s allowed to take a swim and is highly recommended!. Due to the high content of salt, you’ll float without any effort… floating in the middle of a salt flat, sounds good, right?

Back to town to have lunch and some rest.

Food: Breakfast, box lunch. Dinner is not included, there are a few restaurants in town.

Accommodation: Cabin located on a quiet area; double room with private bathroom. Kitchenette available..

DAY 4

SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA – TOCONAO – LAGUNA LEJÍA – SOCAIRE

From San Pedro de Atacama the driving takes us south following the eastern shore of the Atacama Salt flat. Along the way, we’ll take some short detours to get views of Tambillo reserve where you’ll meet the Tamarugo tree; native tree of the Atacama Desert and later of the Jere creek formations for which we might get some off-roading going on. Laguna Lejía is next and here we’ll take a while, you are welcomed to walk and explore around, we’ll have our box lunch here and keep exploring the area.

Socaire is the nearest town and we are going to spend the night here.

Food: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner.

Accommodation: Socaire rural community hostal; double room with private bathroom.

DAY 5

SOCAIRE – AGUAS CALIENTES – LAGO TUYAJTO – SICO –  SOCAIRE

Breakfast and off we go again! The salt flat of Aguas Calientes is just a plain gorgeous place, we are going to visit it at our pace, there is a popular spot within: the Piedras Rojas site.

Next is Tuyajto salt lake; allowed only to be met from the view from the lookout point is anyway a great sight. We’ll keep driving east and get off-road a bit until find a nice place to have our lunch and keep exploring the landscape.

On our way back to the town of Socaire we’ll enjoy again the views of Tuyajto and Aguas Calientes.

Food: Breakfast, box lunch, dinner.

Accommodation: Socaire rural community hostal; double room with private bathroom.

DAY 6

SOCAIRE – SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA – CATARPE – QUITOR – SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

Today we are going to return to San Pedro de Atacama, once there we’ll visit the Catarpe valley, very close by from town but full of colors and geological features, there are some trails for hiking here and we have some time for them. Later on, we’ll visit the Pukara (fortress) Inca ruins of Quitor to learn more about the inhabiting history of this oasis. There is a lookout point located at the top of the hill from which you have a spectacular view to both the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama and the Cordillera de la Sal.

Back in town in time for dinner; tonight we’ll go together to a small ethnic restaurant specialized in local Atacameño ingredients & gourmet cuisine.

Food: Breakfast, lunch is not included. Atacameño style gourmet dinner.

Accommodation: Cabin located on a quiet area; double room with private bathroom. Kitchenette available.

DAY 7

SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA – CALAMA AIRPORT.

This morning we’ll drive to Calama’s airport in time for your flight.

 

Food: Breakfast.

Accommodation: Not included

Conditions

Open

Cancellation Policy

If you decide to cancel your tour reservation, for any reason, the following are our terms:

Time frame / You receive:

  • 7 or more days before trip departure / 100% refund of what you have paid.
  • 6 to 3 days before trip departure / 50% of your payment.
  • 2 days before trip departure / 35% of your payment.
  • 1 day before trip departure / 15% of your payment.

The reasons to cancel a booked tour will be due to bad weather conditions, closed roads, government prohibitions or security reasons of any kind. If this is the case you will get a refund of 80% of what we received (please, remember that intermediates, banks, credit cards and transfers might apply commissions to what you’ve originally paid) and will be happy to offer you another options.

Refunds are done exclusively to Chilean bank accounts or to your PayPal/Payoneer account if you’ve paid using one of those methods.

Transfer Policy

If you would like to change to a different tour or departure date after signing up, we will be happy to transfer you on a space available basis up until 7 days prior to your tour. Please provide your transfer request in writing – email is sufficient. Please note, a US$20 transfer fee will be deducted from your previous payments for each transfer, and if you later choose to cancel your tour, the cancellation deadlines will apply to the date of the originally scheduled tour.

Tour Confirmation

Místico Outdoors will confirm your trip 7 days in advance and will be done via email.

Gallery

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