South America Tours - Chile

Discovery Overland - Deserts & Volcanoes

11 Days / 10 Nights (Easy)

Season: All Year Round

Northern Chile is a world of minerals characterized by one of the driest deserts on the planet: the Atacama Desert. However, life in the Andes sprouts alongside turquoise and emerald lakes. Condors, pumas and flamingoes live under the quiet shadow of impressive volcanoes such as Parinacota (6,342m), Ojos del Salado (6,893m) and Licancabur (5,916m). This roundtrip takes us from Calama through the desert up to Arica, on the Peruvian border, allowing us to discover the main attractions of the altiplano. San Pedro de Atacama, Moon Valley, Tatio Geysers, Lake Chungará, Surire Salt Lake, so many magical places, cradles of American civilisation, unveilling their beauty and their secrets to us

DAY 1:        (SANTIAGO) - CALAMA - SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

Reception at Calama airport. Drive to San Pedro de Atacama. Excursion to the Moon Valley at sunset. Transfer to the hotel. (L)

DAY 2:    SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

Excursion to Atacama Salt Lake where we see the pink flamingoes. Visit of Toconao and Jerez Canyon. We go up to Laguna Miscanti where we have a spectacular view on the high plateaus. Drive back to San Pedro. Transfer to the hotel. (B,L)

DAY 3:    SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA

Walk in the Cordillera de la Sal. Back to San Pedro. Visit of the archaeological museum and the archaeological site of Quitor. In the afternoon, we go up to Puritama hot springs where we have an unforgettable bath. Transfer back to the hotel. (B,L)

DAY 4:    SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA - TATIO GEYSERS - CALAMA

We get up very early to go to the Tatio geysers where we have breakfast. Pictures of the geysers and a swim in the natural swimming pool. Then we drive on to Calama. On the way we visit Caspana, Chiu-Chiu and Lasana. Arrival at Calama (2250m). Transfer to the hotel. (B,L)

DAY 5:         CALAMA - TOCOPILLA - IQUIQUE

We drive westbound to reach the Pacific coast where we visit Tocopilla. Then we follow the Pacific coastline dotted with fishermen villages. We reach Iquique. Transfer to the hotel. (B,L)

DAY 6:         IQUIQUE - PICA - MAMIÑA

Full day excursion to the desolated world of the Pampa Tamarugal. On the way, we visit the Humberstone Ghost Town (former sodium nitrate mine) and the Cerro Pintados geoglyphs, a fabulous site where the stone lines make a big puzzle of more than 400 pieces with no elucidated meanings. Arrival at Pica Oasis; time to relax in the hot springs. Visit of Matilla and La Tirana. Transfer to pre-altiplanic village of Mamiña where we enjoy the hot springs. Hotel. (B,L)

DAY 7:         MAMIÑA - CODPA

Long ride northbound to Arica. Visit of the Hacienda de Tiviliche, a farmer’s ranch where the English landowners used to come to rest. We then drive to the pre-altiplanic area and stay in a simple hotel in the small village of Codpa. (B,L,D)

DAY 8:         CODPA - PUTRE

Transfer to Putre, located in the middle of the Andes. We visit small and typical pre-altiplanic villages such as Tignamar, Belen, Chapiquiña,... We discover the history and daily life of the inhabitants of this unknown region. Finally we arrive in Putre. Transfer to the hotel. (B,L)

DAY 9:        PUTRE - SURIRE SALT LAKE  - PUTRE

Full day excursion to Surire Salt Lake. “Surire” means ostrich in the local Aymara language. Once in Surire we take time to see nandus (Andes ostrich), and other kind of animals like lamas, vicuñas, pink flamingoes. We have an unforgettable bath in Surire hot springs, surrounded by a fantastic Andean landscape. Back to Putre. Transfer to the hotel. (B,L)

DAY 10:         PUTRE - LAKE CHUNGARA - ARICA

Full day excursion to Lake Chungara, the highest one in the world (4500m), located at the base of Parinacota Volcano (6342m), one of the nicest mountains of Chile. We cross the Lauca National Park (declared as a world biosphere reserve by UNESCO) and visit Parinacota village. Lunch at Chucuyo before driving back to Arica on the Pacific coast. In Arica we visit El Morro. Transfer to the hotel. (B,L)

DAY 11:        ARICA - (SANTIAGO)

Visit of the fertile Azapa Valley which hides several archeological sites. Transfer to Arica airport. Flight back to Santiago. (B)

SERVICE DETAILS

Included Services

10 nights in Hotel, Pousada (Inn). Standard Room, including room and government taxes 
10 breakfasts

10 Lunches

01 Dinners

Land transfers as detailed in the itinerary
Guided Tours as detailed, including National park taxes. Tours can change due to operational, safety or weather condition.

Not Included  

Flights 

Optional Tours  

Travel Insurance

Meals not included in the itinerary. 

Drinks, Laundry, Tips, Telephone calls, and any other personal expenses etc…. 

Meals
Meals included in the program are detailed in the following chart.

Accommodation:

Double rooms can have separate beds or not. A third person depending on the hotel has the possibility of using a sofa bed. Consult for children policy.  

Payment:

Deposit of 30% to guarantee your reservation. The remaining amount must be paid a minimum 30 days before start of the tour. If reservation is made within 30 days of the tour full payment required to make a reservation.   

Cancellation:

Up to 30 days before full refund is given unless the flight tickets have been emitted. In this case there will be a penalty due to the cancellation of the tickets. This depends on the rules of the airline used.  No refund is given when a cancellation is made within 30 days of departure.  

Operation of tour:

Minimum of 1 pax to operate. 

Responsability:

Brasil Travel / Melchior & Hodson Ltda and/or agencies involved with the packages, flights and tours shall act only as agents of the tour members in making arrangements for hotels and any other services and do not assume any liability what so ever for any injury, damage, death, loss, accident or delay to persons or property due to an act of God, default by any hotel, company or person rendering any of services included on the tours or flights. Furthermore, no responsability is accepted for quarentine, government restrains, weather or other causes beyond control. No responsability is accepted for any additional expenses, omissions, delays, re-routing or acts of government authority.

Insurance:

Not included (optional)