Chile: From The Desert To Patagonia

After breakfast, we will head to the Santiago Airport for your flight to Calama airport. On arrival, we will head to San Pedro de Atacama and settle into our hotel. In the afternoon, we will visit the Moon Valley, found within the Salt Mountain Range. Its impressive geological formations made of diverse shapes and colours, giant dunes and beautiful salt crystals, on the crunchy ground, will make you feel like you are on another planet.

Today, we will head out to the High-plateau Lagoons of Meñique and Miscanti, amid volcanos and mountains. We will visit The Atacama Salt Flats and Toconao, a village constructed of volcanic stone. We will then head to see the habitat of the spectacular pink flamingos, on the Chaxa Lagoon. After lunch in Socaire, we will continue on towards the mountains, where The Meñique and Miscanti Lagoons are found at a whopping 4,500 metres elevation. These lagoons, surrounded by spectacular volcanoes were formed by the rising of the Andes, thousands of years ago.

Today we can enjoy an excursion to El Tatio Geysers. We will leave early to arrive for the sunrise and will begin with a walk around the geothermal field to see how these spectacular jets of steam shoot into the air. You have the added bonus of a soak in these natural thermal pools. Once we arrive back to San Pedro de Atacama, making a stop off at the small picturesque village of Machuca, you will then have a free afternoon to enjoy San Pedro de Atacama. At sunset, we will head out on an astronomical tour. The fact that there is no light pollution means that we can witness some of the starriest skies you will probably ever see!   During this unforgettable experience, you will learn how to look at the sky through powerful telescopes for incredible views of galaxies, planets and other heavenly objects.

Today, after breakfast, we will head out to the Rio Grande Petroglyphs and the Rainbow Valley. The petroglyphs are rock formations, with a number of figures carved into the stone, such as llamas, shamans and other symbols.  We will then proceed to the Rainbow Valley, a rock formation, also rich in Andean flora and fauna guanacos and cacti. The rock formations are composed of different minerals, formed of various colours that resemble the colours of the rainbow. After the trip, we will head back to the Calama airport to take your flight to Santiago. In Santiago, we will stay at the airport hotel for our flight early the next day.

Today we will take the flight to Punta Arenas, where our guide will be waiting. We will take the bus to Puerto Natales. On arrival, we will head straight to the hotel to rest and prepare for a busy day ahead.

Early morning, we will head to the pier for a stunning boat trip through the Ultima Esperanza  Fjord, to arrive at the thousand-year-old glacier of  Mount Balmaceda. This is the home of sea lions and cormorants as well as many other animal species. We will disembark and hike for about a kilometre, through a wonderful native forest to reach the foot of the Glacier Serrano.  We will have a picnic lunch on the way back, before returning to Puerto Natales for the evening.

Today we will visit the stunning Torres del Paine National Park, considered one of the best National Parks in South America. We will head out Puerto Natales, through Patagonian scrub, full of abundant wildlife along with guanaco and sheep herds and up to National Park. We will head to the Salto Grande on the Pehoé River, with the spectacular mountain of Torres del Paine in the background. From here, we will visit Lake Pehoé and Lake Grey, from where you can see the Grey Glacier in the distance. On the way back to Puerto Natales, we will visit the Milodón Cave.

Today we will head back to the bus terminal for the bus to Punta Arenas for your flight to Santiago. On arrival, your driver will be waiting to take you to the hotel.

Today marks the final day of the tour.  We will take you to the airport for your flight back home or on to your next exciting destination!