Signature Salt Flats & Highlands of the Andes

On arrival, please make your way through to the Arrivals Hall where our representative will be waiting for you to transfer you to your hotel. He/she will be holding a sign with your name on it. This service includes a driver and local English speaking guide who will provide you with any useful information needed for your stay.

The small oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama lies on an arid high plateau in the Andes Mountains in the heart of some of northern Chile’s most spectacular scenery. Overlooking the Licancabur Volcano, its dramatic surrounding landscape ranges from desert, salt flats, steaming geysers and hot springs to fascinating rock formations. The church, dating back to 1774 and featuring adobe, cactus wood and leather-bound beams and the Archaeological Museum are both worth a visit.

This evening you will be collected from your hotel for Astronomy in the Desert, one of the best places in the world to observe stars, planets and constellations. A night sky without light pollution and with high quality telescopes integrating the local culture and indigenous vision. We observe the fantastic night sky of the Atacama Desert in a small private observatory. During the this stargazing experience, we observe the stars, planets and constellations by the naked eye and through professional telescopes (16”). We learn about the importance of the region for modern astronomy as well as for ancient central Andean cultures. It is possible to observe the Milky Way, the stars that make up the constellations and the rotation of the sky. We continue with the technical observation of different types of nebulae and star clusters with the help of a telescope. Pickup and completion time vary depending on the time of year, weather conditions and the moonrise.

This morning you will be collected from your hotel for a tour of San Pedro de Atacama, the archaeological capital of Chile. The small oasis town is one of the main cultural settlements in Atacama located near the mouth of the main river that feeds the salt flat. It lies on an arid high plateau in the Andes Mountains in the heart of some of northern Chile’s most spectacular scenery. During this excursion, visit the most important archaeological sites of San Pedro de Atacama. In the XII century aborigines built the fortress of Quitor to defend their people to the attack of enemies, foreigners or border natives. Tulor village is the oldest archeological human establishment of the entire region and it was occupied between 300BC and 500AC. Also visit the Ayllus De Coyo, most important part of the archaeological route. There you will find circulars constructions, antiques Lickanantay’s residences and can appreciate the original fauna and flora. On completion of the tour, you will be taken to your hotel. Please note this is a small group tour.

This afternoon, you will be collected from your hotel to travel across Cordillera de la Sal (Salt Mountain Range) to reach the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), one of the main attractions of this region. Located 19km from San Pedro de Atacama, the valley's landscape resembles the surface of the moon with small but sharp crested hills created by the wind. This tour is available only in the afternoon when the setting sun brings out the best of the valley's incredible colours. On completion of this tour, you will be taken to your hotel. Please note this is a small group tour.

This afternoon you will be collected from your hotel to visit the Salar de Atacama, one of the world’s largest salt lakes and the most important lithium reserves in the world. At Chaxa Lagoon, we will be able to enjoy watching a variety of bird species, including the three types of flamingos that inhabit Chile -Andean, Chilean and James’- and the pink color of their feathers. The deep blue of the Atacama sky, the altitudes of the Andean volcanos and the red sunset will bid us farewell before returning to San Pedro de Atacama. En route to the Salt Lake, visit the town of Toconao. The houses in this small picturesque village are built from bricks of white volcanic stone and its friendly inhabitants are famous for their fine wool knitting skills. On completion of the tour you will be taken to your hotel. Please note this is a small group tour.

This morning you will be transferred from San Pedro de Atacama to Hito Cajon, the mountain pass on the border between Chile and Bolivia. You will be met at the border by your Bolivian guide.

Pick up in the Bolivian border of Hito Cajon to enter the REA Reserve, visiting the Green Lagoon in the foothills of Licancabur Mountain, the highest desert in the Pampas de Dali. Continue onto Chalviri Lagoon and the hot springs of Polques and the Geysers of Sol de Mañana. Through to the Red Lagoon, declared a RAMSAR site due to the nesting of over 30,000 Andean flamingos (approx. 3 hours travel) before we finally reach Villamar (approx. 2 hours travel).
Lunch is included in today's services.
Dinner is included at tonight's hotel.

This morning continue the road journey north passing the villages of San Agustin and San Juan, continue through the highlands to enter Uyuni Salt Flats, a natural wonder with over 10.000 km2 at 3.692 m of salt in Chuvica,cross north to visit Isla Incahuasi, a special habitat of giant cactus and volcani c rocks. Continue east to the village of Colchani, where the locals produce salt in the shores of the salt flats. A picnic lunch and dinner is included in today's services. Overnight in Colchani in a hotel made of salt.

This morning after breakfast you will be transferred to Uyuni airport for your flight to La Paz. .

Flight from Uyuni to La Paz. as scheduled.

On arrival, please make your way through to the Arrivals Hall where our representative will be waiting for you to transfer you to your hotel. He/she will be holding a sign with your name on it. Please note this service is with a driver only. El Alto airport is the highest International airport in the world at 4,080 metres above sea level.

La Paz has a spectacular setting in a deep bowl surrounded by snow-capped mountains of the Altiplano. It lies in the shadow of the towering 6,438m high Mt. Illimani, always snow-covered and visible from many parts of the city. The city (from the main square) is 3,636 metres above sea level but the neighbouring city of El Alto where La Paz International Airport is located lies at over 4,000 metres. Some of the highlights of La Paz itself include Plaza Murillo, San Francisco Church and the ’’Witches Market’’ where vendors sell dried llama foetuses and frogs, dried llama dung, herbs, remedies and other ingredients used in Aymara traditions and rituals.

This morning you will be collected from your hotel to discover the fascinating city of La Paz, on a full day city tour. Visit the Gold, Murillo and Costumbrista Museums and also visit the 'Mirador de Killi Killi' from where you will magnificent views of the city. Also visit various street markets including a traditional market selling agricultural products from the highlands, and the famous Witches Market. Take a cable car ride (the highest in the world) for more outstanding views of the city before driving to the outskirts of the city to the Moon Valley, where a clay Mountain has been impressively shaped by erosion. On completion of your tour you will be transferred to your hotel. Lunch is included in today's services.

This morning you depart La Paz for Puno. Travelling along the Pan-American Highway through the Bolivian highlands, visiting the millenary Tiwanaku ruins (1½ hours), it was one of the oldest centres of American culture. Carbon 14 dating gives an average between 400 AD to 1100 AD and is considered the cradle of the American man and one of the most developed cultures at the time. Its main buildings are Kalasasaya temple with its most notable works: Puerta del Sol (Sun gate), Ponce and Fraile monoliths; Akapana pyramid and Semi-underground temple. This trip continues on for 1 hour to the border with Peru. After clearing Peruvian immigration, you will continue on to Puno (3 hours) stopping on route at Pomata church and Hayu-Marca, where we will visit Aramu Muru (honoring an Inca priest called Aramu), a “dimensional door”, 7mts high and 7mts long. Nowadays locals do rituals in order to try to open this door. 10km from this mystical place is Juli, also known as little Rome, where we will visit 2 of its 4 colonial churches from the 16th Century: San Pedro and San Juan with an impressive painting collection from the colonial times and from the “Cusco School”. Our last stop will be in Chucuito town, here we will visit the Inca-Uyu ruins which used to be an Inca Fertility Temple. Also allow time to admire the colonial churches, Santo Domingo, and the Assumption Temple. You will be dropped off to your hotel on arrival into Puno. Lunch is included in today's services.

Puno lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. It is the largest city in the Southern Altiplano and an important agricultural and livestock (llamas and alpaca) region. It sits at an altitude of over 3,800 metres and is a picturesque hillside city and a melting pot of the Aymara and Quechua culture.

Early this morning you will be collected from your hotel and transferred to the port to board a fully equipped speedboat with on board service to visit various islands on Lake Titicaca. First stop is Taquile Island where you will explore a scenic and less touristy area. Enjoy time on a pristine sandy beach to relax and feel the serenity of Lake Titicaca. We then hike along a pre-Inca trail with spectacular landscapes of the island, visiting families of weavers to learn about their textile art and symbolism. In 2005, "Taquile and its Textile Art" were proclaimed "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO. After three hours on Taquile, board the speedboat for a short journey to the community of Santa Maria-Llachon, on the tip of the Capachica Peninsula. This is a picturesque off the beaten track destination. We are welcomed by the small Quechua speaking community and introduced to an intensive cultural experience, observing the traditions of the community and participating in an ancient ceremony to learn about their magical world. Experience the preparation of "Pachamanca", a traditional way of cooking meat, fish and potatoes using underground ovens, and one of the main dishes of Peruvian cuisine. Enjoy these delicacies in a small, but scenic restaurant (included in tour price). For the more adventurous there is an optional kayak along the coast of Llachon. After lunch we leave Santa Maria and arrive at a remote area of the National Reserve of Lake Titicaca to explore Uros Ccapi. These are considered to be the last authentic floating islands, less commercial and little visited. The Uros are descendants of one of the oldest cultures in South America. There are optional tours in reed boats before we depart back to Puno. On arrival at the port, you will be transferred to your hotel. Please note this is small group tour.

Please note there is a minimum number of passengers requested to operate this tour from December to March, if the required number of passengers is not reached we will offer you a similar alternative. Please also note that between the months of January and March the ceremony of "Pachamama" will be subject to weather conditions.

You will be collected from your hotel at the appropriate time and transferred to the airport for your onward flight.