GTCT-510 – CHILE

SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA
Four days /Three nights

Valid for travel thru November 30, 2018

ITINERARY

DAY 1: Arrival in San Pedro de Atacama

Assistance and transfer from Calama Airport to hotel in Atacama
Half day Moon Valley Tour
Valle de la Luna is an interesting area with stone and sand formations. Declared Sanctuary of Nature, it is also a part of the National Reserve Los Flamencos. Located in the Cordillera de la Sal, 13 kilometers West of San Pedro de Atacama, the valley receives this name due to the great similarity with the lunar landscapes. There is no life or humidity in this valley, making it the most inhospitable place in the planet.

Sunsets are a MUST-SEE, they are unforgettable! As the sun sets, with pastels it brushes the edges of the hills and gorges, while the wind blows between rocks, and the sky changes color from pink to purple and finally to black. Without a doubt, this is one of the main attractions of San Pedro de Atacama, visited by hundreds of tourists year after year who are amazed by its singular and unique beauty, incomparable with any other place.

DAY 2: Atacama

Full Day Atacama Salt Bed – Altiplanic Lagoons – Toconao (B)
Tour through the most extensive plain in the area that leads to the great Salar de Atacama, coarse and white surface, where shallow water are home to a great amount of flamingos that choose this water for nesting. Geologic studies consider this salt flat is one of the most important lithium deposits on Earth, about the 40%. Near weak water streams are located a few small towns, being Toconao one od the most picturesque, with its original architecture in pumice, highlighted by its old church. It is a town that invites people to walk around its streets, and know the locals, who dedicate their lives to handicrafts of fine wool.

After Toconao, a tour on Laguna Caxa, part of Los Flamencos National Reservation. Located at 7,545 feet a.s.l, this lagoon is a scenery of astonishing beauty seen in a lagoon divided in several water mirrors, where the salt crusts are especially abundant and where several flamingo communities live.

Visit to the gorgeous Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons, at 14,763 feet a.s.l. In its landscapes, it is possible to see different colors on the mountain chain. Besides, its flora and fauna are unique,
since they can only be found in these protected areas. The height allows the proximity to mountains and volcanoes, some of which are sacred and have inspired beautiful legends about the Desierto de Atacama. Socaire town will also be visited, a place in which the ancestral traditions have lasted through time thanks to its inhabitants – shepherds or agricultures that farm the Pachamama, using the ancient system of Andean terraces. Return to the hotel.

DAY 3: Atacama (B)

Full Day Tatio Geysers
Exploration of the highest geothermic field, located at 14,107 feet a.s.l. in the Andes mountain chain. Steam fumaroles, which reach up to 164 feet high, combine with the breathtaking beauty of the Andes, of multiple colors and diverse fauna, like the vicuñas, American camelid with a graceful walk that has adapted to live under extreme geographic and weather conditions. Since the geothermic field has its origin in the Earth’s magma, when the snow in the Andes melts to become water, it goes through the cracks of the crust and makes it to hot and deep zones, and this way, by making contact to the magma, it comes explosively back up in the shape of steam and boiling water, which produces fumaroles and streams that go upwards do to the great difference of temperatures. On the way back, nature offers a moving landscape of mountains and volcanoes over the 5,500 m (18,044 ft.) ASL and an important bird life on small rivers that make their way to flow into the great Salar de Atacama.

DAY 4: Depart Atacama (B)

Assistance and transfer from hotel in Atacama to Calama Airport for your flight to your next destination:

RATES PER PERSON BASED ON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY

A SAVINGS OF $100.00 PER PERSON

PLEASE CHECK WITH US FOR INTERNATIONAL AIR FARES
FROM USA TO CHILE ON OUR AIR PARTNERS:
AMERICAN AIRLINES, LATAM AND AVIANCA

TOUR RATE INCLUDES:

Three night accommodations at selected hotels with daily breakfast
Half day – Afternoon Moon Valley tour
Full day tour Atacama Salt bed, Altiplanic Lagoons & Toconao
Full day tour Tatio Geysers
Round rip transfers between Calama Airport and hotel in San Pedro de Atacama

NOT INCLUDED:

International air between USA and Santiago. Round trip local air between Santiago and Calama. Land services, tours and meals not indicated in itinerary. Tips and gratuities to tour guides and drivers. Travel insurance (highly recommended).