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International flight into Santiago de Chile’s International Airport where we will meet you and take you to your hotel for check-in. Then in the early afternoon you will take a city tour of Santiago, visiting all the key points of interest. Then we will enjoy a typical Chilean dinner over which we will discuss your trip.

Today we begin our tour by heading west to Chile’s coast, passing through the Curacavi and Casablanca Valleys, the latter known for the production of award winning wines. Then we will continue on to the legislative capitol of the country, the hillside port city of Valparaiso with its winding streets. While there we will visit the Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda’s last home, La Sebastiana, and then on to the beach resort city of Viña del Mar, visiting its casino and popular beaches.

After breakfast we head north, passing through the popular beach resorts of Reñaca, ConCon, Cachagua and Zapallar. Then we join the Pan American highway (which could take us all the way to Alaska if we wanted!) and continue up the Pacific coast to our accommodations for the night at the Termas Socos, where you can take a long soak in the various onsite hot springs.

This morning we leave early to visit the Fray Jorge National Park, a unique forest area similar to the Valdivian forest 1,200 kilometers to the south, which receives most of its moisture from banks of fog rolling in from the sea. Then we continue to La Serena, Chile’s second oldest city, before heading east into the fertile Valley of the Elqui River. We will check into our lodging for the night in the town of Vicuña. Then we will visit the town of Pisco Elqui and later Monte Grande, the hometown of Gabriela Mistral, another Nobel Prize winner. In the evening we will take a trip for an out-of-this-world experience as we visit an astronomical observatory, getting an unforgettable view of the southern skies, some of the clearest in the world.

After breakfast we make our way back to the coast and head north, passing through Vallenar and Copiapo before reaching our beach destination for the next two nights of Bahia Inglesa, or English Bay, where we can take a dip in the Caribbean blue waters (though not quite as warm!).

Today you can relax in the beautiful surroundings, with numerous activities available, including 4X4 excursions, bike riding, sea kayaking, or simply hanging out on the white sand beaches.

This morning we continue up the coast, driving through the Pan de Azucar National Park, an area with a microclimate supporting varied flora and fauna, including many species of cacti, as well as sea lions, pelicans and guanacos. We might even be able to hire a local fisherman to take us around the Pan de Azucar Island to see the nesting site of around 2,000 Humboldt penguins. Then we return to the highway up to the city of Antofagasta where we will stay for the night.

After breakfast we say goodbye to the coast for a few days and drive east into the desert. First we will visit some abandoned nitrate mining towns, now only ghost towns which left behind a record of the way of life during the days of the mining boom. Then we will take a tour of the world’s largest open Copper mine of Chuquicamata, with over 10,000 employees living on the premises. Afterward we make our way into San Pedro de Atacama, our staging point for numerous activities for the next couple of days.

This morning we will take an archeological tour of a fort dating back to the 12th century, Pukara de Quitor, built on a strategic location over a river. Later in the afternoon we will visit the famous Valle de la Luna, or Moon Valley, a declared nature sanctuary inside the Los Flamencos National Reserve. You will feel like you are walking on the moon, with the interesting geographical formations and stunning colors. After visiting the Salt Statues, the Three Marias, and the Salt Caverns, we will climb up the highest sand dune in the area to enjoy the amazing display at sunset.

This morning we will leave very early (around 4:30 am) for a full day trip approximately 100 kilometers from San Pedro to visit the Geisers del Tatio. The trip there will be all in the dark, arriving before sunrise. We will have breakfast, then walk out to the Geothermic Field, where the view of the vapor columns and hundreds of boiling pools of water with the backdrop of high mountain peaks is truly amazing. You can take a thermal bath before heading back to San Pedro in the early afternoon, passing by the Tocorpuri and Sairecabur Volcanoes on the way. Remainder of the afternoon free in San Pedro de Atacama.

After breakfast, we leave San Pedro and make a lunch stop in the town of Quillagua, an oasis next to the Loa River, which is also where we enter the first, and northernmost region in Chile, Tarapaca. Then we continue north up the Pan American highway, entering the Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve. Here we will take a short detour to visit the Geoglifos Pintados, or Painted Geoglyphs, which has 66 panels of around 400 figures of men, birds, animals and abstract drawings. Then we reach the town of Pica, where you can either stroll through the interesting streets or take a short walk to soak in the semi-hot springs of Cocha de Resbaladero.

Today we continue making our way up the Pampa del Tamarugal, passing through numerous old nitrate mining towns such as La Tirana, Pozo Almonte and Huara to reach Chile’s northernmost city of Arica, just south of the border with Peru. We will visit a typical local market, the Terminal Agropecuario, then take a drive into the Valle de Azapa to see the various geoglyphs in the area on our way to visit the archeological San Miguel de Azapa Museum. Overnight back in Arica.

This morning we head east through the Lluta River Valley where we will see numerous geoglyphs, petroglyphs and the unusual Candelabro Cactus. Then we will stop in the pre-Columbian town of Socoroma, take a short hike to a lookout, and then make our way into Putre where we will have the remainder of the afternoon free to take it easy and acclimate ourselves to the altitude.

Today we will enter the Lauca National Park in the Altiplano, where we will see llamas, alpacas, vicunas and guanacos, as well as lesser rheas, flamencos and hopefully some condors as well. We will make a stop in the town of Parinacota before reaching the emerald green Lake Chungara, with the view of numerous snow-capped peaks, including the 6,063 meter high Guallatiri Volcano. We will have the chance to take some hikes near lagoons in the area and to spend some time relaxing in this majestic place before returning to Arica for our farewell dinner.

Breakfast, then transfer to the airport just outside Arica for your flight back to Santiago or to continue your vacation. We hope you had a wonderful travel experience, and thank you so much for your business!

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	© 2007 Ecoturismo Wangulen Ltda.        Puerto Rosales 46, Puerto Varas, Patagonia - Chile     56.65.438.990  or  56.98.923.2105        overland@wangulen.com