Start: Day 1 at 7:00 am at your hotel in San Pedro de Atacama.
End: Day 4 at 1:00 pm in the bus station or downtown San Pedro de Atacama (this end time could be modified due to weather conditions or force majeure reasons, which is why we recommend you leaving San Pedro de Atacama the day after the end date of the tour).
Day 1: We will pick you up at your hotel and travel in a minibus from San Pedro de Atacama to the border of Bolivia, passing by the border-control stations of Chile and Bolivia. Once we reach the border, we will switch to a 4x4 vehicle for 6 people. On this first day, we will visit places in the Bolivian Altiplano such as the Blanca Lagoon and Verde Lagoon located near the Licancabur Volcano. Next, we will visit the Salvador Dalí Desert, the Polques Hot Springs to take a nice dip, and the Sol de Mañana Geysers, intermittent sources of water that flow at a temperature of 90 °C (194 °F). We will end the day at the Colorada Lagoon, a major nesting site for more than 30,000 flamingos. We will stay overnight at the refugio in Villamar.
Day 2: After breakfast, we will take the route to Tomas Lakha, where you will be able to see the cave paintings from before the Incas. After that, we will visit Italia Perdida, place where the volcanic rock is shaped with what happens to be an abandoned city. Then, we will go to Vinto Lagoon and Catal Lagoon, where you will be able to walk and see the typical fauna of the Bolivian Altiplano. Later, we will visit the Anaconda Canyon and also the Sora Canyon, before going to the Chiguana Salt Flat ang getting to Colcha K where you will stay the second night.
Day 3: We will begin our last day of the tour very early in the morning with a view of the sunrise in the Uyuni Salt Flat. After this we will go to the Incahuasi Island, a limestone formation located in the middle of the salt flat where we will be able to explore and get another perspective of the Salt Flat. We will then continue on to the Salt Museum and the town of Colchani, which are outside of the salt flat. From here we will go to Uyuni, passing by the train cemetery, where we will make a short stop to take pictures. In Uyuni, we will say goodbye to our driver/guide who accompanied us during the previous three days, and then we will have some free time to eat lunch and tour part of the city. Then, we will meet up with the driver who will take us on the return trip, with a stop-over in Villamar to eat dinner and sleep.
Day 4: We will get up very early to continue our return trip and get to the border between Chile and Bolivia. Once here, and after the corresponding procedures, we will switch vehicles to a minibus to go back to San Pedro de Atacama.
*The pickup service included does not operate to nor from accommodations located outside the urban area of San Pedro de Atacama, accommodations located in ayllus near San Pedro de Atacama (Quitor, Yaye, Checar, Sequitor, Solor, and Coyo), nor accomodations in the town of Toconao.
Altiplano winter
From January to April, a weather phenomenon occurs that is known as the Altiplano winter, which is the rainy season in the central Andes. Due to this, the described itinerary may be modified as follows:
- The second night we would stay in a hostel in Uyuni.
- We would not visit the Incahuasi Island where we find the largest concentration of water during the rainy season.
Changes due to force majeure
This is a referential itinerary. The route to get to the salt flat, the places visited, the indicated order, and the end time will always be subject to change according to weather conditions, road conditions, unforeseen events, and accommodation availability. The itinerary is confirmed in the briefing given by the supplier the day before the start of the activity. However, the itinerary still could be modified due to the occurrence of the aforementioned situations once the tour has already begun.