Tours in Chile - Santiago - Atacama - Torres del Paine - Glacier Balmaceda - Perito Moreno (11 days/ 10 nights)

Arrival in the city of Santiago, reception at the airport and transfer to the hotel, acommodation. In the afternoon we will realize a beautiful city tour through Santiago where we will visit the main attractions and enjoy some of the best views over the capital of Chile. Some of these points of interest are the mountain Santa Lucia, the Central Square, the Government Palace, the Market and the Mountain San Cristobal. Transfer to the hotel.

In the morning we will transfer you to the airport of Santiago.

Arrival at the airport of Calama, transfer to San Pedro de Atacama.

Afternoon: Moon Valley

Departure from the hotel at 16:00 hrs to enjoy a panoramic view over the Cordillera of the Andes, the Great Salt Lake of the Atacama, the Oasis of San Pedro and the Cordillera of the Salt. We move on to visit the Death Valley (also called Mars Valley), exploring its labyrinths and canyons on an easy hike of about 35 minutes. After a stop at the Salt Caves, where you can appreciate the heart of salt, gypsum  and clay, we continue to the Moon Valley, visiting the Amphitheater, the Three Marias and finishing the day with an impressive view over the Andes.

Departure at 07:00 am. We leave San Pedro de Atacama to go south and cross the graben of the Salt Lake of the Atacama to visit the village of Toconao with its colonial church and the old fruit gardens. From there we move on to the Great Salt Lake of the Atacama, the third biggest in the world and the one with the highest Lithium production on earth.  Also we visit the Lagoon Chaxa, part of the Flamingo National Reserve. The excursion continues to the village of Socaire, located at an altitude of 3.250m over sea level and at a distance of 89km of San Pedro. It is a prehispanic village characterized by cultivated terraces and its beautiful church. Nowadays it is well known for the typical food of the Atacama. We move on to the Highland lagoons Miscanti and Meñiques, located over 3.500m over sea level and surrounded by the mountains of the Andes. It is one of the few places where you can find the Horned Tagua, among many other species of birds and mammals like the Andean Fox and the Vicuña. Return to San Pedro, arrival around 15:00 hrs.

Afternoon: Lagoon Cejar

We leave San Pedro around 16:00 hrs. At 30km south of the town you can find surprisng lagoons located in the Salt Lake of the Atacama. First of all we will visit the Lagoon Cejar, a lagoon of Green color and a White shore due to the high amount of salt in the water. This high concentration of salt allows you to flow easily just like in the Dead Sea. You will have the time to enjoy a bath, then we return to San Pedro de Atacama.

Departure at 04:00 am northwards. We cross the hills and mountains of the Cordillera of the Andes to get to the Tatio Geysers after about 1,5 hours. They are located 89km from San Pedro at an altitude of 4.230m over sea level. The geothermic field consists of more than 80 active geysers of different magnitudes and has to be visited very early for in the morning the water shoots with more intensity. This is due to the high differece between water temperature and atmospheric temperature at sunrise which causes condensation of the steam. In Summer the atmospheric temperature reaches about - 6ºC and in Winter it can reach -20 ºC. You will get time to visit different geysers and steam columns and also to take a bath in the natural thermal pool. We will have breakfast at the geysers, then we return to San Pedro passing the village of Machuca. Arrival approximately at 12:00 hrs in San Pedro. At the accorded time we will realize the transfer from San Pedro de Atacama to the airport of Calama. Arrival in Santiago de Chile, transfer to the hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel and transfer to the airport of Santiago to take the flight to Punta Arenas. Arrival, reception at the airport and transfer to the beautiful city of Punta Arenas, one of the southernmost cities in the world. In the afternoon we will visit the penguins of Seno Otway where during the time of October to March more than one million species are to find. We return to Punta Arenas and then take a bus to Puerto Natales. Acommodation.

Breakfast in the hotel, then we realize one of the most important excursions of the whole trip, the journey to Torres del Paine. We start the day visiting the Cave Milodon where good preserved relicts of prehistoric mammals were found that lived in the region 12.000 years ago. From there we continue towards the National Park Torres del Paine. We visit the Bitter Lagoon which fascinates with its white shore covered by salt and the great number of birds habiting in it. Afterwards you can observe the mountain massifs of Paine in the company of some guanacos until we get to the viewing point Lake Nordenskjold. Here you will have an ideal view to see the Mount Almirante Nieto and the Peaks of Paine. We move on to the Lake Pehoé, a beautiful lake of turquoise water due to the sediments of the glaciers, and take a walk to the Salto Grande (Big Waterfall) where you can appreciate the great views over the Big Mount Paine, the Peaks of Paine, the glacier The French and the Small Mount Paine, also knows as Mount Almirante Nieto. After  this great moments we will have lunch.

We continue to the sector Grey and if we are lucky we will be able to see more than one huemul on the route. We will cross a forest full of woodpeckers before we get to the shore of the Lake Greak. Here we can realize a hike towards the viewing point of the glacier Grey. Then we make our way to the administration office of the park to change the vehicle and continue the trip to the sector Serrano. Here we spend the night.

Breakfast in the hotel. If the weather is good you can take fabulous pictures of the massifs of Torres del Paine. This day you will have the option to realice activities in the park. In the afternoon around 18:00 hrs we will return to the city of Puerto Natales.

Breakfast in the hotel. We will realize an amazing boat trip through the fjord of the Last Hope towards the glaciers Balmaceda and Serrano. On the way you can observe various colonies of seals and cormorants. After arriving at the glaciers we take a walk of about 1.000 meters on the route of Puerto Toro through a beautiful forest until we get to the impressive Glacier Serrano. Here we have time to take some pictures, then we return to the boat to continue to the Glacier Balmaceda, a wonderful glacier located in Mount Balmaceda (2.222m). After a tasty patagonian lunch we make our way back to Puerto Natales where we will arrive around 17:00 hrs.

Breakfast in the hotel, full day excursión to the Glacier Perito Moreno. From El Calafate we will circle the southern part of the Argentinean Lake, passing the Round Bay where you can observe a great varoety of birds. The first 40km lead us through the patagonian veld, then we enter the National Park of the Glaciers. Here the vegetation is dominated by typical trees of Patagonia. Once we get to the glacier we will go to the main balcony. From there you can explore the walkways freely and appreciate this natural spectacular from different points of view. At the accorded to we return to Puerto Natales. Hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. At the accorded time we realize the transfer to the airport of Punta Arenas to return to Santiago. Arrival and Transfer to the Hotel. Afternoon free.

Breakfast in the hotel, at the convenient time we realize the trasfer to the airport of Santiago.