Explorations in
Atacama

Ride through salt and gypsum formations in the Atacama Desert. Explore Vallecito near Moon Valley on horseback for a one-of-a-kind desert adventure.

Puri's overland exploration follows the Vilama and Puritama Rivers. Scenic viewpoints lead to a short hike into the Puritama Canyon.

The Oasis E-bike exploration uncovers the ancient settlements of the Licanantay culture in the Atacama Desert.

The Atacama Salt Flat is an endorheic basin with highly saline water outcrops, one of which is the Cejar Lagoon. We will venture into the northern part of the salt flat, surrounded by the vastness and accompanied by the Andean volcanoes. Once at Cejar, we will be able to enter its waters and float in the middle of the driest desert in the world.

*Please note: Not available on Tuesdays.

We will travel into the interior of the desert where nature and history blend. We will walk inside an incredible and gigantic canyon, an arm eroded by the water of the San Pedro River that flows within it. We will arrive at a sector with a great quantity of petroglyphs, as the place was a refuge for caravans. For most of the hike, we will be walking through water. *It is recommended to bring two pairs of shoes.

At the foot of the Salt mountains, we come to the Catarpe Valley, which receives the San Pedro river that feeds the oasis and the salt marsh. In the valley, we will begin our hike in the Quebrada Chulaco, a great canyon with high walls, with curves and serpentine shapes formed by moldable minerals and water erosion. Upon leaving the canyon we will hike up to a viewpoint with 360° views of the desert and its mountain ranges. We return along the same trail.

This hike explores the center of the Puritama Conservation Reserve, an area characterized by its great variety of cacti. Along the way we will have a view of the beautiful Quebrada Jorquenal from above, a canyon full of contrasts, vegetation, life and archaeological remains. We descend along a rocky terrain until reaching the Puritama hot springs.

This hike is a journey through the history of the old caravans and their interaction with the desert. We will cross from the Vilama sector toward the Catarpe Valley along old desert trails until reaching the great canyons in Quebrada Chulaco. This hike gives us broad 360° views that will allow us to understand the desert's different areas and formations.

With our SmartScope, you can even capture real-time images of the cosmos: a window into the universe, framed by the high desert sky.

We take a van to the Tatio Geysers. Along the way, an important part of the Andean Plateau fauna –including vicuñas, flamingos, foxes...

We leave in a van and travel to the borderline with Argentina to appreciate multicolored landscapes and the Andean Plateau Salt Flats....

We leave the hotel towards the southern area of the salt flat, from where we will begin to climb towards the slopes of the Andes mountain range. Our first stop will be in the town of Socaire, and then we will continue towards the Piedras Rojas sector in the Aguas Calientes salt flat. Here we will take a short walk with incredible views of the volcanoes and the salt flat. Then we will continue towards the high plateau lagoons of Miscanti and Miñiques, two large and beautiful bodies of water located at 4,200 meters above sea level. We will enjoy a walk surrounded by contrasts between the blue of the water and the reddish mountains of the high plateau. We continue towards our lunch spot and then return to the hotel.

We take a van to Talabre, where we visit the archaeological site of Kezala with petroglyphs as old as 800 - 400 B.C. We continue our journey...

We start our exploration at the Puritama River creek. We descend to walk along the creek following the river bed between large rock walls...

We take a van to the Salt Mountain Range to see typical desert landscapes: open reddish clay grounds, sand dunes...