Atacama Desert vacation in Chile and Bolivia

Planet

This is a journey to the heart of the Andean Altiplano, with its enormous peaks of active volcanoes. Much of the trip is spent in pristine nature, including salt deserts, majestic mountains and impressive geothermal fields. Travelers are briefed by local guides as to how to minimise their impact on the environment. Advise includes disposing of all waste responsibly and recycling whenever possible.

Travelers will experience the extraordinary beauty of this natural environment. The National Reserves of Las Vicunas and Los Flamencos, the National Parks of Lauca and Isluga: plains, lakes, volcanoes and mountains. The region preserves the existence of valuable species such as ostrich (ñandu), flamingo, vicuña, alpaca, llama, condors. Useful tips on how to travel responsibly, as well as information on local flora and fauna can be found in the road book we provide to our travelers.

We work with small hotels run by people aware of their environmental responsibilities. Most of the accommodation consists of traditional constructions, often built using local materials like the high-altitude architecture of the Andean villages. A good example is the salt hotel in the Uyuni salt desert, a hotel made entirely from salt and built away from the salar itself for environmental reasons.

This is a tailor-made, independent trip; groups are very small, normally comprised of 2 to 4 people, helping to minimise the negative environmental and social impact.

People

We want local populations to benefit from the resources generated by tourism, by putting as much as possible back into the local communities. We support local employment and communities in our choice of accommodation, tours, restaurants, etc.

This trip offers the opportunity to familiarize with customs and traditions of local rural villages. Travelers will have a chance to stop at small villages along the way, to gain insight into local culture: seeing local people go about their daily life, meet and mingle with them.

We always take into consideration the feedback we receive from the local population to try to improve the quality of services in the best possible way.

All travelers are provided with detailed guidelines as to how to travel responsibly. We provide our travelers with a road book with useful information on local culture and customs.

Travelers will visit a few historic sites, an insight in the customs and traditions of pre-Hispanic cultures such as the Aymaras and Atacameños. The entrance fees to these sites play an important role in preserving the local cultural heritage for the long term.
We donate 3% of the total price of this trip to co-fund micro-projects implemented by local schools, associations and ONGs. These are community projects based on education and conservation activities, especially addressed to young people.