Chile - The Atacama

Today we get to know two beautiful cities - Viña del Mar, once a huge hacienda and privately owned estate and colourful, artistic Valparaiso, ‘jewel of the Pacific’ and World Heritage Site. At dinner, we will gain an insight into Chilean cooking. At dinner, we will gain an insight into Chilean cooking. Our tasting includes sopaipillas con pebre, chirimoya alegre, ceviche, empolvados, pastel de choclo, chupe de jaiba, salmon, empanadas de pino, marraqueta con manjar, and of course the national drink, pisco sour!

Today, we fly to Antofagasta, a port city situated on arguably the most stunning coastline in Chile and well off the well-trodden tourist trail. Here we visit the Desierto de Atacama Museum where many exhibits help explain the history of the area and all the incredible activity that has taken place here, from the first indigenous culture to on-going astronomical research and Nasa rover experiments.

After an early breakfast, we drive out to the Paranal Observatory, the most advanced observatory of visible-light in the world. It contains the flagship Very Large Telescope (VLT) which consists of four 8.2m telescopes Antu, Kueyan, Melipal and Yepun, named after astronomical bodies in the Mapuche language. We will have a guided tour of the facilities before continuing to the gateway to the desert, San Pedro de Atacama.

Today we experience the mesmerising, natural beauty of the Atacama Salt flat and learn about its geology. Returning to San Pedro, there will be some free time to enjoy the village, do some shopping or enjoy a good coffee in the small main square. After lunch, we visit the Moon Valley, with its colourful escarpments, unusual wind-carved formations and dry lakes that sparkle with salt. Tonight, we go stargazing with an expert at hand to explain the intricacies of the night sky.

After breakfast, we will go to the small village of Ayquina to see one of the most colourful festivities in northern Chile, the Ayquina Festival. This religious-cultural event is held in veneration of Virgin of Guadalupe, where local communities gather and perform a large number of pagan religious dances such as diabladas, tinkus and caporales.

We journey to La Huayca, driving along the Panamerican highway and crossing the Atacama Desert. Before arriving at our destination, we will stop to see the impressive Pintados geoglyphs, ancient rock art preserved by the scarcity of rain in Pampa del Tamarugal, the largest collection of its kind in South America.

Today we visit Pica Oasis. Inhabited from pre-Columbian times by different cultures, the area is known for its thermal hot springs or ‘cocha’ which have been used for centuries as part of an irrigation system. The use of underground aquifers has resulted in the production of spectacular citrus fruits including the famous Pica lemon used as an ingredient in pisco sour. Later, we continue to Iquique.

We spend the day in the seaside city of Iquique discovering its history, from the time when indigenous people farmed using collected guano and snow melt from the Andes, to the War of the Pacific where Peru and Bolivia battled for possession of its valuable nitrate resources. Our explorations will include a visit to the Regional Museum where you will see the Chinchorro mummies, the oldest artificially preserved bodies of the world.

Today we cross the Atacama Desert again to the ghost town of Humberstone, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Here we visit the fantastic open-air museum, before continuing to the Atacama Giant Geoglyph, the largest ancient anthropomorphic geoglyph in the world. At 86 metres high, the Atacama Giant is believed to have been built by inhabitants of the area between 900 to 1,450 AC.

After breakfast we fly back Santiago. After lunch in the Casablanca Valley we enjoy a vineyard tour and wine tasting experience before making our way back to our hotel for our last night in Chile.

We transfer back to Santiago Airport for our flight back to the UK, arriving on Day Fourteen.