Altiplanic Lagoons and Piedras Rojas Tour - Full Day Tour - Private Option

Altiplanic Lagoons and Piedras Rojas Tour - Full Day Tour - Private Option

Driving for a couple of hours during some days in the area. A tour in the morning, another in the afternoon. Many days scaping from the city to get to another routine: traveling and seeing the desert, its valleys and lagoons. Stop. Breathe. Give yourself some time to know the place, but to do it for real.

Rest your mind and your body in front of the altiplanic lagoons. Know Toconao and Socaire: the hospitality, its history and its people. Walk through the Inca Trail, the point where the Tropic of Capricorn crosses, see the reflection of the hills and the sun in the lagoons water, and say hi to the flamencos that inhabit the Atacama salt flat.

A diverse but rewarding tour through the San Pedro de Atacama heights and places that will appeal your emotions and the will to stay there. We invite you to make this tour because the Chilean desert has a minute for you and will give you the opportunity to simply slow down.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Cementerio de Toconao, Ruta 23 S/N Provincia de El Loa, Toconao Chile

Just 40 km away from San Pedro de Atacama, there is a town more than ten thousand years old that is called Toconao. This wonderful historic site is known for its inhabitants’ experience using natural resources to express art in everyday life.
On the one hand, their houses are built with volcanic stone and with that same mineral they make some incredible carving crafts. This, added to the well-known alpaca weavings, give life to this magnificent town.
On the other hand, the San Lucas bell tower with its white walls made of adobe, built on 1750 in Toconao’s square, is one of the reasons to visit this town and fall in love with the Chilean desert.

Duration: 20 minutes

Stop At: Iglesia de Socaire, San Pedro de Atacama Chile

In this peculiar town it is possible to create an immediate connection with the Andes altiplano. Undoubtedly, its privileged sight to the Atacama salt flat, and the houses built without windows are the favorite part of the visitors who walk impressed along every space to then visiting the church made of adobe.
Socaire’s inhabitants rely their economy on agriculture, livestock and hand-woven crafts, since their famous weavings are very valuable to the ones who visit this town.
Since Socaire is located in a slope, its decline allows the creation of cultivation terraces. In this structures, inhabitants plant corn, broad beans, alfalfa, quinoa and some other products that are watered thanks to the canals that go through the township.
For tourists, Socaire is an unforgettable experience, its inhabitants and the peace of the area are the reasons why it is still one of the favorite destinies for the ones who want to visit something out of the ordinary.

Duration: 45 minutes

Stop At: Piedras Rojas, San Pedro de Atacama 1410000 Chile

A large plateau of stones and an intense red color is located between the snowy mountain range and the volcanos. Piedras Rojas (Red Stones) is located at more than 4000 meters high, in the middle of mountains that in the winter cover completely from the snow that freeze the lagoon that is in front of this rock formations.
The route to Piedras Rojas leaves the visitors impressed, because on the way they see the vast plateaus full of reddish nuances contrasting the green and yellow flora. They also observe foxes, llamas, alpacas, emus and the funny vizcacha’s routine that sunbathe in the impressive altiplano sun that comes out shyly among the mountains.
Arriving, the picture is this: snowy mountains in both sides and, in the middle, intense red stones contrasting with the white snow and the turquoise Aguas Calientes salt flat. You can listen to the wind blowing and you feel the height. There is no need to rush to get to Piedras Rojas, stressing out in a place so peaceful does not make any sense. Enjoy and breathe.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Lagunas Miscanti y Miniques, Caracoles 174b, San Pedro de Atacama 1410000 Chile

Altiplanic lagoons, Miscanti and Miñiques, are an example of those natural treasures that the desert gives to us to make us feel in another dimension. The poetic composition of the landscape mixes the hills reflected in the lagoons that are located in this valley decorated with red stones, yellowish dry grass and turquoise water.
Nature acts not only to create this beautiful scene but also to allow the everyday coexistence among flora and fauna next to the lagoons that gives them company. They are also a meeting point for the human being and the earth flow.
Even though it might be sunny, the whole body is covered by the cold temperatures of the Atacama heights that grow from the sediment layers until the sky, where, in the afternoon, you can see the moon that later on will light up the Atacama Desert. This is the perfect closure for the visit to one of the most artistic secrets of the region.

Duration: 45 minutes

Stop At: Laguna Chaxa, Reserna Nacional los Flamencos, San Pedro de Atacama Chile

An oasis in the middle of the Atacama Desert.
You walk through a trail that is surrounded by solidified salt formations that reflect the sunshine and impress you. You will get to the lagoon and there you will find some majestic visitors that will welcome you with a first-rate dance: three different species of flamencos.
Pink and big, they enjoy the space that belongs to them. In the Chaxa Lagoon they make their mating dances and lay their eggs. In the background, the mountains witness everything, and you find yourself in the middle of an oasis that is part of the conservation of these birds. The emotion will be hard to describe, nonetheless connection is what matters the most here, where silence to not scare the flamencos is a demonstration of respect to its preservation.
At 4500 meters above sea level you will find a lagoon surrounded with sporadic visitors: beautiful birds that with their sounds make their presence felt showing that there is life even in the desert.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Laguna Tuyajto, Ruta 23, San Pedro de Atacama Chile

There are different places in the valleys of San Pedro de Atacama that take you to another world, where you feel that the horizon is surreal, and you are not able to distinguish between optical illusions and reality.
Tujaxto Lagoon is a gift from nature. It is a place where you want to sit on the soil and admire the light and reddish multicolor hills that mix above the flat valley that is next to the lagoon. In addition, the solitude of the place contributes to its magic, since it always keeps its privacy to whoever visits it, no matter the season.
Between the path and the lagoon there is an earth mound where you can sit and stay for as long as you wish, because nothing compares to the emotions that enter through the eyes and get to the chest. Attention: as time goes by while you are there seated, the hours can pass, and you might not even notice.

Duration: 20 minutes