Itinerary:
May 7: Arrive Santiago, fly North to Calama, drive 1 hr East to San Pedro de Atacama. Check in to the Hotel Altiplanico.
May 8-11: We will spend 4 full-days exploring the best locations around San Pedro de Atacama for wildlife, scenic and night sky photography. Locations: Rainbow Valley, Salar de Atacama, Valley of the Moon, Salar de Atacama, Monjes de Pacana, Rainbow valley, etc. Evenings spent photographing the night-sky one night visiting a nearby observatory for a star tour led by a trained astronomer.
May 12: Drive East from San Pedro to the border of Bolivia and after crossing continue North to the Tayka Hotel del Desierto. Night-sky photography in evening. The next several days we will be at close 12,000 ft altitude on average. We will have acclimatized ourselves in San Pedro beforehand but we will need to still need to pace ourselves and be sure to drink plenty of water.
May 13: Drive further North to Tayka Hotel de Piedra on the south side of the Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flats). Many interesting photo spots along the way and night-sky photography in the evening.
May 14: Drive across the Salar de Uyuni to Tayka Hotel de Sal on the North edge at the foot of Volcan Tunupa. This location is the highlight of our journey and we will spend 2 nights here. Along the way we will pass by Incahuasi which is a stunning cactus adorned island stuck in the middle of the Salt Flats.
May 15: Full-day exploring the Uyuni Salt Flats from Tayka del Sal. There is an interesting Indian ruins very nearby that is excellent for night-sky photography.
May 16: Depart Tayka del Sal and cross the flats to the town of Uyuni to visit the famous “Train Graveyard”. After an hour or so shooting there we will make our way back towards the border passing by the “Piedra Arbol” or Stone Tree and the Valley of the Rocks. Tonight we will spend the night in small Andean village of Villamar.
May 17: Today we will make our way back to the border and San Pedro de Atacama. Evening farewell dinner at our lovely hotel.
May 18: Drive to Calama to catch our flight south to Santiago for our connecting flight back home.
Price: US$7,250 based on shared accommodations, US$8,650 single (private room).
Included: all hotels, meals, transportation, guiding and park entrance fees.
Not Included: international or domestic airfare, visa fees, alcoholic beverages, laundry service and gratuities for hotel/restaurant staff and local guides ( $20/day).
*Note: This itinerary may require some slight modifications prior to departure.