Discover the mystical beauty and inspiring geology of the High Deserts of Bolivia and Chile. Travel from Bolivia's capital city, La Paz, to Sun and Moon Islands on Lake Titicaca. Explore Lake Titicaca, South America's largest and the world's highest navigable lake. Then journey through an extreme geography of deserts, mountains, canyons, and lagoons from Bolivia into Chile. Visit the largest salt desert in the world, Salar de Uyuni. Travel over the border to witness the fantastic colorful display of the Valley of the Moon at sunset. Visit the altiplanic lagoons Mescanti & Meñiques and spend a day visiting the Tatio Geysers. The opportunities to explore this region are endless.
Highlights
Explore Sun and Moon Islands on Lake Titicaca
Tour the world's largest salt flat, Solar de Uyuni
Visit the altiplanic lagoons Mescanti & Meñiques
Discover the mystical beauty of the Uyuni and Atacama
Involves minimal physical effort and is typically associated with leisurely activities. Activities are low-intensity or last less than a few hours each day.
Arrive to La Paz where you are met and transferred to your hotel. Enjoy your first day free to explore the city on your own. You can also arrange for a guided day tour today!
La Paz is set within an awe-inspiring frame of snowcapped mountains which gives this city the honor as the highest capital in the world. La Paz is a city of contrasts with ancient and modern structures protected by the "Guardian of La Paz", Mount Illimani.
This afternoon with your guide you visit the Plaza Murillo, where the cathedral and the Government Palace are located. Continue to the famous San Francisco Church founded in 1549 and a great area for traditional handicrafts and artwork. You will also visit the Mirador Killi Killi, one of La Paz’s most impressive viewpoints featuring dramatic panoramic views of the city.
The tour continues to Obrajes, Calacoto, and La Florida residential areas in the south and the well-known Moon Valley, where erosion has given place to the most exotic and curious surface forms. Later you will take the Cable Car system known as Mi Teleférico, a public transit system that will takes us to new heights. Operating at 4000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level, the world’s highest cable car ride has revolutionized the way locals travel between La Paz and neighbor city El Alto.
End your tour in the popular Witches’ Market located in the center of the city. You can explore this open-air market where the vendors offer medicinal dried herbs, seeds, llama fetuses and many others used in rituals.
Early morning transfer by private vehicle with your guide to Copacabana (approximately 3 hours). From here, board a boat and head toward Sun Island (1 hour ride). The Sun Island is worshipped as the birthplace of Manco Kápac and Mama Ocllo, the first founders of the Inca Empire. With your guide, tour the Pilkokaina Palace, the Inca’s Fountain, and the 200 stairs of Yumani. Savor a traditional athapi lunch (a picnic with local cuisine) followed by about an hour long uphill walk to the La Estancia Lodge, your home for the evening. Enjoy dinner and the sunset on Lake Titicaca.
This morning return by boat to Copacabana. Visit this picturesque town situated between two mountains on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Explore the Inca sites outside of the city as well as the cathedral with its dark Virgin of Candelaria statue and museum of European and local religious art. Travelers interested in a workout can climb El Calvario and enjoy a spectacular view of Lake Titicaca and Copacabana. Return to La Paz in the afternoon.
Take an early flight to Uyuni, a village on the edge of the world’s largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni. You have a full day of touring this unique landscape. On the way out of town you can explore the Uyuni train cemetery and learn about the production of salt bricks in the village of Colchani. Visit Huasi Island, a bizarre island surrounded by salt and studded caves cacti, some standing almost 30 feet tall.
After breakfast, head out in a 4-wheel drive vehicle to explore the Lakes Canapa, Hedionda, Chaircota and the infamous Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon). The lake has a deep orange – red hue from red algae and other microorganisms that thrive in the water. Surrounding the lake are large white deposits of borax, rolling grasslands, and purple mountains. With luck you can see Puna Flamingos (also known as James’ Flamingo), a rare bird, native to the Andes and Altiplano.
Today is an early morning, to make the drive over the border into Chile. On the way you can explore the sunrise geysers, and the Valle de Dali, named after the famous surrealist artist, Salvador Dali because of its unusual landscape. Then on to Laguna Verde, just on the Chilean border with great views of Licancabur Volcano rising above. From there arrive to the border of Bolivia and Chile at Hito Cajón. Your guide helps you present your immigration papers and connect you with the bus to San Pedro de Atacama. Once you arrive in San Pedro de Atacama you are met by a local representative and taken to your lodge or hotel. Once you are settled into your room, you set off to explore. Afterwards, visit the giant sand dunes and polychromatic rock formations of the Valley of the Moon.
Over the next two days explore the beautiful blue waters of the altiplanic lagoons Mescanti and Meñiques. A typical day has you departing after breakfast and returning in the mid-afternoon, leaving plenty of time to enjoy a good book, relax in the shade of the garden, or take a dip in the lodge's swimming pool. Be prepared though to rise early for the excursion to El Tatio Geysers! Here you can watch the sunrise over the world's highest geyser field. As the dawn breaks, you are treated to a stunning sight of steaming geysers set against the azure-colored antiplano backdrop. A short hike around the geothermal field brings you to the thermal pools - take care where you tread so as to avoid falling through the thin crust!
Depart from the lodge and return to Calama airport to fly on to your next adventure or return to Santiago to fly home. With extra time in Atacama, you can visit a stone craftsmen village, Atacama's salt flats, volcanoes, lagoons, and other wonderful and otherworldly landscapes.
Apologies for the inconvenience. Prices for not yet published. Below per person rate based on previous season. Contact us to confirm upcoming season pricing.
Prices for are estimated based on inflation. Contact us to confirm pricing and availability for your desired departure date.
Initial deposit is $500, and most travelers will call our office and pay the deposit with a credit card.
Final payment is due 70 days (10 weeks) prior to departure by bank transfer, check or credit card. All final payments by credit card may be subject to a surcharge and maximum of $20,000 charge
The trip was terrific with great planning on your part. Most of the adventures were not mainstream and somewhat off the beaten path which made it especially enjoyable!! We felt taken care of and you all were readily available to respond to questions and issues. I would highly recommend your company and friends have already expressed interest based on our pictures and excitement.
Gale Cantor
TrustScore 4.8 | 254 reviews
TrustScore 4.8 of 5
Based on 254 reviews on
1 day ago
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
1 day ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
1 day ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
6 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.