Family Adventures in the Atacama Desert

For flight quotes (international and domestic), please contact our partner Exito Travel.  

Before we kick off our family adventure tour in the Atacama Desert, you should take a day or two to adjust to local time and recover from your travels, and allow for any flight or luggage delays. You should fly into Calama airport (CJC).

In Chile, domestic flights are operated by 3 local airline companies: Latam, Sky Airline and JetSmart.

We recommend staying at Hotel La Casa de Don Tomás in San Pedro de Atacama, which is well-located with lots of restaurants and other facilities just a short walk away.

Suggested Hotels

• La Casa de Don Tomas Hotel
• Desertica Hotel

Official Airport Transfer

The official shuttle company at Calama’s Airport is called TransVip.

They are the only authorized shuttle company at the airport, and their staff wears a green and orange uniform.
By contract with the airport, they must have available transport based in the domestic flights arriving every day.

They have a counter at the airport, on the ground floor next to the car rental companies.

They offer regular shuttles to San Pedro de Atacama at $12.000 pesos (USD $17 per person), and they need a minimum of 4 people.

If they don’t have the 4 minimum passengers, or if you want to have a private shuttle, with the same company you can do it at $75.000 (USD $100 per vehicle).

You don’t need reservations and you can pay in Credit Card or Cash. The ATM is on ground floor.

All their shuttle services will drop you off at the hotel or address you are staying in San Pedro de Atacama. Driving time is approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Our meeting hotel address is CALLE TOCOPILLA, SIN NUMERO, SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA.

Welcome to Atacama – the driest desert in the World.

Morning excursion

On the first day of our family adventure trip, our local team will meet you at La Casa de Don Tomas Hotel in San Pedro de Atacama at 9am.

We will have a great introductory experience to the Likan Antay culture as we visit the different ayllus around San Pedro de Atacama.

The Ayllu is an ancient type of organization and land management, created by the Altiplano people who inhabited these desert sites.

We will meet Wildo and his family who will share with us an introductory conversation regarding the territory and some of their tradition. We will experience different traditions of the Likan antay people.

Afternoon excursion

After a good rest, we’ll head towards the Salt Mountain Range where the Mars Valley is located. This mountain range forms a natural barrier between the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama Salt Flat.  

After ascending a small dune, we will hike north along one of the cornices bordering the Mars Valley. The stunning panoramic view allows us to appreciate how erosion has molded the Salt Mountain Range, revealing the geological processes that shaped it. 

The most fun part of the excursion is a steep but enjoyable descent down a dune, from where we cross the valley on our way back to the van. 

Altitude: 2,600 meters above sea level

Distance: 3,7 kilometers

Time hiking: 1 hour 20 minutes

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Accommodation: La Casa de Don Tomas Hotel 

Morning Ride

Today we’ll bike towards Ojos del Salar, the Tebinquinche & Cejar Lagoons, where you’ll get the change to swim, enjoying the gravitational effect caused by the amount of salt condensed, floating very easily. Your eyes will be amazed with the beautiful turquoise color of the lagoon. 

Distance by bike: 40 kilometers

Elevation: 2.400 meters above sea level 

Intensity level: Low/Easy

Afternoon Hike

During the afternoon, we’ll head toward the Moon Valley, located in the Salt Mountain Range, which forms a natural barrier between the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama Salt Flat. The hike starts at the Coyote rock, a strange rock formation and getting deep into the mountain range and it geologic forms. 

We’ll hike 2 hours by the Kari George, admiring beautiful views of Atacama. The Moon is well-known due to it statuesque and rocky formations. Salt emerges to the surface, covering the surface with a dry, whitish layer that gives the place a lunar aspect.

Distance Hiking: 8 kilometers

Elevation: 2.400 meters above sea level

Intensity level: Low/Easy

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: La Casa de Don Tomas Hotel 

We begin our journey through geothermal fields from the most visited spot on the Tatio geysers. We then escape the common by following paths made by the passage of vicuñas, they take us to a river of thermal waters where several pools are formed. 

We will continue our hike at the source of this river, the Great White Geyser. Finally, we will hike back to the van. We will enjoy a picnic lunch at the geothermal field where you will be able appreciate great views and take a bath at thermal pool. 

Return to San Pedro de Atacama where you can rest and relax for a while. 

At night we will enjoy an amazing astronomy outing. We’ll spend 2 hours that starts with an astronomy lecture in a specially equipped room, followed by a naked eye star-gazing and finally, a celestial bodies telescopic observation.

Distance: 4.5 kilometers

Time hiking: 3 hours

Meals: Breakfast, Picnic Lunch and Evening Cocktail

Accommodation: La Casa de Don Tomas Hotel 

Today in the morning, we’ll depart towards Socaire village (3.300 meters above sea level) to acclimatize and appreciate the small church of San Bartolomé. We continue our day driving to Miscanti and Meñiques lagoons of crystalline water and intense blue color (4.350 meters above sea level). 

Surrounded by numerous volcanoes and mountains, they are a habitat for a variety of species, such as the Chilean flamingo, the small parina, the player Baird and the horned crane, among others. 

Afterwards we´ll continue our trip towards the Aguas Calientes Salt Flat. We will enjoy a picnic lunch surrounded by beautiful colors and the Andes Mountain Range. Finally, we will reach Piedras Rojas where we will be able to find endemic fauna and flora and enjoy panoramic views. At night we will enjoy a farewell dinner at a restaurant in town.

Meals: Breakfast, Picnic Lunch and Farewell Dinner 

Accommodation: La Casa de Don Tomas Hotel  

Our last adventure will lead us by bike to the San Pedro River and follow its course in Catarpe Valley. We go through the Pukara de Quitor, an old fortress, and cross the Devil’s Throat, a canyon inside the Salt Mountain Range with zigzagging paths between striking rock formations. 

Back to the hotel and private transfer to Calama Airport (CJC).

End of our services. 

Bike Distance: 16 kilometers

Meals: Breakfast