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Santiago - Arica
Transfer to Santiago de Chile Airport. We will be welcomed at the Arica Airport and transferred to the hotel. |
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Arica - City Tour
Breakfast at the hotel. In the afternoon, we will go to the city of Arica. We will visit the center of the town, San Marcos Church and the ancient Customs building, both built by the French architect Eiffel. Also we will climb the Morro de Arica (Arica's Hill), which was a strategic place during the Pacific War. And we will end our journey visiting the Azapa Valley. |
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Arica - Lluta Valley - Socoroma - Putre
Breakfast at the hotel. We will head for Putre. Passing by Lluta Valley, we will watch ancient pictures of llamas and human figures at the hillsides; these are geoglyphs of Colcas Incas.
We will go to Poconchile, Pukará of Copaquilla (a pre-hispanic fortress) and the cactus Candelabro, which is a giant species, in La Quebrada de Cardones (Cardones Ravine). Then in Socoroma, we will enjoy a typical dish, guatia. In the afternoon, we will have arrived at Putre, an Aymará community, where we will have dinner and then take a rest. |
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Putre - Lauca National Park
Breakfast at the hotel. We will head for Lauca National Park, a paradise with plenty of bird species. In this park, we can find spectacular native wildlife, such as flamencos, llamas, guanacos, vicunas, taguas, guallatas and viscachas. In this region, we can find the highest lake in the world: Chungara Lake, center of the Biosphere Reserve.
This Lake is in a fantastic altiplano landscape, surrounded by snowy volcanoes, for example the Payachatas, Andean Gods, worshiped by the Aymaras. We will visit the volcanoes of 6,000 m.a.s.l.: Pomerape and Parinacota.
The Lauca National Park has the third of the bird species we can find in Chile. The camelids are put to pasture in the wetlands (area covered with short grass which grows in marshy, low-lying lands). If we have enough time, we will visit an Aymara community whose main activity is the llamas and alpaca growing: Chucuyo. Note: If you have time to spare, we recommend staying an extra night in Putre to visit Salar de Surire (Surire Salt Flat).
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Surire Salt Flat
Breakfast at the hotel. We will visit Surire Salt Flat, which is located at about 100 km from Putre. Surire Salt Flat is situated at 4,250 meters above sea level, in the community of Putre. Three flamenco species use this salt flat as a place to breed and raise their young between December and April. The salt flat has a surface area of 11,298 hectares in salt areas and high mountain ecosystems.
The Surire Salt Flat is formed by a number of shallow lagoons of different dimensions and is crossed just by two low-volume rivers which are tributaries of the salt flat: the Surire River and the White River. This region has very changeable weather, -15°C (during winter nights) and 5°C (during the day). In the afternoon, we will get back to Arica.
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