Whales and High Deserts – Chile

Day 1: After arriving to Santiago de Chile we’ll fly to Calama airport in Northern Chileand once there we will do a 1 and half hour drive to San Pedro de Atacama village, a rustic place, surrounded by volcanoes, where we will stay for 5 nights.
Day 2 to 5
Every day we will be going to different spots and altitudes, (starting at 3 thousand meters and finishing on the last days at 5 thousand meters). Every place is different and landscapes are stunning. birds like the three different kind of flamingos will be part of our targets as well. Milky way above volcanos are a must do photograph.
Wildlife to photograph: Red fox, grey fox, Mountain vizcacha, Andean parakeet, Vicuña, Horned coot and huge Chilean flamingos colonies among other birds.

Day 6 We check out and return to Calama, to fly to La Serena, in central Chile (Maybe routed through Santiago) where a van will drive us to Chañaral de Aceituno, a small fishermen village where we’ll stay for 6 nights. We will stay in a small lodge, by the port area.

Day 7 to 11 . After breakfast we will go out with boats looking for different kind of whales and dolphins, as well as birds and sea mammals like fur seals, south American sea lions and marine otters. By mid day we’ll go back to the village to have lunch (most of it fish, sea food and vegetables) and rest. During the afternoon we’ll go out again for a second chance of spotting .

Wildlife to photograph: Blue whale, Fin whale, Humpback whale, bottle nose dolphin, Risso dolphin, Dusky dolphin, Sea otter, Elephant seal, Fur seal, Sea lion, Humboldt penguin, Cormorants, Diving petrel, Peruvian booby, Pelicans.

Day 12: we will go back to La Serena airport and fly back to Santiago de Chile, and then home

Maximum capacity: 8 participants.

Note: we can do this strictly wildlife watching trip by going only to Chañaral de Aceituno.

Note 2: Another possible combination is starting the trip in the region of Aysen, for a look at the Marble Cathedrals of Lake Carrera, a trip to the southern continental ice fields, and the possibility of running into Huemul Deer in Cerro Castillo .