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An adventure
in magnificence and style in Atacama Desert
If Patagonia is Chile's southern land of liquid and glacial poetry,
then Atacama is its mirror image. Equally poetic, it is situated in
the arid far north, and marked by the Chilean Altiplano, or high mountains
and plains to the East, and the stoically desiccated Atacama desert
along the coast. Atacama is extraordinary in its beauty, geographical
scope, and in the diversity of its natural and cultural attractions.
It has Andean peaks, volcanoes, salt flats, geysers, hot springs,
mysterious petroglyphs, pre-Columbian ruins, and endless landscapes
so rugged and that NASA uses them to test robot vehicles designed
to explore other planets. Chileans call it all El Norte Grande - The
Great North. |
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| The
San Pedro Oasis |
In
1557 the Spaniards founded a mission with a chapel on the banks of
the San Pedro River at 2,445 meters above sea level. With the largest
population in the Atacama, it became the administration center for
the Spaniards. To the North lies the Pampa del Tamarugal, to the East,
the Altiplano and the Cordillera de los Andes, the Salar de Atacama
and the Cordillera de Domeyko to the south, and to the west, the Pampa,
the Cordillera de la Costa and the Pacific Ocean.
The area is characterized by blue skies and mild temperatures throughout
the year. The Atacama Desert has a continental climate with temperatures
that range from 86 degrees F during the day to 32 degrees F at night.
In San Pedro de Atacama, the average winter temperature is 71 degrees
F during the day and 39 degrees F at night. During the summer, temperatures
range from 80 degrees during the day to 60 degrees at night. There
may be some light rain.
The Sierra or mountain area has a transition climate with average
temperatures of 68 degrees F in the summer and 48 degrees in the winter.
There is a chance of rain during the summer.
The Altiplano is a highland steppe with average temperatures ranging
from 50 degrees F to 23 degrees. During the winter, there are rains
and snowfall. |
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| Flora
and Fauna |
| The llama,
alpaca, guanaco and vicuña, all part of the camel family are
indigenous to the region. Flamingoes are also seen year round. Cacti
represent the most common vegetation. |
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| Access |
Via Santiago
de Chile / Calama. There are daily flights on several airlines. The
flights are approx. 2 hours and 50 minutes. From Calama to San Pedro
de Atacama there is a 103 km. ride over paved roads.
Tuned with creation's permanent change, indifference gives place to
the recovery of astonishment, and a feeling of being a part of totality.
To feel, "that's enough" for the day. |
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| A Totally
Different Hotel |
Built on
the Ayllú (neighborhood) de Larache in San Pedro de Atacama,
explora en Atacama is a small town built around a three patio. Rooms
are lined up with corridors opening to a patio. Corridors meet in
the main building, crossed by two ample passages; the Pasaje del Sol
and the Pasaje del Agua. Architecture evokes the nature and culture
of Atacama.
To travel is to pass, to arrive and leave. Architecture is permanence.
The hotel assures hospitable refuge inviting to enjoy the various
and disperse, in freedom and security. More than a home, the hotel
is an experience, an open balcony towards surrounding beauty. In a
desert, the hotel is water; in the burning sun, it builds a shadow.
explora is a foundational experience of architecture in the remote.
Atacama produces an encounter between nature and men, between moving
and stopping, between the ephemeral and what remains.
Rooms: The hotel has 50 rooms (32.9 square meters) all with telephone
and jacuzzi. There is only one kind of room. Additional beds for children
under 12 years old are available, (one extra bed per room). |
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Services:
- Room Service
- Shop
- Phone in all the rooms with international direct dial service
- Meeting or music room equipped with TV, video, laser disc.
- Laundry
- 4 outdoor pools
- 4 saunas
- Massage
- Stables
- Puritama river hot springs with 2 saunas
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| Programs |
| Explorations:
a daily choice, all year around. Guest of explora may participate
freely in the wide range of explorations we have developed. Everyday
there are different options chosen according to the wishes of visitors:
by van, horseback, on foot or on mountain bike, always with the help
of selected guides, the wonders of nature are within reach. |
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We have designed 3 different programs:
- 3 nights / 4 days
- 4 nights / 5 days
- 8 nights / 9 days
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| Program |
4 days / 3 nights
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5 days / 4 nights
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9 days / 8 nights
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| Room Type |
Single
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Double
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Single
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Double
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Single
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Double
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| With a view and silence |
2,250
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1,546
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3,020
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2,060
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5,390
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3,640
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| Additional bed up to 12 years
old |
300
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400
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800
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| Family Rates: Double, Triple or Quadruple
Up to 18 years old |
600
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800
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1.600
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- Rates are valid until 31 of August, 2007
- Rates are per person, expressed in US Dollars.
- Rates do not include tax or tips.
- Rates and programs are subject to change without prior notice.
- Children under 2 years old are free, accommodated in the same
room with their parents.
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INCLUDED :
- Transfer Calama - explora en Atacama - Calama
- Daily explorations with bilingual guide (groups up to 10 guests)
including transfers in van, horses, and bicycles. Each van is
equipped with radios for direct communication with the hotel and
guides.
- Lodging
- Full board
- Open bar
Transfer schedules are subject to change without prior notice.
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Reservations & Cancellations
- 30% of the reservation total value must be paid at the time
of confirmation. The remainder is due 30 days before arrival at
explora.
- Changes to confirmed reservations will be subject to approval
and room availability of and are accepted only before 30 days
prior to arrival to explora.
- The following penalties shall be applied to cancellations:
- 60-30 days prior to arrival: US$200 per room.
- 29-10 days prior to arrival: 30% of total reservation value.
- 9-0 days prior to arrival: 100% of total reservation value.
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| A.
HIKES |
1. Catarpe,
Duration: 2½ - 3 hours. Itinerary: Quebrada del
Diablo - Valle Quitor - Tambo Catarpe. Easy.
2. Quebrada del Diablo, Duration: 2½ - 3 hours. Itinerary:
Vilama. Medium.
3. Valle de la Muerte, Duration: 2½ - 3 hours. Itinerary:
Valle de Quitor, visit Pukará de Quitor. Medium.
4. Chulacao, Duration: 2 hours. Itinerary: Mine and
its surroundings. Medium.
5. To Termas de Puritama, Duration: 2½ hours. of hiking.
Itinerary: Arrival to hot springs, picnic buffet and possibility
to bathe. Medium.
6. Las Cornisas, Duration: 2½ - 3 hours. Medium
7. Rio Grande*, Duration: 1½ hours by van to Machuca.
On foot 5 to 6 hours (includes picnic). Coming back 1½ hours
by van. Medium
8. By The Foothills Of The Láscar At 4.500 Meters (14,800
feet)* Duration and itinerary: Departure: 8 a.m. By van 2½
hours. to Salar de Tara, then to Laguna Lejía, picnic at an
altitude of 4.200 meters. Ascension by van to Volcán Lascar
at an altitude of 4.500 meters. Descending on foot for and 2½
hours. Views. Medium. Second Option: On foot between Tumbre and Talabre
Viejo 2½ hours. Easy.
9. Valle de la Luna, Duration: ½ - 1 hour. Only on full
moon. Easy. Note: This exploration is only programmed for moonlighted
nights.
10. Walk Through The Ayllus, At Solor or Sequitor or Cucuter.
*Both hikes are also within the concept of traveling in Atacama
which is the idea of the explorations of Group B. |
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| B.
TRAVELING THROUGH ATACAMA |
The extended
territory and its different points of interest allow excursions in
small groups by van, that last half or one day. These excursions capture
profound landscapes, natural events and inhabited places that bare
the ingredients and surprises that make the experience unforgettable.
1. Callejón de Varela, Itinerary: Departure at 7:00
A.M. to Laguna Lejia - Breakfast. Picnic at Salar de Aguas Calientes
at 4.000mts. Visit Lagunas and Socaire. Back at the Hotel at by 6:30
P.M. Note: It might include a 2 hour walk down the gorge from
Laguna Miscanti.
2. The Heights Of Tatio, Itineraries and departure time: To
experience the geysers in action, departure is before 6:00 A.M., otherwise,
at 8:00 A.M.
There are two alternatives:
a) Bathing in the Termas de Puritama and on foot to Guatin.
b) Through Turipiti and Machuca Valley with picnic, on foot by
Bofedal and Valley.
3. Visit To Tulor, Duration 1½ hours round trip.
4. Visit To Salar, Duration: 2½ - 3 hours - Flamingos.
5. Toconao And Quebrada de Jeré, Duration: 2½
hours A good opportunity for an afternoon cup of tea.
6. To Caspana, Duration: Departures are at 7:30 A.M. Itinerary:
Ascent Tatio. Breakfast. Arrival to Caspana. Depending what time it
is, first picnic and then two hours on foot visiting the agricultural
terraces. Note: This exploration is recommended on departure day to
finish at the airport and avoid coming back to the hotel. (explora
takes the luggage directly to the airport).
7. Plateau Of Turi, Departure at 7:30 AM to El Tatio, arrival
at Toconce through Linzor. Visit the Terraces. Picnic at Toconce at
Turi. Following a visit to Pukará Turi. Visit Aiquina. Note:
This exploration is recommended on departure day to finish at
the airport and avoid coming back to the hotel. (explora takes
the luggage directly to the airport).
8. Visit To Pukara Lasana/Chiu-Chiu, Recommended on departure
day, allowing to have a light lunch at the Hotel. |
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| C.
TRAVELING THROUGH HISTORY |
1.
Conference In The Hotel
An archaeologists or anthropologists points of view of the history,
geography and cultural aspects of Atacama.
2. Museo Le Paige (San Pedro)
Guided tour to the museums' collection, with its tombs,ceramics, and
forms of cultures that have lived and padded throught Atacama.
3. Tour To Archeological Sites
According with visitors' interest, a tour can be arranged to specific
archeological places. |
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| D.
HORSEBACK RIDING |
1. Valle
de Quitor, Duration: 2½ - 4 hours visit Pukará and
Catarpe.
2. Valle de la Muerte, Duration: 2½ - 3½ hours
through Valle Quitor. Itinerary: Valle de Quitor. Valle de
la Muerte. Optative Pukará de Quitor.
3. Through The Ayllus,
a. Beach and Sequitor. Duration: 1½ - 2 hours.
b. Solor: Duration 2 - 2½ hours.
c. Cucuter and Poconche. Coming back via Sequitor. Duration:
3½ hours.
d. Tulor and Beter. Coming back via Sequitor. Duration: 3 hours.
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| E.
BICYCLING |
1.
To Valle de Quitor, Duration: 2½ - 3½ hours. Itinerary:
Valle de Quitor, optative visit to Pukará. Church.
2. Quebrada del Diablo, Duration 2½ - 3 hours. Itinerary:
Quebrada del Diablo/Catarpe. Difficult
3. Piedra de la Coca, Duration: 3½ - 4 hours. Early
departure. Itinerary: To return there are two options, by Valle
de la Muerte or by highway. Difficult..
4. To Tulor, Duration: 3½ hours. Surrounding Ayllu.
Sandy - Difficult. Optional: Without surrounding Ayllu - 2
hours.
5. To Solor, Duration: 2 hours. Itinerary: To Solor.
6. Sequitor And Ayllus, Duration: 1½ hours. Itinerary:
To Sequitor along the beach.
7. explora Challenge, Challenge, to who climbs the furthest
from trail to Paso Jama. Views and downhill. Paved road. |
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| F.
CLIMBING HILLS AND VOLCANOES |
1.
El Toco; 5.600 Meters Altitude
Duration: One journey, in vehicle up to an altitude of 4.600
meters, on foot to the peak - 3 hours. Itinerary: Quebrada
del Diablo/Catarpe. Note: Requires acclimatization in San Pedro
and previous training. Authorization subject to physical fitness.
Mountain clothing required.
2. Volcan Lascar; 5.400 Meters Altitude
Duration: One journey in vehicle up to an altitude of 4.700
meters, on foot to the peak - 3½ - 4 hours. From October to
April. Note: Requires acclimatization in San Pedro and previous
training. Authorization subject to physical fitness. Mountain clothing
and anti-smoke mascara are required (provided by the Hotel).
3. Volcan Sairecabur; 6.100 Meters Altitude
Duration: One journey in vehicle up to an altitude of 5.200
meters, on foot to the peak - 4- 5 hours. Note: A previous
ascent to Volcan Lascar is necessary.
4. Volcan Apagado; 5.700 Meters Altitude
Duration: One journey in vehicle up to an approximate altitude
of 5.000 meters, on foot to the peak - 4 hours. Degree of slope is
more elevated than in other volcanoes of the zone. Note: Requires
acclimatization in San Pedro and previous training. Authorization
subject to physical fitness. Mountain clothing is required.
5. Volcan Licancabur; 5.900 Meters Altitude
Duration: 2 - 3 nights, depending on physical fitness. Note: Requires
acclimatization in San Pedro and previous training. Authorization
subject to physical fitness. Mountain clothing is required. This exploration
has to be programmed 60 - 90 days in advance so as to adequately prepare
it. Visa is required for entering Bolivia. |
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