Atacama - wild flowers and wildlife of the 'blooming desert'
We head up along the north coast and to the Atacama desert, in search of the spectacular wild flowers of the ‘blooming desert’.
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Wildlife Travel leaflet Chile 2026
Dates
22nd September – 9th October 2026
Leaders
Price
£7,850
Single Room Supplement – £680
Included
Return flight London Heathrow to Santiago. Local transport as specified in itinerary including domestic flights. Fifteen nights accommodation (two nights extra on overnight flights), full board.
Not included
Refreshments. Gratuities. Travel insurance. Covid tests and associated costs.
Group size
Minimum 4, maximum 12.
From Santiago, we will travel north through the Mediterranean regions of Central Chile, popping in at one of the country’s finest wineries along the way to the spectacular coastline, where we will explore the unique ‘lomas’ vegetation, rich in bulbs, cacti and other endemic plants, as well as the rich Pacific coastline.
Stretching down from Peru into northern Chile, the Atacama Desert is an amazing place of salt pans, geysers and ‘lunar landscapes’. Extending inland from the Pacific, the desert rises through the foothills of the Andes and becomes the impressive altiplano, with its alluvial salt basins (salars), snow-capped volcanoes and a surprising variety of wildlife.
The winter rains are often unpredictable in this, the driest place on earth, but we will be hoping that enough rain has fallen to trigger the “blooming desert”, when the Atacama becomes filled with colour, as annuals and bulbs burst into flower.
Throughout our journey, we will be in the safe hands of our friends at Far South Expeditions, who have guided all our previous visits to Chile.
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Please note that holidays change, although sometimes only slightly, from year to year and previous trip reports may not reflect the planned itinerary, or other holiday details, for the current trip. Please ask us if you would like to know of any significant differences.
Day 1 An evening flight takes us from London to Santiago in central Chile, arriving Day 2.
Day 2 From the airport, we head to the famous Viña Concha y Toro winery, in the Maipo Valley. After tasting the wines, we will visit the Rio Clarillo Reserva Nacional, an important area of dry, sclerophyllous forest on the edge of the city for our first taste of Chilean botany.
Day 3 Leaving Santiago behind, we drive north-west through the Central Valley. At Cachagua we get our first look at the Pacific Ocean, and the rich marine life associated with the cold Humboldt Current offshore: a small island is home to a colony of Humboldt Penguins, while Peruvian Booby and Peruvian Pelican fish offshore. Further south, near Concon, we will look for South American Sea Lions and the beautiful, moustached Inca Tern, which nests in cracks in the sea wall.
Day 4 We explore La Campana National Park, set in a beautiful valley, once visited by Darwin, with one of the last remaining groves of the magnificent Chilean Palm. We visit an area full of tall Trochocereus chiloensis cacti and other spectacular plants, including two species of Puya and the dark flowered Lobelia polyphylla. Amongst the wonderful vegetation we look for an array of fantastically-named birds: Moustached Turca, White-throated Tapaculo, and Dusky-tailed Canastero.
Day 5 Back to the Pacific, and we stop at Los Molles. This reserve protects a patch of vegetation ’watered’ by the coastal fogs and sea spray. Here we look for the turquoise Puya venusta, pink Eriosyce chilensis cacti, and bright patches of Alstroemeria pelegrina on the stony shore. An afternoon visit to the Rio Choapa takes us through arid coastal desert, giving us the chance to look for Least Seedsnipe.
Day 6 We spend the day in the Bosque Fray Jorge National Park, where the coastal cordillera catches the incoming fog. Travelling through the arid, cactus-covered hillsides, we will find an area of relict ‘mist forest’, a moist habitat feeling bizarrely out of place. Bright yellow spikes of Puya chilensis may be amongst the highlights of the day. The nearby ‘enchanted valley’ is home to interesting petroglyphs and the burrowing Coruro, a rodent endemic to Chile.
Day 7 A travel day, we continue northwards, covering just under 400km on the Pan American Highway. We stop to visit the market at Coquimbo and check out the fishing port of Punta de Choros before continuing to Huasco, arriving in time for sunset over the Pacific.
Day 8 Heading north beyond the Rio Huasco, we reach the Llanos de Challe National Park, where ancient clumps of Copiapoa fiedleriana and ’candelabras’ of Eulychnia breviflora dot the plains. At the Los Pozos trail, we search for one of the most charismatic flowers of the ’blooming desert’, the scarlet Lion’s Claw, Bomarea ovallei, a relative of the Alstroemerias. We end our day in the sleepy village of Bahia Inglesa, where Atacama Lava Lizards sunbathe on the rocks at the back of the beach, and Oasis Hummingbirds zip about the gardens.
Day 9 A second day exploring the Llanos de Challe, a wonderful and seldomly-visited reserve where the vegetation survives on the coastal fog that regularly blows in off the cold Humboldt current. If the winter rains were enough to trigger the blooming, this park becomes one of the hotspots to see the myriad of Nolana, Cistanthe and many other plants belonging to the ’lomas’ vegetation, a plant community only found along the coastal deserts of Peru and northern Chile.
Day 10 A day of cactuses, as we head north through Pan de Azucar National Park. We travel through the range of four different Copiapoa species, with spectacular clumps and columns demanding to be photographed in a bleakly wonderful landscape. Inland, and the vegetation disappears completely, with the arid landscapes of the Atacama Desert keeping us company as we travel north to Taltal.
Day 11 A switchback road takes us from Taltal into the Paposo Gorge, a moisture trap that supports a very different vegetation. Beautiful Cleome chilensis flowers in profusion, along with the purple Alstroemeria violacea and the lovely yellow Viola polypoda.
Day 12 The high altitude and clear skies of the Chilean Atacama make it the perfect location for state-of-the-art astronomical science. Today we visit the ‘Very Large Telescope’ of the European Southern Observatory, where a guided tour will give us an insight into the science carried out here. In the afternoon, we head inland across the amazing landscapes of the hyper-arid Atacama.
Day 13 We arrive at the mountain town of San Pedro de Atacama. After some time to relax, we will head to the scenic ‘Valley of the Moon’ to watch the sun go down.
Day 14 We spend today in the Los Flamencos National Reserve, visiting Salar de Atacama and Chaxa Lake, where the water originates in geyser fields and from melting snow and ice. Salts are concentrated and precipitate, and the water becomes pink, blue or white, through colonization by saline tolerant bacteria and diatoms. During the afternoon we visit the impressive Lagunas Miscanti and Miñiques, which hold one of the few breeding populations of the scarce Horned Coot. Three species of flamingo may be found, along with several high altitude bird species.
Day 15 An early start takes us to El Tatio Geysers, a bizarre landscape filled with columns of steam, covered by cones of crystallized silica and other salts, and containing ponds of boiling pastel-coloured mud. As the sun warms the slopes, Mountain Vizcachas appear on the rocky ledges, while Red-backed and Plumbeous Sierra Finches hop around the jets, cauldrons and steam vents. We might see herds of Vicuñas or the flightless Puna Rheas picking their way across the altiplano, and we will stop at a bofedale wetland to look for Giant Coot, our sixth coot species of the trip!
Day 16 Alas we must bid farewell to the Atacama, driving to Calama in time for our flights back to Santiago for one last night at an airport hotel, before our morning flights the next day (Day 17) arriving back in the UK Day 18.
Please note that the itinerary may be changed to suit the weather or other practicalities at the discretion of the leaders.
Accommodation will be at good quality, comfortable lodges and hotels, all with en-suite accommodation.
Meals provided during the stay will be a mixture of local and International dishes. Requests for special diets can be accommodated.
We will ensure that our travelling is as comfortable as possible, using small coach/mini-bus. On the longer journeys we will be in a comfortable, air conditioned coach and will make plenty of comfort stops and have time to stretch our legs a little and explore some of the places en route. The areas we pass though are fascinating and our journeys give us the chance to see much of the landscape and the local culture.
We will take a domestic flight between Calama and Santiago with Latam.
Group flights
Group flights are with British Airways from London Heathrow:
22nd September depart London Heathrow 19.45, arrive Paris 22.00; depart Paris 23.20, arrive Santiago 08.45 (23rd)
8th October depart Santiago 11.00, arrive Paris 05.45 (9th); depart Paris 07.35, arrive London Heathrow 08.00
It is also possible to fly from regional airports, including Bristol and Manchester, with KLM and/or AirFrance, via Amsterdam or Paris: ask us about options.
Time zone
Chile is three hours behind UK time.
Entry requirements
If you hold a British passport, you can visit Chile for up to 90 days without a visa. Your passport should have an ‘expiry date’ after the day you plan to leave Chile.
On arrival, the Chilean immigration authorities will give you a tourist card (‘tarjeta de turismo’), a form, which you must keep safe and give it to immigration when you leave the country.
A range of weather is expected. In Santiago and the central parts of Chile, up along the coast to the north it is likely to be sunny and warm: it will be cooler at night, and we may find fog and damp conditions around the northern ‘lomas’. In the Atacama it will no doubt be dry(!), mostly warm during the day, but it can get cold at higher altitude, especially early in the morning and in the evenings.
No strenuous walking is involved but you need to have a reasonable level of general fitness. Most of the walks are not long (perhaps a couple of hours): you will sometimes need to walk on rough ground or up hill.
We will be visiting high altitudes during our time in the Atacama. Taltal is at an altitude of 2000m, Calama is at 2,200m, and San Pedro is at c2,500m. We will be heading higher during our excursions: to 2,600m at Paranal and then up to 4,100m at El Tatio and Los Flamencos.
The gradual increase in altitude, from Taltal to Calama and then San Pedro will help us to acclimatise and the excursions for from San Pedro are optional. If you have any reason to believe that you will be adversely affected at these altitudes you must consult your doctor prior to booking.
General inoculations for travel are recommended. We do not visit malaria/yellow fever areas.