After your arrival at Iquique's Diego Aracena Airport and transfer to the group's hotel, take some time to settle in and have lunch at your leisure. Iquique is an up-and-coming coastal city, once a saltpeter mining town and now a beachside sport and resort destination. Sprouting up in the 19th century, the city was ceded to Chile by Peru following the War of the Pacific, and is still a major copper mining hub. As evening approaches, our group will meet for a welcome dinner and orientation. After dinner, we'll head back to our hotel where we'll be joined by Oscar Muñoz, a collector of lost historical objects in the towns of northern Chile and the man who discovered the "Ata," or Atacama Skeleton, in 2003. Muñoz's unusual discovery prompted DNA tests and was included in Sirius, a full-length documentary investigating purported evidence of alien life. We'll hear more from Muñoz about the region and his controversial discovery. Afterwards, head to bed for some rest or, if you'd like, stay out and explore more of Iquique.

Meals:  D

After breakfast, we'll depart for La Noria, an abandoned town located 35 miles from Iquique. La Noria was where Mr. Muñoz found the six-inch Ata skeleton, wrapped in a white fabric tied with a purple band. After a chance to explore La Noria, we'll enjoy lunch in Huara, a city with a fascinating historical and cultural past, especially during the War of the Pacific in the 19th century. After lunch, our day will continue with a visit to the Atacama Giant, a large, anthropomorphic geoglyph located at Cerro Unitas. This is the largest prehistoric anthropomorphic figure in the world, with a height of 119 meters (390 feet). The Giant represents a deity worshipped by the local inhabitants from the years 1000 to 1400, and is one out of nearly 5,000 pieces of ancient artworks that have been discovered in the Atacama in the last three decades. This specific geoglyph also served as an early astronomical calendar, based around the moon's movement, which could then determine the day, crop cycle, and season. Afterwards we'll visit Humberstone, one of two former saltpeter refineries to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. This evening, after a day packed with unusual sights and abandoned history, relax and take dinner on your own.

Meals:  B,L

After breakfast, we'll depart for San Pedro de Atacama, tucked up on an arid plateau in the Andes mountains, and surrounded by a landscape of salt flats, volcanoes, geysers, and hot springs. En route, we'll visit the enigmatic Pintados Geoglyphs. Extending 4 km along a hillside, the Cerro Pintados site features approximately 400 images of animals, birds, humans, and geometric patterns, etched on the surface or formed by a mosaic of little stones around the year 1000. We'll enjoy a delicious picnic lunch, and arrive in San Pedro de Atacama at approximately 5:30 p.m. After that you will be free to take some time to wander! San Pedro offers lots of restaurants and nice places to taste the local food; we'll be sure to offer our recommendations for dinner spots.

Meals:  B,L

This morning, we'll depart our hotel at around 4 a.m. to ensure early arrival at the high geyser field. Here, as the day breaks, you'll get to witness the geysers erupt with explosive vents of steam reaching up to eight meters in height. In the calm, dawn light, it's quite a mystical scene. After this dramatic start to the day, we'll return to San Pedro at around 1 p.m. and allow everyone a few hours to get lunch and rest after the day's early start. If you have extra energy, there are opportunities to rent bikes or visit the handicraft market—though we recommend you take the chance to relax before an exciting evening of astronomy. Tonight, we'll head out to explore the desert skies. Via a unique astronomical tour, you'll learn how to translate all that you're seeing in the sky with your naked eye. Everyone will also have the opportunity to observe the stars and planets through powerful telescopes to discover a new world—our universe! The Atacama is one of the best places on Earth to see the sky, and we can guarantee you'll never experience anything quite like it. To top off this long and breathtaking day, you'll be whisked away to a special location in the desert known as “Bosque de Tamarugos,” where you'll be wined and dined under the stars of the Atacama.

Meals:  B,D

San Pedro de Atacama is considered the archeological capital of Chile; discovery of human establishments dating back more than 10,000 years began in large part with the mid-20th century excavations of Father Gustavo Le Paige. This morning, we'll visit Tulor Village, the most important archeological site in the entire region, where humans lived as far back as 300 BC. We'll also explore the Catarpe and Quitor archaeological sites. After lunch, we'll head to our next destination: Yerbas Buenas and the Rainbow Valley, named for the rainbow of colors found on this area's varied rock formations. At Yerbas Buenas, we'll view an important example of cave art expressed in petroglyphs. At the end of the day, with many millennia of history to unpack, take a relaxed evening on your own, and if needed, an early night in.

Meals:  B

Today, we'll visit one of San Pedro’s most beautiful places: the Altiplanic Lagoons of Miscanti and Meñiques. These lagoons are located at 13,500 feet above sea level and are home to singular flora and fauna that exist only in these special, protected areas. Afterwards, we'll have lunch in the town of Socaire, where ancestral traditions have endured through the centuries. We'll then continue onwards to the Salar de Atacama, or Atacama Salt Flats, distinct for its white and rugged surface, and the great flocks of flamingos that choose these waters for nesting. On this last evening together, we'll head out to one of the best places in the area to take in the breathtaking desert sunset: Cordillera de la Sal. Cordillera de la Sal includes two beautiful valleys, the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) and the Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley). To celebrate this natural spectacle—and an unforgettable week together—we'll enjoy a farewell cocktail.

Meals:  B,L

Sadly, this is our last day in the world’s driest desert! But even after we depart to our home destinations, we'll hold on to the memories of exploring archaeological ruins, stunning natural wonders, one-of-a-kind astronomy, local food, and great company. The trip ends with a transfer to the airport in Calama.

Meals:  B