The Atacama Salt Flat is an endorheic basin with highly saline water outcrops, one of which is the Cejar Lagoon. We will venture into the northern part of the salt flat, surrounded by the vastness and accompanied by the Andean volcanoes. Once at Cejar, we will be able to enter its waters and float in the middle of the driest desert in the world.
We will travel into the interior of the desert where nature and history blend. We will walk inside an incredible and gigantic canyon, an arm eroded by the water of the San Pedro River that flows within it. We will arrive at a sector with a great quantity of petroglyphs, as the place was a refuge for caravans. For most of the hike, we will be walking through water.
*It is recommended to bring two pairs of shoes.
We will begin our exploration in the Vilama sector, where we can see ancient grazing refuges. We will continue walking along the top of a ravine, appreciating the transition of vegetation and geology between the first and second ecological floors, as well as other refuges of the ancient caravans. Always bordering the river, we will have panoramic views until we descend to the feet of the Vilama river.
At the foot of the Salt mountains, we come to the Catarpe Valley, which receives the San Pedro river that feeds the oasis and the salt marsh. In the valley, we will begin our hike in the Quebrada Chulaco, a great canyon with high walls, with curves and serpentine shapes formed by moldable minerals and water erosion. Upon leaving the canyon we will hike up to a viewpoint with 360° views of the desert and its mountain ranges. We return along the same trail.
This hike is a journey through the history of the old caravans and their interaction with the desert. We will cross from the Vilama sector toward the Catarpe Valley along old desert trails until reaching the great canyons in Quebrada Chulaco. This hike gives us broad 360° views that will allow us to understand the desert's different areas and formations.