Adventure Motorcycle Tours through South America - Salar de Uyuni Tour

TOUR DIFFICULTY
Twisty narrow paved and dirt backroads with tight switchbacks All-weather motorcycling experience required Ability to ride tight turns and switchbacks required

TOUR SERVICES
Rental motorcycles & fuel Side bags & top cases Transport of motorcycles to/from Antofagasta Trilingual (German, Spanish, English) tour guide with years of experience in South America Flights from Santiago to Arica and from Calama to Santiago Guide and ship to the Uros Islands Support vehicle - 4x4 Chevrolet Dakote double cabin 2007 Comfortable three-star and four-star hotels (double occupancy) All breakfasts & welcome/farewell dinners (alcohol not included) International third-party insurance; 3rd-party national insurance for Chile Border documents for Perú, Argentina, & Bolivia Map of Chile
NOT INCLUDED
Dinners, lunches, drinks, & snacks Individual activities

PRICING & DATES

**Maximum eight riders for this tour
$6,685	Riding a BMW F650GS (2008)		TOUR DATES May 15, 2009 Or contact us with the dates that interest you!
$7,430	Riding a BMW F650 two cylinder (2008)
$8,008	Riding a BMW R1200GS (2008)
$3,073	Passenger
$788	Single room supplement
US$	Currency	CURRENCY ASSISTANT	ALL TOURS

DAY BY DAY

Day 1:
Santiago - Arica
We will see a variety of desert landscapes, ranging from the lonely salt flats, called "salares", to the splendid "flowering desert", which blooms during the months of September and October.

Day 2:
Arica - Arequipa
We will travel to Arequipa, a beautiful road ascending to a height of 2,600 meters (8,530 ft).

Day 3 & 4:
Arequipa - Nazca City
Today we will leave very early in the direction of Nazca city, arriving there in the afternoon. The Nazca Lines, discovered in 1927, are the most extraordinary legacy left by a culture that flourished in 300 BC. The lines are a series of complex designs, some up to 300 meters long, which can only be seen in their true dimension from the sky - from an altitude of at least 1,500 feet. The Nazca culture is not believed to have been capable of manned flight. But the question remains as to how they crafted the drawings; what technology they used and what purpose the lines served. The most probable theory was developed by María Reiche, a German researcher who argued that the lines were part of a vast astronomic calendar whose figures marked different solar phases. Day 4 will be spent here in Nazca, exploring this fantastic historic site.

Day 5:
Nazca City - Arequipa
The return to Arequipa includes a variety of terrains. It begins in the coastal desert and then climbs the Andes, reaching great altitudes at the snow-covered peaks and volcanos.
     Arequipa, known as the White City for its beautiful white walls of sillar (a volcanic stone) lies at the feet of the mighty volcanos of Mount Chachani, Mount Misti, and the snow-covered peak of Mount Pichu Pichu. The downtown area of this city, placed on the World Cultural Heritage list by UNESCO, features an incredible mix of cultural heritages, including Baroque churches and mansions from the colonial period, and the Monastary of Santa Catalina, a Spanish city in miniature with stone streets, beautiful patios, and lovely plazas. Sabandía, Tiabaya, and Tingo, located among the large fields, are also must-see places, and the irrestible Arequipa cuisine is the perfect complement to the visit.

Day 6:
Arequipa - Colca Valley
The extreme northeastern section of the district of Arequipa is located in Colca Valley. The highest point, at 6,288 masl (20,630 ft), is the inactive volcano of Mount Ampato, and the lowest point is at the confluence of the Colca and Andamayo rivers at 970 masl (3,180 ft). The Colca Valley is 100 km (62 miles) in length and occupies only part of the Colca river basin, which also includes the districts of Callalli and Huambo.
     There are sixteen villages in this zone, whose inhabitants are made up of descendants of the Collaguas and Cabanes tribes. The towns of Chivay and Cabanaconde are most visited by tourists because these peoples have inherited rich cultural traditions that are fascinating to travelers from all over the world.
     In Cabanaconde, you can watch condors soar from the Cruz de Condor (Condor Crossing) Lookout. The Colca Valley forms part of the South American tectonic plate and contains the active volcano Sabancaya, located in the volcanic mountain Hualca Hualca. This valley possesses a great diversity of flora and fauna. Among the most representative species are the condor, the kestrel, the peregrine falcon, and the Andean tinamou.

Day 7:
Colca Valley
This is one of the deepest places on the planet, reaching a depth of 3,400 (11,155 ft) at the lowest point in the location of Canco. On the right side, it is flanked by the Chila Cordillera (Bomboya, Serpregrina, Mismi, Queshihua) and on the other by Mount Hualca Hualca, Sabancaya, and Ampato. You can see Mount Ubinas and beautiful Mount Coropuna in the distance.

Day 8:
Colca Valley - Puno
Puno was the territory of the Tiahuanacos (800 AD - 1200 AD), who were the highest cultural expression of the Aymara people that established themselves in what is today Peru and Bolivia. The Incas took over these lands in the fifteenth century, and the Spanish, attracted by the mining prospects there, left an important colonial legacy throughout the entire area. Today, the city of Puno (3,287 masl; 10,784 ft), which lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, is the folklore capital of Peru and the site of the Feast of the Virgen de la Candelaria. In the outskirts, you can visit the spectacular Chullpas de Sillustani, a complex of impressive burial towers built by the Kollas. You can also visit Juli, famous for its beautiful colonial churches, Lampa, with its seventeenth-century vice royal church, Llachón, a community that still maintains its centuries-old customs and cultural expressions, and Pucará, known for its pre-Inca pottery and for the "toritos de Pucará" that the artisans of today create from clay.

Day 9:
Puno - La Paz
We will cross into Bolivia toward La Paz, which was founded in 1548. There are many tourist attractions in La Paz such as churches, museums, and open air markets. The colonial architecture of the late 1500s is preserved in buildings like the church of San Francisco and in the many buildings that line Jaen Street. Among the museums available is the home of Pedro Murilla; a hero of Bolivian independence, and the Gold Museum, which contains gold items from the pre-Columbian cultures.
     Two other fine colonial architectural examples are the Art Museum and Tambo Quirquincho, which has been recently remodeled. The Tambo Quirquincho has a very important national art collection.

Day 10:
La Paz - Cochabamba
We will visit Cochabamba, also called "Capital of the Flowers" and the "Heart of Bolivia". This city is located in a warm valley near fascinating areas which hold extraordinary cultural and natural beauty. Enjoy the excellent lodgings and the varied cuisine of the area.

Day 11:
Cochabamba - Santa Cruz
Visit Santa Cruz de la Sierra, capital of the district of Santa Cruz. The district of Santa Cruz is located in the Amazon area of Bolivia, and has a natural wealth of extraordinary beauty. Get a better taste for the culture of this area by sampling its restaurants.

Day 12
Santa Cruz - Potosí
Potosí is the mineral capital of Bolivia. In 1650, Potosí was the most populated city in the world, with over 160,000 inhabitants - at the time, that was more than London, Paris, or Madrid. As the source of the discovery of the greatest silver resources in the world in that epoch, Potosí became the main provider of silver in the pre-industrial European world and became the center of a culturally and economically flourishing society.

Day 13 & 14:
Potosí - Uyuni
We will travel to the small village of Uyuni, located in a dry zone covered by its great salt pit plateau, whose altitudes vary from 3,660-4,500 meters (12,008-14,764 ft) above sea level. Traditionally, this senter is the joint of railways that travel between Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The unique Uyuni salt pit plateau is highly visited by foreigners. Day 14 will be spent exploring the salt flat.

Day 15:
Uyuni - La Quiaca
We will cross the border to Argentina to the small city of La Quiaca, located in the plateau of Jujuy Puna in the Argentinian-Bolivian frontier. It is separated from Bolivia by the La Quiaca river. Located in a wonderful valley surrounded by hills, La Quiaca has dry land and a large scope of temperatures. In the Northern Puna, this city is the only to offer basic services to the tourist, being one of the most important sites in the Argentinian Northwest.

Day 16:
La Quiaca - Salta
Salta is situated in one of the most fertile sites in this region. Summer is mild and winter is warm and dry, with records of an annual average temperature of 22°C (71.6°F), making it an ideal place to live or visit. The Hispanic architecture of the city is outstanding. The colonical spirit from the times remains at the foundations of its houses, streets, hundred-year-old monuments, and narrow sidewalks surrounded by the mountains nearby.

Day 17:
Salta - Pumamarca
Pumamarca is a small village from the beginning of the seventeenth century. Pumamarca, meaning "Town of the Virgin Land" in Aimara language, is settled at the foot of the polychromatic "Cerro de los Siete Colores" (Seven Colors Hill), which delights tourists all year round. The climate in the region is mild, with an annual average temperature of 20°C (68°F). The village, with adobe buildings of cordon roofs and mud tiles, was designed around the Main Church from 1648, consecrated as St. Rosa de Lima, which has recently been proclaimed a national monument for its particular architecture and valuable paintings and images from Cuzco.

Day 18:
Pumamarca - El Loa
The main city in this area is El Loa, in Calama. El Loa possesses great facilities to welcome travelers from Chile and other countries. One of the attractions is the Chuquicamata Mine, the biggest copper mine in the world. You can also find natural wonders such as valleys, mountains, lagoons, Carcote and Ascotan Salars, geysers, and aquatic fauna, including flamingos, parinos huallotos, taguas, wild ducks, and huaycos.

Day 19:
El Loa - Santiago
Return to Santiago for the flight home.

Note: We reserve the right to make changes.

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