OPERADOR TURISTICO NORTE DE CHILE ALTIPLANO Y ATACAMA TOURS

  The 2 days tour was amazing, we learnt a lot about Chilean culture and history thanks to our guide. Our driver was very nice and experienced. We felt safe on... read more despite the many crashed cars on the road.
The selected restaurant were good, and the hotel in Putre was very nice as well.
We saw many beautiful landscape and wild animals. We ended the tour with a dip in the thermal springs, that was an amazing experience.

  We used Mayuru Tours for a 5 day/4 night trip through the Chilean Altiplano from Arica to San Pedro de Atacama. Overall the private tour was well organized, the guide/... read more driver was courteous and professional and the Altiplano beautiful.

Preplanning – For our travels through the Chilean Altiplano I was looking for a company to get us from Arica in the very far north of Chile to the popular desert gateway of San Pedro de Atacama. Not many companies service this area and it was difficult to find a company that would answer my emails. Even the folks at Mayuru Tours would take more than a week to respond. With a little persistence, however, we were able to arrange a tour that met our needs. I should also mention that the tour was one of their set itineraries with very little deviation. On the plus side, they do have numerous options to choose from.

Guide – Francisco was extremely professional and courteous. He spoke only Spanish, but spoke slowly and clearly such that even Don who speaks very little Spanish, was able to understand most things he said without my translating them by the end of the trip.

Itinerary – This was a driving tour, so there were a lot of hours in the car. The landscape is beautiful, but it’s a lot of short stops. Many of the sights are not must-sees, but if you are interested in this area of Chile it is a good way to see it. They sent us a detailed itinerary, in English, with what we would see each day. Any minor deviations in this itinerary were discussed with us beforehand. Also beware that several days are at high altitude, so it is wise to acclimate before beginning this trip.

Food and Accommodations – This is not a high-end tour. Hotels and restaurants in this region are basic. I think they arranged the best that they could, but there just isn’t much to choose from. That said, rooms were generally clean and comfortable and the food fine.

Transportation – The vehicle was a 4x4 Toyota Hilux, comfortable, in good condition and able to handle the rough roads. We had no transportation difficulties. Francisco was an excellent driver. In fact he had driven trucks for the mining companies for many years before becoming a tour driver and had an intimate knowledge of the roads, hotels and restaurants along the route.

Cost and Payment – We paid 733USD/person. This covered most everything except for a few small entry fees and dinner in Pica. The same tour with an English speaking guide would have cost 956USD/person. No deposit was required. We paid in cash when we met our guide and driver on the first morning.

Final Thought – I would definitely use Mayuru Tours again and think that overall the trip was a good value for the money.

  I highly recommend this agency to visit the stunning Altiplanic region around Putre. We did 3-day private tour with the wonderful guide Francisco who knows everything about the region. The... read more agency is very professional and the tour was tailored on the basis of our request with no strict times or rush. Definitely recommended!!

  Traveled with my wife for part of our honeymoon. We took the 3 day tour and it was an adventure unlike any other. Lake Chungara, Salar De Surire, Hot... read more Springs, Putre, Parque Lauca Our guide, Helmut, was terrific. He was experienced and knowledgeable about all facets of the area. The sites were simply incredible. The Altiplano is one of the most unique destinations we have ever experienced. The wildlife and scenery were unparalleled. The altitude change is serious. You must drink a lot of water and not over-exert yourself. If you follow your guide's lead, you should be able to adjust.

  San Pedro de atacama, paisajes increíbles, lo pasamos lindo. Los tours y sus guías muy bien preparados, amables y puntuales. Disfrutamos cada día.

  Contratamos 4dias (3noches) i 4tours en San Pedro de Atacanama. Nos sentimos bien acogidos y se cumplieron con creces nuestras expectativas. Gracias al trato dispensado por Cecília i a los... read more guias de los tours.
Merece una mención especial Lorena (que fué nuestra guia en "lagunas amtiplánicas" y "geyseres del Tatio" por su profesionalidad y simpatia.
En cuanto al "hotel Dunas", sencillo pero acogedor, tuvieron un tracto muy correcto.
Gràcies per tot, de tot cor.
Família Riutort-Isern.

  Die nach unseren Wünschen von Mayurutour zusammengestellte 6tägige Tour war großartig. Angenehm auch der deutschsprachige, vorbereitende Schriftverkehr mit Gabriel Ramos. Dank an Gabriel! Perfekt die Durchführung der Tour durch Enrique,dem... read more liebenswerten einheimischen Guide und Fahrer. Dank an Enrique für die super gute Betreuung. Ebenfalls bestens betreut in Bolvien durch Dyonisios ,dem Guide und Fahrer und seiner Frau Sandra,mittägliche Köchin während der Wüstendurchquerung. Dank auch an die Beiden.
Fazit: Wir, Christiane,52 Jahre, Juristin und ich ,72 Jahre,Diplomsportlehrerin,können Mayuru-Tours, Enrique, Dyonisios und Sandra , sehr empfehlen!!

  We had an amazing time thanks to our guide Juan and our driver Roberto! The scenery was beautiful and the tour was well-planned.

  Zu dieser Jahreszeit gab es heftige Regenfälle und die Zufahrt zum Salar war auf der Hauptroute gesperrt. Es existierte jedoch eine Umgehung auf absolut passabler Allradpiste. Das einzige Fahrzeug was... read more auf der Route unterwegs war/ die Route kannte, bei wunderschönen trockenen Wetter und Sonnenschein war das moderne AllradFahrzeug von Mayuru. Francisco der Driverguide, der mit einem Pärchen unterwegs war, lud uns ein, ihm in unserem eigenen Fahrzeug zu folgen. Immer wieder stoppten wir und erhielten auch von ihm Abklärungen. Ein wunderschöner Tag in absoluter Abgeschiedenheit an diesem fantastischen Fleckchen Erde ohne weit und breit einen weiteren Touristen zu sehen!! Absolut empfehlenswert!

  Had three days two nights booked missed my flight got in late so couldn't go on the first tour but (Maryanne?) met me and gave me a personal tour... read more of San Pedro, next day I rejoined the tour. Excellent tour in this touristy corner of Chile well worth the cost, much cheaper than getting a similar tour organised from Australia. Can recommend unreservedly.

  We had 8-day tour from Arica to San Pedro. The first 5 days were in a form of private tour with a driver/guide. This part was great: you get to... read more go to little visited places and experience the vastness of north Chile. Our driver was friendly and knowledgeable. We hardly ever got off the road, which I regretted a little, but we got to see a lot as it is. Accommodation and food was nothing more than basic, which is OK, and what you could expect from such remote places. When we got to Sand Pedro De Atacama for the last 2.5 days, we fared well from our guide and were set for 3 short excursions with one of the local operators. This part we enjoyed less: the excursions where in packed buses and I often felt like a member of a herd which is pushed from one meadow to the next. It seems like everyone in San Pedro takes the same excursions which have fixed routes at fixed times. So, everywhere we stopped we had 2-20 buses, of other operators, offloading their passengers together with us and departing together with us. We sometimes felt that we were given too short of a time to appreciate a location, while in at least one case we were not allowed to visit the destination... That's right, we drove a long way to Piedras Rojas, but the place is closed due to rehabilitation. You don't get to see it at all. The hotel which we were accommodated in was 10 min walk from the center of town and had only basic facilities (no wifi in the room, poor breakfast, etc.). The promised transport to the airport in the last day was again a seat in a bus with pre-set departure time which meant for us a long wait at the airport - we opted to pay for a private taxi instead (not that expensive) and get some more relaxing time in the town.
Overall the cost of this trip was high in any standard, yet we felt that, especially in the last three days, we didn't get our money's worth. If I did it again, I'd probably rent a car for the entire duration, or at least for the last part in San Pedro. I'm sure that we would have had a different experience in San Pedro had we drove our own car, or paid for a taxi to avoid the crowds, make better use of our time, and visit some spots off the beaten track.

  We booked this tour to see the Salr de Surire and the volcanoes en route, since we suspected that we did not have enough fuel to do this trip with... read more our rent-a-car (we did do Chungara on our own). Our Spanish is almost non-existent, as was our guide's English, but this was not a hindrance to having a great time - our guide stopped the van everytime we found something interesting. Volcán Guallatiri was smoking at the time, and we got some good photos of this, we stopped at various places around the Salar itself, including the Termas de Polloquere where we had our packed lunch. Lots of flamingoes (Andean and Puna), tinamou, rhea, vicuñas and vizcachas - a brilliant day out.