@@SomethingToRemember ahhhh okay makes sense, I booked one from the airport and am dropping it off in Antofagasta 5 days later. so it can make sense but yeah maybe I should've hit up Bolivia!
Im planning a 30-day motorcycle trip through Patagonia from Santiago. Do you think I’d be able to add a trip to the Atacama region? No flying, just riding the motorbike.
we were there 12 months ago. Truly amazing. We avoid the car issue by working with tour groups - we did have the advantage of a local that we knew! We didn't find any of the tours expensive at all (we are Australian/Canadian, by way of background). San Pedro De Atacama is well worth exploring on its own... great bars and cafes
I love your videos, they are informative, funny and I never feel the urge to fast forward out of boredom which often happens when watching other travel channels ;-)
thank you for sharing this helpful information about holiday tips in chile and Argentina. We are going there in december and so glad to found your channel. Side question, how many batteries dif you bring for your drone ?
Hi! Lovely and helpful video. May I ask why you recommend booking a rental car in San Pedro versus in Calama Airport? We have booked one already at Calama Airport and so wondered. We get there in November. Hope to hear feom you about that.
Hi! Thanks for the feedback… The reason we said that is because we recommended going into Bolivia directly from San Pedro… If you aren’t going to Bolivia then you can of course rent your vehicle in Calama and return it there ☺️ Sorry for the confusion! Have a great time 🇨🇱
Lots of things can be said about this video. I live in San Pedro since 20 some years. I don't do touristic tours, so am talking freely from my experience here. First, there are at least 3 ATM machines in San Pedro and most agencies, hotels, etc... take credit cards. There is a thing in Chile about credit card and debit card, but normally you can pay with your plastic card (maybe not in some airbnb, but in hotels, obviously yes). Second, yes, cheaper to rent a 4x4 vehicle than to take tours with an agency. Yes, or no. Car rental 100 bucks or so per day (plus the gasoline). Then if you are 4, it's economical, if you are one or two persons, I don't think so. It's true that if you have your vehicle you can stop freely when you feel like it. But local guides know the place and (normally) can show you things you would never find alone. The other option (more expensive) is to rent a private guide to go around. There are many people around, who speak english and who can show you the place like you will not discover alone. I would recommend that if you don't take the trip to Bolivia and continue your trip from Bolivia, rent in Calama in a very well known car rental agency, more security (one starts with an A, the other with an H). Third, Laguna Miscanti and Miniques, yes, it's very stupid but indeed you have to purchase the ticket in Socaire. Otherwise you go up, then have to go down, purchase the damned ticket then go up again. Ridiculous. Fourth, many other things to see around. Laguna Baltinache, Laguna Tebinquinche, Rainbow valley, Tatio geysers, etc... 2 days is clearly not enough time. Fifth, purchasing pasta and cooking them in the airbnb is indeed the economical solution. But there are many good restaurants around, with typical food. You can also order spaghetti bolognese, but did you come to the Atacama to eat pastas and pizzas ? Lastly, predicting weather is an art, not a science. On average, if we have rain, it tends to be in January and February (the so called altiplanic winter). There have been years where the rain was so intense that the roads/tracks to the various places were closed. I tend to recommend not to come in January and February. Nice video.
I fully agree with you coming from England Northeast Teesside. Great Britain UK and Ireland we know all about rain clouds in this part , don't we.😂🏴🇬🇧🏴🏴🇮🇪
Thank you! 😊 It’s quite dry there, but it was even worse when we went to Bolivia-so be sure to bring plenty of moisturizer, lip balm, and eye drops. It's also quite cold at night, so you'll definitely need a jacket and lots of layers. We wore warm clothes everywhere, from Patagonia to the south of Colombia, as we traveled through the Andes. Enjoy your travels 💚
Hey guys, thanks so much for making this video! We are just planning our trip and this was super helpful! We'll be looking at your other videos and have "liked" and "subscribed" of course. If you ever get to Malta let us know!
Hi! It was a 2-wheel drive Toyota Hilux. No need for 4-wheel drive but the road to Lagunas Miniques and Miscanti are REALLY bumpy so a bigger vehicle is advised. Something else to consider is that when we rented our truck, we weren’t permitted to drive to Laguna Baltinache due to the state of the road!
Just subscribed- thanks. Planning a trip for next July after a wonderful holiday in Argentina this year. How did you find the altitude? I’m concerned about having enough time to acclimatise.
Thank a lot! Thankfully we didn’t have any problems! The town is at 2300m so it’s fine, some sights are at 4000m and above, but we weren’t there for too long so the only thing we experienced was shortness of breath. Take care and enjoy your travels!
The sky quality is also more consistent and better in the winter. Less distortion and better conditions for star gazing. But either way pretty sure it's great there no matter what
A question: why did you take a car in San Pedro and not in Calama? I see in Calama price for 5 nights starts with 130 euro for small car and 200 for SUV. And here you paid much more. I am planning a trip now :)
@@SomethingToRemember Ah! It's due to credit card, thanks! I am going to Bolivia as well, but planning to leave the car in Calama and get back then by bus :) Thanks!
Thank you, glad it helped! ☺️ We had no problems with our drone whatsoever. In our experience, the only countries in Latin America that have a problem with drones are Nicaragua and Belize. P.S. Ours is a DJI Air 2S, in case you were wondering 😊
Hi, Excellent video and very informative! We are also planning to travel to Chile by the end of this month and this video is a perfect start for our prep so thank you :). I have a question though, did you take drone license/registration? Also, if I am not having that, is it going to cause us any troubles? and would they check that(drone/registration) at port of entry? I have a dji one and I really want to take some shots similar to what you have!
One more follow up question sorry 😅. Did you take your drone in the hand luggage or check-in? When I went to Iceland, I had that as hand luggage but just making sure :)
Thanks a lot! A lot of the tour operators spoke English so we didn’t have any trouble booking the tour or renting the truck… But it’s a good idea to download the Spanish language on Google Translate so you don’t get into any awkward situations 😄
Can not watch your video. Was one month ago in South America ... Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Atacama and Peru and I'm crying... had to go back to pay fuckin tax (mean work ) ;/
Hey, because we really recommend going into Bolivia from San Pedro😅☺️You can rent cars in Calama, but the tours into southern Bolivia start in San Pedro 👍🏻
At the end you say to rent the car from san pedro rather than calama airport. Why is that? I'm struggling to find anywhere to book online from san Pedro but loads of options from the airport....
Hi. Maybe you missed it, but we said that because we recommended taking a tour from San Pedro into Bolivia and continuing your travels from there. If you are planning on returning to Calama Airport, by all means rent your vehicle from there 😊
Hi @SomethingToRemember, I plan to go there for 2 days this December, without Bolivia unfortunately :( Why do you suggest to rent a car at San Pedro, not at Calama?
Have been following your channel since last 2 months as we are planning to do a tour to Chile and Argentina....your videos are beautiful as well as perfectly informative....❤
Great video. We are spending a few days in the Aticama next February. You mention at the end of the video not to hire a car at Atacama airport, but you don't say why. Why is this please?
Because we really advise you to go to Bolivia afterwards😊 This way you don’t have to come back to Calama and go straight to Bolivia from San Pedro. But it’s up to you, of course☺️
Thanks a lot☺️ because we really suggest you to go to Bolivia and the tours there go directly from San Pedro de Atacama. But if you are only visiting Chile, of course it’s more convenient to get it in Calama😊
@@SomethingToRemember thank you! How many day you spend there ? Did you fly von Santiago to Calama? I ask because to understand about acclimatization! Thank you
We spent 3 nights in San Pedro 😊 Yes, we flew from Santiago to Calama, then took a transfer to San Pedro & rented our truck. Then, after 3 days, we took a tour from San Pedro to Uyuni in Bolivia 🇧🇴
@@SomethingToRemember I will do the same. I book also 3 night and now I thought may be is not enough for acclimatization. Thank you for your time and quickly answer.
Am i missing something??? U kept saying San Pedro to socaire was 100km its more 1000 miles!! Thats a big difference, can some one help cos im confused now.
Thank you for the video! I must have missed it, but why is it better to rent a can in San Pedro, not Calama? Is it because you were not going back to Calama? I will have a round trip C-SP-C and was thinking about driving both ways. Another question - was there a problem with the fuel in SP?
Thank you for your comment! If you aren’t going to Bolivia, you can rent a car in Calama😊 there is a petrol station in San Pedro so getting fuel is not a problem. Enjoy your travels!☺️
Great video and the tips are quite helpful. I'm planning to visit the Atacama soon with my drone, but it is said on the internet that drone is largely not allowed over the Atacama. So, any tips regarding flying a drone would be really appreciated.
hey, I just discovered your channel bc we are planning to go to Chile in 2024. Thank you for your helpful information! We only have 4 days in atacama, would you rather stay in the atacama region or would you definitely jo on the trip to Bolivia? Bolivia also looks so nice! We could not decide 😢😂
We spent 2/3 days in the Atacama and then took a 3-day tour to Uyuni and then moved northwards with our trip. You can also get a tour from San Pedro de Atacama that will go all the way to Uyuni and then back to San Pedro. I think it’s a 4-day tour & sounds like it would be a good option for you ☺️
@@SomethingToRemember thank you for your response! Do you know if the tour also includes stops in Atacama Chile or only in Bolivia? Or let me just re-ask the question: would you prefer atacama or that tour to Bolivia if you have to decide for one of both? I know, both landscapes have their own charme and watching your videos made it even more difficult for us to decide bc everything looks so beautiful and quite easy to organise. But unfortunately our time is very limited :(
@@likethuii Oh now I understand. No, the Uyuni tours from San Pedro just pick you up at your accommodation and go straight to the Bolivian border. You’d have to explore the Atacama and then do the Bolivian tour after. Ehmm, good question. Both were incredible! The Atacama is more liberal in the sense that you can rent a truck and go wherever you want, we really love the sense of being independent. Southern Bolivia (the geysers/Uyuni etc), can’t be done on your own so it’s a little bit restrictive but the scenery and whole experience is unbelievable … I won’t sit on the fence, if I were going back tomorrow, I’d choose the Bolivia tour! 😅 Mark
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--0Ek4hSnyBU.htmlsi=z4x_ao4IG90PfhoT We go into depth about the Bolivia tour from San Pedro in this video ☺️
The landscape is beautiful but I would never travel to San Pedro de Atacama, it is well known as a drug trafficking place where many people have gone missing without a trace including visitors.
@@davidn.4839 really? Perhaps you should check and find out information. Nothing funny about missing people, I am pretty certain their families would not laugh about your comments. Heavy drug trafficking area, clandestine parties with alcohol and heavy drugs. Locals and foreign people who have gone missing.
@@roseaf4713 WHAT ARE YOUR EVIDENCES?....THERE IS A CASE OF A YOUNG CHILEAN GUY WHO WAS ABANDONED TO DIE BY A MAFFIA IN THE BOLIVIAN, NOT CHILEAN DESERT, AND TWO MEN MISSING IN THE CHILEAN DESERT...TWO CASES IN 5 YEARS. BESIDES, IT IS KNOWN THAT AT LEAST ONE OF THOSE IS BECAUSE OF A MAN WITH MENTAL PROBLEMS WHO STARTED TO WALK ALONE UNTIL NOT BEING FOUND....SO, YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT OR YOU LIKE TO LIE....
