Lagunas Altiplanicas
A Tour of the Lagunas Altiplanicas and the Piedras Rojas
My tour of the Lagunas Altiplanicas and Piedras Rojas was with the company Cosmo Andino. Cosmo Andino is the only tour company I have toured with that I will not recommend. Despite almost dying in a fatal accident, the Lagunas Altiplanicas tour was the most beautiful scenery I witnessed during my visit to the Atacama. The day-long tour would take me to three stops, which consisted of the Piedras Rojas, and the Lagunas Altiplanicas, which included Lake Miniques and Lake Miscanti. Of course, sometimes things don’t go as planned, and our tour group experienced a life-threatening situation. I will explain that situation in detail below. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Due to the road conditions and lack of cell phone service, I recommend taking a tour or hiring a guide to see the Piedras Rojas and Lagunas Altiplanicas. This is my only travel blog company where I don’t recommend the tour company I toured with. Below, are various tour options for all budgets. Vaitor works with many different agencies so before booking I would make sure it isn’t with Cosmo Andino.
I am an affiliate partner of Viator. If you book a tour using one of the links below I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider booking using one of my links.
Prices are accurate as of May 2023.
 Lagoons in Atacama Salt Flat - Half Day - Typical Tour - San Pedro de Atacama - $68.00 Lagoons in San Pedro de Atacama salt flat welcome you to this land next to the desert valleys. This vast space gathers the flora and fauna that lives in the dry habitat of the Antofagasta Region, and allows an exchange of experiences between people and biodiversity. |
 4-Day Best of Atacama: Moon Valley, Tatio Geysers and Altiplanic Lagoons - $585.00 4-Day tour getting to know San Pedro de Atacama, a small town in the driest desert of the world! Skip the hassle of dealing with logistics as we take care of your Calama airport round-trip transportation! |
 Full day Altiplanic Lagoons + Red stones viewpoint + Salar de Atacama - $216.86 Full day to learn about Chile and its geographies, take the best pictures in the driest desert in the world. |
 Atacama Salt Flat and Altiplanic Lagoons Day Tour - $98.00 Discover the Atacama Salt Flat, the largest in Chile, home to one of the most important Flamingo Reservations, the Flamingos National Reserve. Make a soft walk along a path to the Chaxa Lagoon, in order to appreciate the rich fauna of the place. |
A Tour of the Lagunas Altiplanicas - Table of Contents
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Stop #1: Touring the Piedras Rojas and a Frozen Salt Lake
The Piedras Rojas (red rocks) were accessible via a rough dirt road. Behind the stunning rocks was a frozen lake that was full of salt. The salt made the frozen water a beautiful light blue color. All around the lake were red-colored rocks that created the perfect backdrop for pictures. With the lake being frozen, it was easy to walk out towards the middle to get the best angles for photos. We spent about an hour at this location before taking off for the next part of our tour, the Lagunas Altiplanicas of Lake Miniques and Lake Misani. The next part of our tour is where the tour took a turn for the worst.
A Scary Experience
Up until this point, I would have highly recommended Cosmo Andino’s Lagunas Altiplanicas Tour but as we were driving up a steep incline, suddenly our van swerved out of control and broke towards the guard rail. Our driver, Juan Carlos, was skillfully able to apply the break and keep the van from going over the edge. It turns out the van had been serviced the day before, and the lug nuts had not been tightened. Not only had our tire broken loose but the entire wheel was missing from the van. If it had not been for the quick thinking of our driver, we would have gone over the edge. Our tour guide, Pablo, used his satellite phone to contact the tour company. They informed us that it would be two hours until a replacement van could reach us.
Pablo decided that we should eat lunch and did his best to set up the food on the side of the road. Thankfully, we did have a good view and some food. More than two hours later, a new van arrived, and we continued on our way quite delayed. I was slightly annoyed that Cosmo Andino did not offer us anything for the inconvenience.
Wildlife
While we were on our way to Lake Miscanti, we stopped to see some wildlife. On the right is a guanaco, which is a member of the antelope family. They blend in quite well with the desert landscape. Other animals commonly seen in the Atacama include various types of birds, flamingos, and llamas.
The picture below features four guanacos. I took this picture at the end of the tour and will mention it more in the next section.
Stop 2: Lagunas Altiplanicas: Lake Miscanti and Lake Miniques
It was getting near sunset when we arrived at Lake Miscanti. Many people in our tour group were so tired that they didn’t even get out of the van. I wanted to see as much as possible and walked around taking in the beautiful scenic views. It was at least a mile hike down to the shore of the lake. Due to our breakdown, we did not have time to hike towards the shore which was disappointing. Even more disappointing, the members of our tour voted to skip Lake Miniques. This mean we only were able to see one of the The Lagunas Altiplanicas.
One big positive is as we left, I was able to get a breathtaking shot of four guanacos with the moon in the background. This picture was in the wildlife section above and is one of my favorite wildlife pictures that I’ve ever captured.
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One Final Reason to Avoid Cosmo Andino
When we got back to San Pedro de Atacama, I quickly went to bed because my final tour was leaving at 4:00 a.m. This tour would take us up even higher in the Andes to the hot springs and geysers. The next day, I woke up and put on all of my warm clothes and braved the near-zero temperatures to go to my designated pick up spot. I would stand there for over an hour before I gave up and went back to bed. When the Cosmo Andino office opened, I was informed that I had been accidentally forgotten. It was my final day, and although I was issued a refund, I missed the chance to go to the hot springs and geysers. If I ever do return to the Atacama, I will be trying a different tour company.
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