Welcome to Santiago and the start of an incredible journey that will lead travelers through some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

Reception at airport and transfer to the hotel.

Views of a moving city - From the history of the colonial neighborhoods to the modernity of the new financial center also known as "Sanhattan", we invite you to be part of this trip through the different sceneries that characterize this Southamerican Metropolis.

We will begin by the city's old residential area, passing by beautiful buildings and homes that today are part of the Barrio Universitario (university area). Our trip then continues to the historical and financial buildings of the city center. We stop by these main highlights: La Moneda government palace, the Main Square and its surrounding buildings. We drive along the green Parque Forestal, where we will admire the stunning Fine Arts Museum. We continue driving towards barrio El Golf to look around the most spectacular modern area of the city, where many embassies and Headquarters of the most important chilean and foreign companies are located.

Dinner tonight will be at the lively and sophisticated "Bocanariz resto-bar" at the easy-going Lastarria neighborhood. Still relatively new, it offers the unique premise of allowing diners to choose between a straightforward dining experience, and a full-on wine tasting, overseen by experts. ...read less

This tour begins with a drive deep into the impressive Andes (the longest and second highest mountain range in the world) in search of birds that only live in this ecosystem. Among them are the majestic Andean Condor, the "Spirit of the Andes".
We are going to be at heights above 2000m. (6500 ft.) and the scenery with peaks reaching more than 6000m. (19700ft.) are simply stunning.

We may see birds like: Andean Goose, Crested Duck, Torrent Duck, Variable Hawk, Mountain Caracara, Black-winged Ground-Dove, Scale-throated Earthcreeper, Buff-winged Cinclodes, White-browed Ground Tyrant, Dark-faced Ground Tyrant, Rufous-banded Miner, Mourning Sierra-Finch, Gray-hooded Sierra Finch, Yellow rumped Siskin, Greater Yellow-Finch, White-sided Hillstar, the endemic Crag Chilia and the extraordinary Diademed Sandpiper-Plover among others.

Drive to the Pacific coast, lodging at Vina del Mar. The tour includes a boxed lunch.
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Departure to the Mantagua Wetland, starting at the Observation Hut Los Coipos, a place where at certain times of the day you can observe a family of coypuses, different types of herons, taguas, taguitas, etc.

Then, we will continue advancing visualizing different types of birds of the highlands as well as the wetland to finally arrive at the Caseta Mirador. It is characterized by an unparalleled view of the Mantagua Wetland. Here we will be able to observe a great quantity of birds and fauna. Then, for those who like adventure, we will cross the odyssey bridge. We will stop at the Pato Colorado Natural Bird Observatory and we will enter this wonderful world of flora and fauna just as the famous writer Mary Graham or the well-known naturalist Charles Darwin did back in 1834, with only binoculars or a camera, determined to immortalize in an image the elusive Garza Cuca, which from the heights of its regal pine tree (our second Natural Bird Observatory, La Casa en el Arbol), watches expectantly over all the visitors to the place. As we walk through the wetland, we find a large number of Taguitas, which upon noticing the visitors run to take refuge in the blackberry bushes. We continue advancing to the Pino Caido Observatory and we see Taguas, Taguas Chicas, Paguas Jergon grande, Pato Colorado, Pato Yeco or as it is also known as Black Cormorant, Pimpollo, Garzas grandes, Garzas chicas that at the slightest sensation of danger take flight to take refuge in a safer place. As we continue walking, we are observed by Queltehues, Peucos, and we spot the unmistakable Sietecolores among the cattails and next to him his inseparable friend, the Trabajador. Further on, among the grass, we see a Collegiate, if we continue observing we see Thrushes, Thrushes and Blackbirds that are confused at first by their tonality. As we get closer to the beach in the Estuary Natural Observatory, we find a great amount of Perritos, Zarapitos, Rallador, Pilpilen, then we go to the small lagoon where we can continue enjoying these wonders of nature. Here in the Albufera Natural Observatory we will observe the Royal Duck, Huairavo and many more birds playing among the cattails. Lunch in restaurant.

In the afternoon, the trip continues to Lake Penuelas, a National Reserve that covers an area of 9094 hectares, with a Mediterranean climate and an average annual rainfall of 450 mm. It is located in the Valparaiso Region, in the municipality of Valparaiso, at kilometer 87.3 of Route 68. From the faunistic point of view, it is the only area of important avifauna concentration between the Metropolitan and Valparaiso Regions, with more than 122 species of birds that rest, feed or reproduce in this place. Among the mammals, ten species of rodents and two species of lagomorphs support a wide range of predators, including: colocolo cat (Leopardus colocolo), quique (Galictis cuja), chingue (Conepatus chinga), culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus), and chilla fox (Lycalopex griseus). The reserve also has relevant historical and cultural resources such as the leper cemetery, Las Carretas road, among others, and vestiges of the Bato culture, a nomadic people from central Chile, have been found. Drive back to the hotel and overnight.
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We will start early and drive west into the heart of the Coastal Mountain Range, with peaks above 2000m. (6500 ft.) Where we will look for endemics like: Chilean Tinamou, Moustached Turca, White-throated Tapaculo, Dusky-tailed Canastero and Chilean Mockingbird. We'll enter this realm through La Campana National Park, UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This park has a varied native flora composed by the unique and endemic Chilean Mediterranean Forest. The park is home to more than 60 bird species, like Variable Hawk, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle, American Kestrel, Harris's Hawk, Chimango Caracara, California Quail, Chilean Flicker, Striped Woodpecker, Green-backed Firecrown, Giant Hummingbird, Patagonian Sierra-Finch, Grassland Yellow-Finch, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Long-tailed Meadowlark, Southern House Wren, Rufous-tailed Plantcutter, Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail, Tufted Tit-Tyrant, Fire-eyed Diucon, Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Austral Blackbird and Common Diuca-Finch to name a few.
Tour includes boxed lunch
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From Vina del Mar you will be transferred north along the Pacific coast to visit a Humboldt Penguin breeding colony and see a great number of other coastal seabirds like: Peruvian Pelican, Peruvian Booby, Neotropic Cormorant, Guanay Shag, Redlegged Shag, Kelp Gull, Grey Gull, Inca Tern, Blackish Oystercatcher, Grayflanked Cinclodes and the endemic Chilean Seaside Cinclodes, probably the most maritime of all Passerines, to name just a few.

We will also see many birds that are related to the coastal environment including: Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Chimango Caracara, Great Shrike-Tyrant; Austral Negrito, Chilean Swallow, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Long-tailed Meadowlark and many more.

From here we move south to Maitencillo and Ventanas ponds and Mantagua Coastal Marsh searching for the beautiful Many-colored Rush-Tyrant as well as many other species like: Great Grebe, White-tufted Grebe, Speckled Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, Chiloe Wigeon, Lake Duck, Red Shoveler, Snowy Egret, Cinereous Harrier, Red-gartered Coot, Red-fronted Coot, White-winged Coot, Spot-flanked Gallinule, Plumbeous Rail, White-backed Stilt, American Oystercatcher, Burrowing Owl, Wren-like Rushbird, Spectacled Tyrant, Yellow-winged Blackbird and the endemic Dusky Tapaculo among others.

At the appropriate time, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight.
International Flight Home
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