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.
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.
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.
Desde la recogida en el Hotel hasta nuestro punto de destino, el famoso Lago Chungará.
Superó con creces todo lo planeado en nuestro viaje a Arica.
Conductor profesional y guía... read more bien preparados.
Muy ameno y muy familiar, con todas las precauciones tomadas para no sufrir ningún contratiempo. Todo muy bien explicado.
De verdad se agradece el viaje realizado.
Con desayuno y almuerzo incluidos, todo muy exquisito.
Felicidades y gracias por todo.
Un 7.
Unsere Familie (3 Erwachsene) erlebte während einer Woche im November 2019 eine einzigartige Zeit während einer Reise von Calama über San Pedro de Atacama über Pica nach Colchane an die... read more bolivianische Grenze nach Putre ins chilenische Altiplano bis 4700m Höhe und hinüber nach Arica an die peruanische Grenze zusammen mit unseren Begleitern Helmut und Francisco von Mayurutours. Außerhalb jeglichen Massentourismus taucht man dank der Obhut des Driverguides in eine atemberaubende Natur der Pflanzen, Tiere, Berge, Vulkane und heißen Quellen der Anden dorthin ein, wo leider nur noch wenige Einheimische leben und sich keine Touristen bewegen. Helmut erklärte uns in fließender englischer Sprache alle Besonderheiten, sorgte für gute Verpflegung und beste Unterkünfte am jeweiligen Ort und erfüllte all unsere individuellen Wünsche oft bis zum Pisco sour um Mitternacht. Wir danken Helmut und Francisco für dieses grandiose Abenteuer in stets sicherer und familiärer Atmosphäre.
Quiero felicitar a todos los miembros de la agencia, estamos muy satisfechos por todo. Se destacaron en todo ámbito; puntualidad, compromiso, preparación, y coordinación. Sin duda, los recomiendo en un... read more 100%!!! No se van a arrepentir ✔️
En lo personal, estoy muy agradecida con Cecilia, ya que el día martes en la noche me sentí mal por la altura, y estuvo en comunicación conmigo hasta la madrugada, apoyándome en todo lo que le pedí y requerí. Además, nos hizo un city tour, mostrándonos todas las picadas y buenos datos (lo que NADIE HACE)
Se pasaron chicos! Muy profesionales!
I guided a 13 Day Atacama tour from March 4-15 this year. I contracted a van and driver for the tour to go from San Pedro to Putre, with... read more stops in 3 national reserves, the Vicunha NR, Flamingos NR and Lauca National Park and on to Arica, with 3 more full days.
Mario, our driver, and guide excelled in every way. He really knew all the areas we went to and knew people at every stop. I have been operating tours in South America and living in Brazil for 43 years, and have had a lot of drivers. I will now insist in having him drive all our tours from Arica!
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.
A fantastic round trip with great program, very experienced guides, nice accommodations and excellent support.
Due to flight problems we missed our first day, but Mayuru Tour adjusted our tour... read more perfectly and was always available.
Thank you very much! We would always book again with this agency!
Un fantástico viaje de ida y vuelta con un gran programa, guías muy experimentados, hermosos alojamientos y un excelente apoyo.
Debido a problemas con el vuelo, perdimos nuestro primer día, pero Mayuru Tour ajustó nuestro tour perfectamente y estuvo siempre disponible.
¡Muchas gracias! Volveríamos a reservar con esta agencia.
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 did this tour in February which we had booked with you and operated by Maxim Expérience in San Pedro. We were very satisfied with the 2 full day... read more tours that we did with the driver / guide. The hotel la casa de Don Tomas was superb. Everyone was very efficient and Gabriel who helped us with the booking was was very professionnel. Thank you for making our expérience in the Attacama desert a mémorable one.
Ma fille et moi avons réservé un circuit de 4 jours avec Maruyu dans le Nord du Chili (depuis Arica jusqu'à Iquique en passant par l'Altiplano, parc Lauca, lac Chungara...).... read more Nous sommes revenues enchantées !!
D'abord les premiers contacts par mail : notre interlocutrice à l'agence était réactive et a répondu à toutes nos questions dans des délais rapides. Elle nous a même proposé une guide francophone, ce à quoi je n'avais pas pensé au départ, et de réserver nos billets de bus après le circuit, ce qui était très sympathique de sa part. Tout était bien organisé, clair et transparent. A noter que j'avais contacté d'autres agences, et entre celles qui n'ont pas répondu du tout et celles qui mettaient des semaines à répondre ou à ne pas répondre...bref, seule Maruyu nous a convaincu de son sérieux !
le circuit : très bien organisé, Francisco, notre chauffeur, était un excellent conducteur, très prudent et attentionné. Quant à Andrea, notre guide francophone ce fut une très belle rencontre !! Les paysages étaient sublimes (malgré le mauvais temps, et oui c'était l'hiver bolivien et c'est le seul point négatif, l'agence n'avait pas prévenu que le temps pouvait être mauvais à la période où nous y sommes allées), nous avons pu voir une faune très riche, que personnellement je n'attendais pas forcement à ces altitudes.
Le fait d'avoir une guide francophone avec nous a été un vrai plus pour comprendre la vie dans l'altiplano.
Pour l'altitude : ma fille a été un peu malade le 2ème jour mais rien de bien grave. Quant à moi aucun problème : pas d'alcool et peu de cigarettes dans les jours précédents et un deux cachets de diurétique les deux premiers jours m'ont permis de très bien supporter l'altitude
Pour finir, je recommende vivement cette agence, même si les tarifs ne sont pas donnés !
Nous avons passé 3 jours et demi avec cette agence. Arica-Putre, -lac de Chungara-village de Parinacota- Salar de Surire- Cariquima-Humberstone-Iquique. Le voyage a été personnalisé suivant nos souhaits.
Ce voyage... read more s'est passé en mars 2019 soit moins d'un mois après les pluies exceptionnelles de février 2019.
Notre guide, Francisco originaire de Putre, a fait preuve de très grand professionnalisme, prudence et connaissance parfaite du terrain. Il a su s'adapter à nos demandes raisonnables et bien que nous parlions très peu la langue espagnole, nous avons créé des liens humains très forts.
4 jours qui resterons marqués dans nos mémoires.
Je recommande vivement l'agence Mayuru.
Realicé visitas guiadas con Mayuru alrededor de Putre y en San Pedro de Atacama. En el primero con un tour prácticamente en solitario para mí y en el segundo como... read more parte de un grupo, y en ambos la organización del tour fue estupenda. Gabriel y Cecilia estubieron pendientes de que todo saliera a la perfección en todo momento.
Los guías fueron agradables, dinámicos y profesionales en cada una de las excursiones. Los paisajes espectaculares. En definitiva, muy recomendable.
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