Atacama Rock Art Preservation
Protecting Public Sites from Impacts of Tourism
ROCK ART OF THE ANDES OF CAPRICORN - Rescue Missions
Cultural Resource Preservation
Custom Dates: March, June, September, November
Duration: 10 Days (with 14 and 17 Day Options)
Location: Atacama Coastal Desert, Altiplano & Mountainous Coast Range Regions of Northern Chile
Price Includes: All program-related travel (except airfare),
Program Type: Sustainability Project, Voluntourism, Local Sites
Meals: All but 1 dinner included
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Atacama Desert Cultural Resource Preservation
The Atacama Region receives hordes of tourists each year; the impact is staggering, and lopsided. Many of the remote towns and regions that receive the spillage from cruise ships and big bus travel benefit only minimally, and the treasures they guard are impacted severely. Here is our opportunity to rebalance the benefits of tourism to these remote and needful communities in the high Andes of Chile.
We will work with the local community to help them preserve their valuable historic and archaeological resources.
This is a ten day adventure in volunteering. In addition to visiting some of the staggeringly beautiful destinations of the Atacama, including volcanoes, geysers, high plateaus, and flamingo-filled Andean lakes, you will have an opportunity to assist to preserve and foster sustainability in the indigenous communities of the region.
Project Work
Open Air Museum Work (3 days) We will construct and implement paths to protect the local archaeology, and add in some small signs to give directions through the 2 km of open air museum in the gorge. We will clear and then mark approximately 500m of the path through the gorge with stones along the side, to enable visits by tourists but protect an archeological patrimony of 900 years artwork from damage.
Petroglyphs Close by the community, there is a gorge with ancient Artes Rupestres (ancient drawings in the rock of symbols and pictures of devils, llamas, etc.) including petroglyphs. This area is beginning to attract tourism from the region, especially operators in nearby San Pedro de Atacama. There have been various efforts to help the community improve the infrastructure of this area, to help the community to facilitate and formalize their tourism offering to local tour operators. By doing this, the community will be in a position to increase their opportunities to earn money from their natural habitat, including charging an entrance fee to see the petroglyphs, and also ensuring local operators operate responsibly and contract the community’s guides.
Cleaning of the Ghost town (1 day) We will walk to visit the ghost town, about 2 hours away from our host community. From here we will help the local community clearing litter and debris, to make it presentable as a destination to bring tourists too.
Workshop about llamas (1 day) We will learn about llama breeding, help with their maintenance and participate in the shearing of llamas (depending on time of year).
Support Team We will be working with support from the community’s president as well as counting on various other members of support staff.
Community Interaction The community can be pretty shy. To date they have received only a few groups, and it usually takes time for the group to be accepted into the community. Slowly they the barriers broken and it is always a gradual process of interaction.
The Travel: This itinerary is based out of small villages in high elevations and is fairly isolated. We travel by 12 passenger vans. There is no local transportation to get to the community and so we will travel in private transportation big enough to also carry our project materials and water supplies. Inside the town itself there is no need for transportation. To get to the project site we will go in 4x4 pick ups. However, your most important travel will be on foot. Our project site is frequently accessed by hiking and scrambling.
A Sample Itinerary in Chilean Atacama
The Basic 10-Day Itinerary (Contact us for a detailed Itinerary)
Day 0 – Depart home country.
Day 1: Arrival Santiago – Salar de Atacama – Laguna Chaxa – Indigenous village (Depart early morning)
+ Upon arrival in Santiago de Chile airport, we will make a connection to take a flight straight to Calama.
+ From Calama, our private transport will take us to an indigenous village where our service project will take place.
+ On our way there, we will visit the Salar de Atacama – the largest salt flat in the world and we will stop for a quick visit to the Laguna Chaxa where we will have a talk with local park rangers about the salt flats and see wild flamingos in their natural habitat.
+ In an area where it seems impossible that any form of life could survive in the Atacama desert, lies a small oasis surrounded by a host of natural beauties which captivate the mind, body and soul of those in search of new adventures. The driest desert in the world has a collection of secrets just waiting to be discovered. From salt flats, hot water springs to geysers, volcanoes and indigenous oases…
Days 2 – 7: Volunteer Project Phase
+ Duration 5 days
+ Location Atacama desert.
+ This small indigenous community is located 60km from Calama, in the Atacama desert – the driest desert in the world. It is a small village close to the base of the Volcano Lasca with just 14 families who grow agricultural goods and sell them in the neighboring villages. The local people live very humbly here with few facilities, and are traditionally llama herders.
Day 8: Indigenous community – Toconao – Laguna Cejas – Moon Valley – San Pedro
Day 9: San Pedro de Atacama – Tatio Geysers – Calama
Day 10: Return to Santiago de Chile; walking or bicycle tour.
Depart
MORE INFORMATION
Season: A land of almost eternal Spring, warm days and cold nights.
Daily Distances: 1-4 miles per day in program-related activities and hikes.
Terrain: High-desert plateaus, coastal mountains, significant elevation.
Elevation Max/Min: 8000-12000 feet
Food: Our goal is to provide you with the right balance in the combination of high-enery foods: vegetables, cereals,legumes, fish, eggs and meat are available. Of course, there will be a variety of teas and coffees and other local beverages.
Lodging: The accommodation is very basic; we will be sleeping on mattresses on the floor of a local meeting house or “Sede social”. Sleeping bags required for cold temperatures. There are separate male and female toilets and showers with hot water.
EDVENTURE CURRICULUM: This is an exploration of ancient and modern realities in the Atacama Region of Chile. This is also a great opportunity to work on your conversational Spanish as your hosts are bi-lingual language educators who know how to make learning come alive.
Subjects: Rock Art of the Andes of Capricorn; Local Cultural and Physical Geography; Andean Geology; Survival and Sustainability in the High Andes; Biology: Botany, Ecology, and Desert Dwellers.
MORE INFORMATION
Free time Free time in between the work will be used to learn about the local area, culture and activities within the local community.
+ Exploration of the natural surroundings of the town: visits and treks to local archeological sites including the ghost town.
+ Soccer match with kids in the local school.
+ Visit to see and buy local handicrafts.
Food Will be prepared by the local community. There will be 3 meals per day. Some supplies will be taken from Calama, but we will mainly share local food with the community.
Shopping There are no shops in the community and so it is important than any personal items / medicines, etc are brought with you before leaving Calama. Local people are likely to sell their own made goods such as woolen handicraft, and there is a house at the bottom of the village that sells locally made handicrafts.
WANDERLAND provides in-country airport-to-airport services; Spanish language support; professional natural history interpretation; certified Wilderness First Responder hosts; travel arrangements for school groups and, of course, Fairly Traded Travel Services.