Rainbow Valley & Hierbas Buenas Tour

We begin the day with breakfast among mountains that awaken with the first light of the sun. The road leads us towards Rainbow Valley, where minerals paint the earth with intense tones, forming one of the most astonishing landscapes of the Cordillera de Domeyko.

Rainbow Valley: Mineral Palette of the Cordillera de Domeyko

Located 90 kilometers from San Pedro de Atacama at 3,500 meters above sea level, this geological valley is a mausoleum of color and time. Its chromatic spectrum is not mere decoration, but the autobiography of 90 million years of history. The rock formations belong to the Purilactis Formation (Late Cretaceous) and Tonel Formation, composed of siltstones and fine sandstones that were deposited in ancient fluvio-lacustrine systems. The intense reddish tones come from iron oxides (hematite) formed in oxidizing environments; the greens, from chlorite and epidote generated by hydrothermal alteration of hypabyssal intrusives; the yellows and ochers, from iron sulfides and evaporitic salts; while the whites are gypsum and halite, vestiges of ancient salt lagoons that shine like snow under the desert sun.

The experience is an immersion in a living palette: walking among these formations eroded by wind and water over millions of years allows touching sedimentary layers that narrate the rise of the Andes. The morning, with low light, creates shadow plays that enhance each stratum, offering unique photographic moments where minerals seem to ignite from within. It is a natural laboratory where geology becomes art and every tone is a chapter of the tectonic evolution of the Atacama Puna.

Hierbas Buenas: Amphitheater of Stone and Memory

This archaeological site, located 65 km north of San Pedro at the confluence of the Cordillera de Domeyko, the Cordillera de la Sal and the Andes (3,050 meters above sea level), is the largest rock art center in the entire San Pedro de Atacama archaeological area. In its 'natural amphitheater' of soft volcanic rocks and unique folding processes, over 1,000 petroglyphs are preserved representing four main cultural traditions: the naturalistic Taira, the Angostura tradition, Style 2 with Aguada influence, and Inca styles, with dates spanning from the Early Formative to the Colonial period.

Visitors encounter a millennial dialogue sculpted in stone: anthropomorphs, camelids, Andean felines and surprising Amazonian primates (evidence of the extensive trade routes that connected the Altiplano with the Pacific Ocean). The petroglyphs are not simple drawings, but a ritual language that marked routes, indicated water sources and transmitted cosmovision. The morning sun scrapes the oxidized surfaces, highlighting the figures with golden light while the desert silence allows hearing the footsteps of the caravans that a thousand years ago traveled towards the oasis. It is a tangible connection with the Atacameño culture, where every engraving is a message of survival and spirituality in the most arid desert in the world.