Elqui Valley and El Tololo

Approx. Time: 8 hours
Activity Level: Easiest

The tour begins on the banks of the Elqui River with a visit to the villages along the lush setting. There you'll visit Agarrobito, which is famous for its especially beautiful church and ancient olive groves; Altovalsol, seat of the Inca population during their domination of the area; and El Molle, where archaeological evidence of the Molle culture was first discovered. The tour proceeds past fields of olives, avocados, papayas, lúcumas and chimoyas (the latter, a pair of unique local fruits) and El Tololo, the principal observatory of the Southern Hemisphere. Continue to Vicuńa, hometown of the Nobel Prize-winning poet Gabriela Mistral. Visit the Mistral Museum, and then learn the ins and outs of making pisco, a type of brandy made from a Moscatel-like grape, from one of the many local distilleries. Continue inland through the hills to Monte Grande, the village where Mistral is buried. You can also visit Pisco Elqui, a quiet pisco-producing town formerly known as La Unión.

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