Lickanantay Ancestral Tour with Llamas in Turi and Kunza Territory, Atacama
The Lickanantay ancestral tour in Turi and Kunza territory is a 3-hour walk with llamas led by Lickanantay hosts on their own land outside San Pedro de Atacama, priced from $73 per person. Most visitors to the Atacama Desert spend their days chasing geysers and salt flats and never meet the people who have lived here for millennia. This tour flips that. A Lickanantay family in the Ayllu de Solor sets the pace: you walk beside their llamas through dirt paths between adobe houses, hear how the herds are managed and the land is read, and sit down afterward to traditional desert food. Nobody performs for a camera here. The hosts run this as their business, on their terms, and the three hours move at a human speed rather than a tour-bus schedule. It pairs naturally with the landscape-heavy Atacama Desert tours most travelers already have booked, adding the context that the geysers and lagoons alone do not give you.
Tour At a Glance
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start time, full refund
Reserve now, pay nothing today
3 hours, typically scheduled morning or afternoon
Round-trip transfer from your San Pedro de Atacama accommodation included
Small group format, hosted directly by the Lickanantay family
Led by Lickanantay guides on land their family has worked for generations
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Why This Tour Is Different From Every Other Atacama Excursion
Most Atacama itineraries are built around landscapes: geysers, lagoons, dunes, volcanoes. This one is built around people. The Lickanantay, also called Atacameño, have lived in this desert for more than 10,000 years, and this tour is run by a family from that community on their own land in the Ayllu de Solor, a traditional neighborhood of dirt paths, adobe houses and llama herds just outside San Pedro de Atacama.
The difference shows up immediately in how the tour is structured. The hosts are not employees reading a script for an outside operator. They are business owners sharing their own herding practices, their own reading of the land, and their own family history. You walk with their llamas at a pace they set, not a bus schedule. There is no stage, no gift shop performance, no distance kept between visitor and host. The result is closer to an invitation than a tour, and it is the reason travelers who add this to a landscape-heavy itinerary consistently call it the most memorable stop of their trip.
What You Will See on the Lickanantay Ancestral Tour
The walk moves through the Ayllu de Solor, a working Lickanantay neighborhood a short drive from San Pedro, then settles into time with the family and their llamas:
- The Ayllu de Solor: dirt paths between adobe houses, corn fields and desert scrub, with herds of llamas and goats grazing between plots
- A llama walk led by your Lickanantay hosts, who name the animals and explain how the herd is managed through the desert's dry season
- Native desert plants pointed out along the way, with an explanation of which ones the family uses for food, medicine or ceremony
- Traditional adobe construction next to newer concrete building, a visible marker of how the ayllu has changed within one lifetime
- Time at the family's home to sit, ask questions and hear how Turi and Kunza territory has been worked and passed down across generations
- A tasting of traditional desert foods and infusions, made from ingredients the family sources from local growers
What Is Included and What Is Not Included
| Round-trip transfer from your San Pedro de Atacama accommodation | Gratuities for your hosts |
| Guided llama walk through the Ayllu de Solor | Meals beyond the included tasting |
| Hosted time with a Lickanantay family on their own land | Alcoholic beverages |
| Tasting of traditional desert foods and herbal infusions | Personal travel insurance |
| Cultural context and narration from your hosts | Souvenirs or handmade items you wish to purchase |
How the Lickanantay Ancestral Tour Unfolds
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9:00 AM
Pickup from San Pedro de Atacama
A vehicle collects you from your accommodation. The drive to the Ayllu de Solor takes about 15 minutes.
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9:20 AM
Meeting the hosts and llamas
Your Lickanantay hosts greet the group and introduce the llamas that will walk with you through the ayllu.
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9:30 AM
Walking the Ayllu de Solor
A 45 to 60 minute walk through dirt paths lined with adobe houses, corn fields and grazing herds, narrated by your hosts.
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10:30 AM
Time at the family's home
You settle in at the host family's property to hear about herding practices, land history and daily life in Turi and Kunza territory.
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11:15 AM
Traditional tasting
Herbal infusions and desert foods sourced from local growers close out the visit, with time for questions.
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12:00 PM
Return transfer
Vehicle drops you back at your San Pedro de Atacama accommodation.
Important Things to Know Before You Book
This tour runs at San Pedro's base altitude of 2,407 meters, well below the geyser and lagoon tours that climb above 4,000 meters, so altitude sickness is rarely a concern here. The walking is flat and unhurried, which makes this one of the easiest activities to schedule alongside a physically demanding day like El Tatio or Cerro Toco.
The experience is hosted by a Lickanantay family, and the tone throughout is respectful rather than performative: ask before photographing people, and follow your hosts' lead on where to walk and what to touch. Dust and animal dander from the llamas are present throughout the walk.
- Not suitable for: travelers seeking an adrenaline or high-altitude adventure tour, or anyone unable to walk on uneven dirt paths for 45 to 60 minutes
- What to bring: closed-toe walking shoes, sunscreen and a hat, a light jacket for cooler mornings, and a water bottle
- Not allowed: approaching the llamas without your hosts' guidance, and photographing your hosts or their home without asking first
Meeting Point: Ayllu de Solor
Who Is This Tour Best Suited For?
- Families with children who want an easy, low-altitude activity: the llamas and hands-on elements hold kids' attention without demanding stamina
- Travelers midway through a landscape-heavy Atacama itinerary who want to understand who actually lives in this desert
- Anyone who prefers a slow, personal experience over a large-group bus tour, since the format is built around direct time with your hosts
- Visitors who want to support Lickanantay-owned businesses directly rather than an outside tour operator
- First-timers to San Pedro de Atacama who want cultural context early in their trip, before the geysers and salt flats
For the wider mix of ways to see the region, our Atacama Desert culture and heritage tours page compares this experience against other options in San Pedro de Atacama.
Questions About the Lickanantay Ancestral Tour
What does Lickanantay mean and how is it different from Atacameño?
Lickanantay means the inhabitants of the territory in Kunza, the original language of the Atacama. Atacameño is the name Spanish colonizers gave the same people in the 16th century and is still widely used today. Both refer to the same community, distinct from the Aymara and Quechua of the Andes, with their own language and traditions rooted in this desert.
How much does the Lickanantay ancestral tour cost in Atacama?
This tour runs from $73 per person for the 3-hour experience, including round-trip transfer from San Pedro de Atacama, the llama walk, hosted time with a Lickanantay family, and a traditional food tasting. Free cancellation is available up to 24 hours before the start time.
Is the ancestral llama walk suitable for young children?
Yes. The walking is flat, unhurried and covers roughly 45 to 60 minutes at San Pedro's base altitude of 2,407 meters, well below the altitude tours that can be tiring for kids. Children tend to respond well to the llamas and the hands-on pace, even if the deeper cultural narration is aimed more at adults.
Do I need to speak Spanish to enjoy this cultural tour?
No, though the depth of narration is fullest in Spanish. Hosts commonly work with English-speaking visitors, and much of the experience, walking with llamas, seeing the ayllu, tasting traditional food, comes through directly regardless of language. Confirm language needs when booking if you want the fullest possible narration in English.
How is this tour different from watching a cultural show or museum exhibit?
This is a working visit to a family's own land, not a staged performance or static display. The Lickanantay hosts run the tour as their business, walk you through their actual neighborhood, and share herding and land knowledge firsthand rather than through placards. Nothing here is reenacted for an audience: you are a guest on land they still work.
When should I schedule this during my Atacama Desert trip?
Schedule it early in your trip, on a day without another demanding tour, so the cultural context carries into the landscape stops that follow. Because it runs at low altitude with an easy pace, it also works well as a relaxed wind-down after several days of high-altitude excursions like El Tatio or the altiplanic lagoons.
What other quiet, small-group Atacama experiences pair well with this tour?
The canyon pools and hot springs trek is the natural companion: another small-group day away from the main circuit, with swimming instead of llamas. For background on the desert itself and the people who have lived in it, start with where the Atacama Desert actually is.
What Guests Say About the Lickanantay Ancestral Tour
Our host introduced every llama by name before we set off. Two hours of walking, stories about herding routes his grandmother used, and a landscape that suddenly had history written all over it.
Our host's stories about growing up in the ayllu stayed with me longer than any viewpoint on the trip. Quiet, personal, and completely unlike the big group tours.
We brought our two kids and worried they would be bored, but they loved leading the llamas and asking questions the whole way. The easiest afternoon of our trip and the one they still talk about.