Where to begin? In the north where deserts are so dry residents remove the windshield wipers from the vehicles? In the far south where the land fragments into islands and archipelagos stretching toward Antartica?
Chile is a land of contrasts that's for sure. The longest thinnest country a stringbean of a country 2,650 miles some say 2,700, (4,329 Kilometers) long from north to south with an average width of 110 miles (180 Kilometers) from the Andes to the Pacific. Within the country's borders you'll find deserts, Andes peaks, live volcanos, glaciers, rich fertile valleys, geysers, rain forests, pampas, steppes, far off-shore islands, fairy tale, scenery varied climates and some of the most hospitable people on earth.
Chile is divided politically into thirteen regions north to south. Each one with the exception of the Metropolitan District of Santiago stretches from the coast to the cordillera to the borders with Bolivia and Argentina. Each region has a distinct feel and flavor to it composed primarily by the climactic and geographic condtions.
The Norte Grande is the Atacama, where the desert so dry NASA uses it as training grounds and scientists of all disciplines study it with devotion. It is also the Andean altiplano the dense fogs called camanchacas, and surprising oases clustered around the Rio Loa the longest river in Chile which loops in a U turn from the Andes to the sea. Ancient populations built their communities along the river. It is also mining as at Chuquicamata with the largest open pit mine in the world. It is Geyser El Tatio pictured here cosmopolitan cities and native villages and once before the War of the Pacific in the 1880's belonged to Peru and Bolivia.
The Norte Chico is also the Atacama desert but slightly different. Concerns are here so many in fact that this region is called the "region of 10,000 mines," but it is a transition zone from the arid north to the fertile central valley. The Elqui Valley is here and with the observatories fantastically clear skies, a history of UFO sightings and vineyards producing the muscat grapes for pisco this is a very popular destination spot. This is the home of Gabriela Mistral the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945.
The Central and Metropolitan region is the most densely populated which is not surprising. Here are the most fertile productive agricultural areas, the moderate Mediterranean climate, the metropolis of Santiago and the main seaport of Valparaiso. Here also is Viña Del Mar the most venerable of Chilean beach resorts and the beach home now a museum of Pablo Neruda in Isla Negra.
The South begins with a transitional zone still fertile but rainier as the climate changes into rainforest. Here is the land of the Zona Sur or Araucania the fierce tribes who resisted Spanish control for many years. Here is the fabulous Lake District called by many the Switzerland of South America but that is not enough description for the lakes the volcanos and the scenic wonders of the area. Pictured here is Puerto Varas with Volcan Osorno and Lake Llanquihue. Here is Chiloe Island reputed to have mystical and magical powers.
Chilean Patagonia Norte is a scenic wonderland with fierce landscapes, rugged weather, mountain peaks and glaciers. Islands and national parks, sheep ranches, and the great Torres del Paine National Park where granite pillars pierce the sky and are reflected in icy lakes. You'll find Puerto Williams, the southernmost city of Chile and Cape Horn National Park. You can traverse the Straits of Magellan in comfort rather than fighting the currents and the weather as did earlier sailors.
And of course you wont want to miss Easter Island, the world's most isolated inhabited island with walking moais and the Birdman culture.
