The World's Longest Country

Jen Bekker on 08 September 2019
After my trip to Peru last year I couldn’t wait to get back to South America and promptly booked my next foray to the continent! Chile could not have been more different from Peru, despite being neighbours and I found Chile to be one of the most scenically striking and diverse countries I’ve ever visited.

A few days in the capital, Santiago, allowed me to recover from the long flight and whilst there we visited the World Heritage city of Valparaiso, just a short drive from Santiago. Valparaiso is a beautiful city, with multi-coloured houses sprawled across the hills. Some fantastic graffiti and artwork can be seen, and the city has a distinctly bohemian feel to it. Valparaiso is home to numerous funicular lifts, whilst many of these lifts have fallen into disrepair and sit suspended in time, there is a drive to restore as many as possible and we travelled in several during our visit.

A short flight north to Calama in the Atacama Desert, saw us spend the next few nights in San Pedro de Atacama, a small dusty town in the desert. At dusk on our first night we set out to the Valley of the Moon. This bizarre lunar landscape is set ablaze with colour at sunset, the strange rock formations framed by the Lincancabur Volcano.

A full day exploring the extraordinary local area brought us to an array of different landscapes. We set off towards the Altiplano Lagoons (Lagunas Altiplanicas) - Miscanti and Miñiques, set at 4,200m above sea level. The two volcanoes of the same name are visible in the background (almost 6,000m high). The twin lagoons are a deep blue, each framed by a white salt crust, which creates a memorable contrast to the yellow highland grass all around. It is completely silent here. Even the duck, the foxes, and the grazing vicuñas respect the majestic silence.

Nearby is the Salar de Atacama. A salt lake of huge proportions, its surface is covered by a thick layer of snow-white salt crystals as far as the eye can see, caused by the evaporation of the lake’s water. The world’s largest lithium deposits are found here, but the salt pan is also home to several flamingo species, including the Andean, Chilean and James flamingo, who feed on the micro-organisms found in the saline lagoons.

On our last full day in the Atacama Desert we were up at 4am to visit the El Tatio Geysers, located over 4,300m above sea level it is the world’s highest geyser field! It’s necessary to be up so early in order to arrive in time for sunrise, when the fountains shoot up to 10m high when the morning sun melts the nightly ice caps that form over the hot springs. The sun’s first rays reflect an array of colours as they mix with boiling jets coming from the geysers to create strong contrasts of steam and light. It was bitterly cold at this altitude and whilst we were exploring the geyser field, our driver was whipping up a much appreciated cooked breakfast and hot chocolate.

I booked onto an astronomy tour on our last night, and whilst I’ve been privileged to witness some incredible stargazing in the past (notably in the Karoo in South Africa) this was by far superior to anything I had previously seen. We were blessed with clear skies and to see the entire Milky Way stretched out before our naked eyes was something I will never forget. We were treated to an informative talk by the resident French astronomer and were given the opportunity to look through the dozen telescopes set up. However, I enjoyed simply sitting on the ground staring up at the incredible spectacle overhead.

Next up, The Lake District. Our base for the next couple of days was Puerto Varas on the shores of Lago Llanquihue. Also known as the 'City of the Roses'.

From the shore of Lago Llanquihue you can enjoy breath-taking views of the Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes. We drove out to Saltos de Petrohue where cooling lava from the Osorno Volcano formed a series of rapids and waterfalls. Together they form an impressive sculpture of extruded volcanic rock shaped by thousands of years of river flow. At Petrohue we boarded a boat for a short cruise of Lago Todos los Santos (All Saints Lake). The view of the snow-capped Osorno Volcano behind us was simply breath-taking.

Our final stop on the trip was Patagonia, the part I had been most looking forward to. A long travel day involved flying down to Punta Arenas, Patagonia - the southernmost city in Chile, and driving on to our overnight stop in Puerto Natales. A quaint little village sitting beside the “Canal Senoret” and facing the Sound (or Fiord) of Last Hope, it is a convenient stopping off point before entering Torres del Paine National Park. I was up early to see the sunrise over the mountains and fiord, along with a little stray dog who posed for some great photos against the spectacular backdrop!

We had two days in Torres del Paine National Park, hiking and exploring. To be honest, I could have stayed longer. The views of the Towers and the Torres Massif from the Cuernos viewpoint and Salto Grande waterfall were out of this world, as we continued to be blessed with clear blue skies. A great day spent in the National Park topped off with a relaxing picnic taken at Laguna Azul. Our accommodation for the night was a rustic lodge located on the riverbank and offered a very peaceful setting.

Another full day in Torres del Paine NP, this time exploring the Western side of the park including Lake Grey. This deep lake, fed by the glacier of the same name, is filled with icebergs which have splashed down from the massive ice flow. We started our short hike by crossing a suspension bridge over the Pingo River (I am definitely not a fan of suspension bridges!) From here the path leads through a forest and continues onward to the tip of the narrow peninsula at the lake’s southern end. This viewpoint offers a spectacular view of the lake with its icebergs, the tongue of Grey Glacier at the far northern end, and the snow-covered mountain peaks soaring above. I love a good boat trip, and that afternoon’s boat trip on Lake Grey did not disappoint! It was incredible to see a glacier up close. To top the day off, on the return we enjoyed a pisco sour (the national drink) served over glacier ice taken from the ice bergs on the lake!