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Atacama Desert  

                      The Atacama desert is the driest place on the planet. Hemmed in by the Andes to the east and coastal mountains to the west, some parts of the region have never recorded a single drop of rain. Spanish explorers referred to it as the “despoblado de Atacama,” suggesting it was uninhabitable. Charles Darwin described it simply as “a complete and utter desert” in the Voyage of the Beagle. Traversing the landscape, he reported, “I saw only one other vegetable production, and that was a most minute yellow lichen, growing […]

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Santiago, Chile  

View from the Cerro Santa Lucia | GPS Map After flying in to Santiago airport, I spent a couple of days in the city collecting some in-country travel information (the Turistel road guide was indispensible for driving) and other useful items (a SIM card for my cell phone that gave me a Chilean number). I stayed at the Hotel Foresta in Santiago, which faces the Cerro Santa Lucia, a park built on a steep hill capped with a tower providing magnificent views of the city and surrounding landscape. While there are higher scenic viewpoints around the city, I found this […]

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