Atacama Desert

Atacama Desert - Thermal Lake, Chile

Swimming in a thermal lake of Sejar in the middle of the driest desert in the world, Chile's Atacama, November 2005

Chile's vast length - 4,000kms [2,500 miles] - encompasses a mass of potential activities which take place in varied and stunning locations, though many are inconveniently distant from each other.

Chile's five must-visit areas are:

1. the Atacama desert, the hub of which is San Pedro de Atacama, which is hundreds of miles north of the capital Santiago.
2. the World Heritage port of Valparaiso. These, in turn, is hundreds of miles north of Chile's premier activity base of...
3. Pucon and the gorgeous Lake District. Pucon and its rival action centre, Puerto Varas, are hundreds of miles north of incredible mountain trekking in...
4. Torres del Paine National Park, while all of the above are thousands of miles east of the wildest Chilean sights of all on...
5. Easter Island.

One interesting option for independent travellers with lots of time who are exploring not only Chile but southern Latin America in general is criss-crossing from Argentina to Chile [and/or Bolivia] - though the geology of neighbouring landscapes are usually [and naturally] similar.
For example, instead of travelling south down Chile from San Pedro de Atacama to Santiago, one could bus across the border to Argentina's Salta, zigging down through Cordoba to Buenos Aires, then zag back to Mendoza before crossing over to Santiago.
Further south it's common to cross from Chile's Lake District into Argentina's [or vice versa of course], and then back into Chile from El Calafate to Torres del Paine. These border crossings will involve lots of wiggly, mountainous Andean roads but immigration formalities are no problem and it's an efficient way to see two long thin countries if you have a tough butt and plenty of time.

As far as transport goes, self-drive is, of course a fun option, but it has a few distinct disadvantages:
a] it's expensive
b] driving's tiring because distances are long and dirt roads require intense concentration
c] sign posting of key sights in Chile is absolutely abysmal and a lot of time can be lost searching for the location, even if your Castellano [Spanish] is good enough to get directions from locals. The magical desert pool pictured above, for example, was on a dirt road about 12 kms [8 miles] from the paved road to San Pedro, with no signs indicating direction at all, anywhere. Furthermore, directions from people in town were incorrect. A paranoid person might imagine that this is a conspiracy to force all tourists to employ a local guide or travel with a tour operator...
Having wasted several hours and considerable emotional energy finding the pool pictured above in their rental jeep the Bugcrew felt compelled to hire a guide to get to the Tatio geysers for sunrise, so the dastardly tourist office plan worked.
The bottom line is, in San Pedro de Atacama at least, you will need a vehicle and a guide to get to two of the four best sights. [The Valley of the Moon is bikeable and well signed, the Valley of Death is bikeable and not signposted].

Another point that should be mentioned is that some Chilean pictorial guide books and even international guide books are years out of date, showing sights that have long since crumbled to dust, so don't believe everything you read.
Furthermore, in our humble opinion, some local tour operators are nothing more than a bunch of lying thieves who will take you to a couple of worthless sights for the pleasure of extracting a few dollars more. And if you think we're exaggerating read the thick book of complaints in San Pedro's official Tourist Office that has to be replaced very frequently! Beware!

This gallery of Chile Pictures starts in the north at San Pedro de Atacama, including pictures of some stinkers - what we believe are the most useless 'sights' in the Atacama area, heads down to the centre for a look at plain Santiago and polychromatic Valparaiso, misses out on Pucon and the Lake District [thanks to a pilot's strike], visits Torres del Paine on a bad day [it's a grand place but clouds and invisible mountain peaks are a way of life there], then finishes with some spectacular pictures of the genuine wonders of Easter Island.