Why Chile

Think extremes: 4300 kilometers stretch from Peru to the Strait of Magellan, all ocean on one side and almost all Andes on the other. The driest desert in the world is here, as is the second highest peak in South America. More than 50 volcanoes string along the needle of land like a bellowing charm bracelet.

Chile’s south sparkles with emerald and sapphire lakes, the north allures with the world’s driest desert, pastel salt flats and fuming geysers, while the island of Chiloé charms with ocean lore. Then, of course, are the miles of milky blue glaciers calving icebergs, upstaged only by the crowning jewel of Torres de Paine. Desolate desert, Patagonia paradise, endless beach, creaking ghost towns, aqua rivers, jumbles of fjords and wind-tossed inlets – this is a hiker’s delight, a rafter’s goal and a climber’s mecca. And for everyone, Chile is a fun and easy country to explore, with excellent transportation, congenial folk and added pleasures of excellent wine and seafood.

For those willing to go the extra mile, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) mystifies, while Isla Robinson Crusoé lets the most urban of us play castaway.

Pablo Neruda once wrote that Chile is made for poets. Certainly the Chilean colors, from northern brown to middle green to southern blue – along with a few pisco sours – can make poets of us.