During my Chilean visit a few years ago, I believe I created some of the best photography of my life. This was my first excursion with my Contax Aria camera, which I received only the week before I traveled. My only lens then was the prime Zeiss 28x70. That's a very good lens, but no match for Chile.
The guanaco above, who really owns the land we visited, is one of four camelid animals in Chile.
Consider Chile's contrasts in the four shots below:
Chilean extremes range from the world's highest, driest desert in the north, to the glacial Straits of Magellan in Patagonia at the tip of South America. The capital city, Santiago de Chile, is in the lower middle of the country, along with the seaports of Valparaiso and Viñas del Mar. Moving south to the glaciers are both Alpine and temperate-rainforested mountains and lakes.
Click one of the selections beside the map below to see my photos and bits of text.
Chile's single-star flag (the larger image) predates Texas' Lone Star banner. Texans should visit Chile at least once in order to be awed. Australia is bigger than both, of course, but Chile's extremes are the most awesome on the planet.
Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), and San Pedro de Atacama
Salares (Salt Lakes)-some of my best photos
Santiago de Chile, Valparaiso and Viña del Mar
Patagonian Glaciers, and the Torres del Paine
Between Arica, the northernmost city on the Bolivian border, and Puerto Williams, the southernmost populated place in Chile and the world, the distance is similar to Paris-Moscow or San Francisco-New York.