By: Pedal Chile
Atacama Desert in northern Chile
Chile is home to one of the most pronounced climate gradients on planet Earth. Chile is a mecca of biodiversity and unsurpassed beauty. Let’s see some photos!
the atacama desert
The driest desert in the world. The water here is measured in mm per decade, not per year. The Atacama Desert even receives less precipitation than the polar deserts. This desert spans 600 miles, making it about 100 miles longer than the entire state of Florida. Fun Fact: The oldest mummy in the world has been found here, predating the Egyptian mummies by thousands of years.
Valley of the Moon in the atacama desert
This area and other parts of the Atacama Desert have soil samples that resemble those taken from Mars. NASA uses this area to test equipment before blasting off to the red planet.
Torres del Paine National Park
Chile’s largest national park and contains the famous Towers of Paine and Grey’s Glacier. This was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978.
Volcano Villarrica
Chile has approximately 500 active volcanoes and Volcano Villarrica is the most active of them all. Day hiking or mountain biking this route is truly one epic experience. The trail passes through a temperate rain forest, fresh lava flows, and barren ash fields.
Easter island
In 1995 this tiny island was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Chile annexed this 64 square mile island in 1888.
The king penguin in Inútil Bay
In 2011, Chile created Parque Pingüino Rey ( Penguin King Park) in Inútil Bay, to protect the only colony of penguins in all of Latin America. This is also one of the only colonies outside of Antarctica.
THE largest ground telescope in the world
The ALMA (the Spanish word for soul) Telescope is located in the northern Chilean desert and sits at 16,500 feet above sea level. You don’t need to use the 1.3 billion dollar telescope to get out of this world star gazing views though (as you can see from the photo below).
