CONTRASTS OF CHILE

A perfectly symmetrical volcano towers over the town of San Pedro de Atacama. Rising to a peak of just under 6000 metres, Licancabur dominates our western horizon. Dozens of other Andean giants stretch out alongside it, but none are as impressive as this.

Licancabur separates Chile from Bolivia. Although the border is just 45 kilometres away, there’s a marked contrast between the rainfall over there and the one here in Chile. On that side of the ranges, annual precipitation measures around the 300-millimetre mark. Here,