Chile! Deserts, wine, and football, oh my. Ah, getting there .. The logistics. We flew from La Paz to Santiago, then the next day flew to backwards to the desert. Very inefficient, but surprisingly the fastest and cheapest route. We learned very quickly that South American flight prices and routes don't make a whole lot of sense, in our minds at least.

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It was such a diverse country. Half the time in Chile we spent in desert and there we saw geysers, stars, and well, more desert. Went back to Santiago which seemed a lot like Toronto with toll roads, a modern downtown, and plentiful organized public transportation options.

Atacama desert was desolate, eerie, and memorizing. You'll never see so much land. The flat desert is in a bowl shape with barely visible distant mountains, which gave it a hypnotizing feeling to look at the horizon.

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Here's another picture of the desert, looking out towards the flats.

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We visited a winery near Santiago, the capital Chilean city. It was fascinating. The tour guide knew everything about wine (especially Chilean wine) down to the science. In fact, his university degree is for wine making and English. The $16 for a full tour included four samples of wine, where one bottle retailed for $120 .. so it was an awesome tour.

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More to come ... check back another time.