Sitting in the picturesque plaza at Pisco Elqui listening to pan-pipe music, I began to appreciate just how long the summer lasts here - it seems never ending. I'm currently travelling with Layla, and yesterday we were invited to spend the day at a rustic picnic spot by a river with a Chilean family who had befriended us the previous day. Rudolf and Anita, and their four-year old son Vicente were on a week's vacation from Santiago; they showed us how Chileans typ...

Chinchillas are farmed for their fur all over the world (and sometimes kept as pets of course), which means that they are not exactly an endangered species; but chinchillas living in their natural habitat are becoming a thing of the past. In the wild they are unique to the stretch of the Andes between here, Bolivia and Peru, where it is thought that the long-tailed chinchilla species has already disappeared. I'm usually a bit wary of voluntary work because I want...

Picture a small pick-up truck travelling on a dirt track with a Chilean family occupying the cabin, and a Gringo on the back with wind blowing through his hair. That was me heading from the coast back towards the city, and it was a moment that seemed to sum up much of this last week.It started in Valparaíso where I caught up with Rebecca, one of my friends from the long ferry trip. This very old city is crime-ridden and dirty, but has a charm and character all o...

I remember arriving in Seattle some years ago just after a big earthquake that everyone was talking about for days. I had missed it because I was still in the sky. A similar thing happened here. I was a couple of hours away on the bus when an earthquake hit Santiago. Measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, the locals were keen to talk about it, but as one resident told me - this is the world's shakiest city, and earthquakes of this size are common. I can't help spari...

I arrived on foot at the tiny village of Puesco on a Sunday. The bus back to Pucón was due on Monday morning, so I camped under a cherry tree by the river and lay there in the afternoon sun watching dragonflies. What a great way to wait for a bus.It's the height of summer here, but as anywhere it doesn't bring all good things. Whilst sitting at a remote viewpoint above 1700m from where the panorama takes in five volcanoes, I made a very good friend. A lizard cli...