You wouldn’t necessarily think that travelling between the longitudinal extremes of any country would involve a lot of travel. Well, this is Chile and I’ve just covered 4300km (yep) doing exactly that.
It has taken just over 6 hours to fly over this ridiculously thin country between Punto Arenas in the South and Arica in the North. Ample time, in fact, for me to reflect on this beguiling nation…
Ex-President, Augusto Pinochet, passed on this week. It is clear from the on-going riots and demonstrations that the country is still heavily bifurcated over his actions. The rising economic tide - fuelled primarily by copper exports to China - has left a country yearning for historical justice and future progress at the same time. Although I will keep my comments brief (this is not the correct forum for heavily politised debate), I can say that the Chilean people are amongst some of the most progressive, accommodating and hospitable I have encountered on my travels.
As for the natural world, well, you probably know the deal. With one foot in the tropics and another in Antarctica, you couldn’t wish for a more picturesque country. As a photographer, I have suffered from a severe embarrassment of riches and have often found it more difficult deciding when not to shoot than the other way around.
Environmental issues abound in the country. From eco-tourism to foreign mining operations, the country seems to be struggling between progress and sustainability. It will certainly be interesting to see how Chile faces both current pressures on top of those relating to global warming and an increasingly depleted ozone layer…