Travelogue
Atacama - The Most Perfect Desert in the World - 24 March 2011
The Atacama Desert is often described as the world’s most perfect desert. Parts of the desert haven't seen a drop of rain since recordkeeping began. It is the second driest place on Earth after Antarctica. The desert stretches 1000 kilometres from Peru's southern border rising from a thin coastal shelf to the pampas—virtually lifeless plains that dip down to river gorges layered with mineral sediments from the Andes. The mineral deposits here are so valuable the nations bordering this region went to war for its control. The outcome of this conflict, which has disadvantaged Chile’s neighbours, left a bitter after taste. Along this geographic zone rise some of the highest volcanoes of the Los Andes cordillera. It is a shock then to learn that more than a million people live in the Atacama today crowded into coastal cities, mining compounds, fishing villages, and oasis towns like San Pedro de Atacama (San Pedro for short). Church San Pedro de AtacamaSan Pedro is a small village located in one of the many oases which are founded in the northern altiplano region of Chile. The altiplano is a plateau of the Andes, covering two thirds of Bolivia and extending into Southern Peru and Chile and ranging in height from 3000m to 3900m Formerly the center of the Atacama culture, today San Pedro's population is about 2500. These days the town is considered the archeological capital of Chile. The main economic activities of San Pedro
Chuquicamata - Red Gold Fever - 11 March 2011
Copper accounts for almost one-third of all Chile’s foreign trade. At one time the figure was a massive 75 percent. These days Chile produces about 450,000 tons of copper per year.Not for nothing then is copper known as “Chile’s salary”.Mines come complete with their own cities to house the workers, their own water and electrical plants
Valparaiso - It's By The Sea - 5 March 2011
Two hours drive by bus from Santiago is the port of Valparaiso, until the early 1900s Chile’s first city. Testament to its former glories, Valparaiso was home to Latin America’s first stock exchange and the oldest continuous Spanish language newspaper in the world. Valparaiso once served as an important stopover for ships sailing between the
Santiago de Chile - The Avenue of the Basques and the Irish - 24 February 2011
Flying west into Chile’s capital Santiago from Argentina is an interesting experience to say the least. The route taken brings you inevitably down through the Andes, the pilot having to negotiate mountain passes and vicious cross winds.You cannot make this journey without thinking of the film Alive about the Uruguayan rugby team, which
Argentina - It was the Land of Opportunity - 20 February 2011
La Boca is the working class district near the docks, famous for its narrow cobbled streets and brightly coloured houses. If paying a visit it pays to be cautious. It’s a fairly rough area and tourists are sometimes targeted by petty criminals. I found the area remarkably small, largely consisting of a single street, so I had trouble working out
Diego Maradona - What A Player I'd Been If I Hadn't Done Coke - Part II - 17 February 2011
Maradona arrived in Belgrade on a private jet with film director, Kustinica . It’s unclear who the jet belonged to, whether a charter or Maradona. Given his run-ins with the authorities over the years and prodigious outgoings supporting a decadent and opulent lifestyle, not to mention those of his numerous hangers-on, how much money Maradona
Buenos Aires - Paris of the South - 30 January 2011
My plane to Buenos Aires was late, very late. So late in fact, that it had yet to arrive in Auckland to go to Sydney to return to Auckland, for the journey back to Buenos Aires. According to the staff at the Aerolineas Argentinas check-in desk, the schedule had been disrupted by “unexpected volcanic activity over Patagonia”. This utter
Diego Maradona - What A Player I'd Been, If I Hadn't Done Coke Part I- 26 January 2011
To get an insight into football, and Argentine football in particular, you can’t go past the documentary ‘Maradona’ by Palme D’or winner Serbian, Emir Kustinica. Filmed over two years from 2005 to 2007, it includes archival footage and interviews with the great man himself at home with his family in Buenos Aires, and on a trip to Belgrade
Wellington's South Coast - Plunderers, Poachers and Shipwrecks - 8 January 2011
The South Coast near Wellington on New Zealand’s North Island is an inhospitable stretch of land at the best of times. The winds are sometimes extreme with gales from the north and the south. The only time there’s calm is when the wind is changing direction. However, the barrenness belies a tapestry of life, death and history to beguile the
