The first part of the trip was spent in Santiago, Chile's capital located roughly in the middle of the country. Santiago is a semi-arid area located in a bowl between mountains. The highest part of the Andes is only a couple of hours drive from Santiago. It is the home of all my Chilean relatives, and by far the biggest city in the country.
The next part of the trip was spent in the south in the lake district lake district in cities called Puerto Montte and Puerto Varas about 1000 km south of Santiago. This section of the country is much cooler and rainier, and much more sparsley populated. The Andes are lower here and the Volcanos more prominent.
After a week in the south we returned to Santiago, but this time did not stay in the city. We explored an area just to the South East of the city, took a ski trip into the Andes, and spent a weekend in Vina and Valparaiso (port cities 2 hours northeast of Santiago).
Finally after ditching my father, I spent a week a thousand kilometers North of the city in San Pedro de Atacama. This is an Oasis in the middle of the Atacama desert, the dryest desert on Earth.