Starting and finishing in Santiago, this superb circuit encompassed various sites in the high Andes, the woodlands of Altos de Lircay and the nearby Lake Colban, as well as the coastal strip, including the endemic-rich La Campana National Park and quite a number of sites along the Pacific coast. In this part of the trip, I also ventured out into the rich waters of the Humboldt Current on an excellent pelagic trip.

Chile is an epic country - stretching over 4300 km from vast deserts in the north to sub-Antarctic islands in the south, names leap off the map that long ago stirred my earliest childhood dreams: Tierra del Fuego, Strait of Magellan, Atacama Desert, Patagonia. Long had I harboured desires to visit this country, not least to enjoy the spectacle of Andean Condors to the backdrop of 6500 metre peaks, to see King Penguins and to seek out iconic species such Diademed Sandpiper-Plover and Magellanic Plover.