Northern Chile. The north of Chile is a land of contrasts, where the altiplano and the Atacama Desert come together to offer strikingly beautiful sights. The Atacama Desert is said to be "the driest in the world." In fact, rainfall has never been recorded in some areas. What causes such extreme dryness?

The altiplano, or high plateau region, receives occasional tropical rain in January and February. Here, it is the altitude rather than the lack of water that challenges life in this area: only the hardiest, most specialized flora and fauna can survive the hardships of life at over 3500 meters (11,483 ft).

Vast and colorful, dotted with lakes, swamps, salt flats, and geysers, crowned with volcanoes 6000 meters (nearly 20,000 ft) high, the altiplano links Chile with the great cultures of the central Andes.

Today, the Chilean high plateau is home to the traditional Aymara Indians, who wander among volcanoes and swampy meadows with their tame llamas and alpacas. They gather periodically to honor their saints in fantastical lime-bleached ceremonial villages. Large areas of this remarkable region are protected by a system of spectacular national parks, including Lauca National Park, declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

Some of the rainfall is filtered through the mountains, emerging in springs and streams to transform the landscape, creating swaths of wild vegetation and crops, wildlife habitats and human settlements, salt flats and salt mountains.

These strips of water and life have been discovered and used by humans for generations. San Pedro de Atacama and other oases on the Loa and Salado rivers served as stops on the pre-Incan trade routes that connected the altiplano with the Amazon and the coast. The caravans crisscrossed the desert on pathways that are now marked only by geoglyphs, the most impressive archaeological remains in northern Chile.

From north to south, the main tourist centers in northern Chile are Arica, Iquique, Calama, San Pedro de Atacama, and Antofagasta. Except for Calama and San Pedro de Atacama, they are all coastal cities with excellent beaches unthreatened by clouds, much less by rain.

Lodging, transportation, and other services are on a par with those of the capital. Each city provides access to a part of the desert, the mountains, or the altiplano. Walks, ethno-tours, excursions in all-terrain vehicles, mountain climbing, and archaeology are some of the more common activities in this region.

Near the southern part of this region, the cities of Copiapó and La Serena are the doorway to the slender valleys that cut across the Andes from east to west. They are known for their production of the country's beloved pisco, or grape brandy, and for having the clearest skies in the southern hemisphere, which attract professional and amateur astronomers from all over the world.