Huddled against the western ridge of the Andes Mountains, this fingerlike spike of a country retains a rugged heritage linked to its indigenous people and the immensity of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that meet like two prizefighters at its southerly tip, creating the deadliest maritime graveyard on the globe.

This is the end of the world.

A Land of Extremes
From its Atacama Desert in the north where rain has never been recorded, and the fertile valleys, vineyards and hills of central Chile, through the lakes region and Patagonia, clear to the stark southerly tip of Cape Horn, this astounding country is at once a land of enchanting extremes, of startling contrasts in landscapes, climates and ancient cultures.

From towering peaks capped with hanging glaciers to lakes of every hue, visitors here leave enraptured by a natural world where guanacos roam the plains, cormorants dive for dinner and playful Magellanic penguins splash in the surf. Chile’s 48 glaciers contain much of the world’s fresh water reserve, ranking only behind those of Greenland and Antarctica.

As remote and remarkable as Chile is, it is a nation whose people are more conscious of its assets than ever before. A presidential democracy since 1980, Chileans take pride in their progress and welcome visitors from around the world. While Argentina and Peru provide the most tourists, visitors from the U.S. rank third and spend more than their South American counterparts, officials say.

“Chile is a place where wonders still exist,” says Pablo Moll, chairman of the Chile Tourism Promotion Corp. “Chile has amazing, extreme landscapes and a friendly people who are proud of their history and their culture.”

As a major U.S. trading partner, the South American nation has prospered through rich copper deposits and divergent soils producing award-winning wines that are exported globally, adds former Chilean Ambassador to the U.S. Andres Bianchi.

“We are now considered better off than we were in the 1980s,” Bianchi said. “We have cautious optimism about Chile’s future.”

Nowhere is that more clear than in the country’s capital – Santiago – where 6 million residents, a third of Chile’s population, live in a teeming environment of markets, museums and glass skyscrapers, all dwarfed by the omnipresent 20,000-foot peaks of the Andes Mountains. But, it is in Chile’s outback that true adventure awaits.

Torres del Paine
Five hours south of Santiago by air rests a UNESCO World Biosphere Preserve and Torres del Paine National Park, a stunning 450,000-acre park created in 1959 that remains one of the most beautiful, unspoiled and remote places on the planet. Renowned for its adventure tourism and four granite towers that rise 10,000 feet from the Patagonian steppes, this place is coveted by backpackers, kayakers and climbers drawn to its spectacular waterfalls, calving glaciers, trails, soaring condors, flamingos and other wildlife.

At the base of the Paine Massif lies the EcoCamp Patagonia, where nature-lovers are exposed to the elements while savoring lodging in geodesic domes that echo the wood, fur and skin huts that the region’s ancient inhabitants once occupied. Passive heating and lighting, composting toilets, recycling, raised walkways and removal of the domes each winter ensures minimal impact on this fragile environment. Windowed roofs allow guests to fall asleep staring at the Southern Cross and awake to a blood-red sunrise that tints the four granite horns of Torres del Paine with a pinkish hue.

For a more civilized setting, just a 20-minute walk from the EcoCamp is Hosteria Las Torres with rooms, restaurants, guided horse trips and a full-service spa. Other properties, including the luxurious Hotel Explora, offer upscale accommodations for more discerning guests amid spectacular settings within the park.

Chilean Fjords
Deep in a Patagonian rainforest, a gentle drizzle washes the lenga leaves and feeds the shallow roots of sphagnum mosses and blueberry bushes. Two hundred yards away, a two-ton elephant seal barks commands at her two-week-old pup before blubbering into slumber. In the straits of a nearby Chilean fjord, icebergs calved from a rumbling glacier slowly amble in a Pacific current.

In the wake of Magellan and Darwin, modern-day explorers may board the Mare Australis for a wild ride through the watery world that links the Pacific and the Atlantic. Sailing from the port city of Punta Arenas west of Tierra del Fuego before bending east through the Beagle Channel to its landing at Ushuaia, Argentina, this modest-sized cruise ship sales the Avenue of Glaciers and boasts daily excursions aboard inflatable boats that put passengers in the midst of rainforests and penguin colonies, on the edge of glaciers and, finally, at Cape Horn National Park.

“If you like the natural environment and beautiful landscapes, there is no other part of the world like this,” says Mare Australis Captain Enrique Rauch, who notes that 15 countries are represented on his ship’s current passenger list.

Clothed completely in foul-weather gear, faces pasted with wind-ripened cheeks and permanent smiles, passengers celebrate landings and each new attendant adventure with pisco sours or aged scotch served over millennium-old glacial ice. From anchors away to Zodiac spray, this land so far south with so much sea and sky is a wonderment of wildness, wines and renewal.

“This is the end of the Americas,” says guide Mauricio Quinteros. “If you love outdoor adventure, here you will be in paradise.”

If You Go
Getting There:
LAN Airlines – With direct service from Los Angeles to Santiago; 1-866-435-9526; www.lan.com

Lodging:
Grand Hyatt Santiago – Recently renovated 310-room urban resort ranks in Conde Naste’ Top 500 Hotels. Exceptional guestrooms, great staff and all the amenities. Av. Kennedy 4601, Santiago, Chile; (56-2) 950-1234; email info@hyatt.cl or www.santiago.hyatt.com
Ecocamp Patagonia – Opened in 2000, the wonder is in the region and the friendly staff. Santiago: Don Carlos, 3219 Las Condes, Chile; (56-2) 232-9878; email info@ecocamp.travel or www.ecocamp.travel