Chile
Isla Pan de Azúcar — Sugarloaf Island — rises from the cold Humboldt Current off Chile's Atacama coast like a fortress of guano-whitened rock that serves as the centrepiece of Pan de Azúcar National Park, a protected area where the world's driest desert meets one of the world's most productive marine ecosystems. The island, barely one kilometre long, is uninhabited by humans but spectacularly inhabited by wildlife: thousands of Humboldt penguins breed on its rocky slopes, alongside colonies of Peruvian boobies, red-legged cormorants, and the kelp gulls that wheel above the island in a constant aerial traffic pattern.
The national park that bears the island's name protects 43,000 hectares of coastal desert, marine zone, and the surrounding hills — a landscape of such stark beauty that it feels more like a painting than a place. The Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert on Earth, extends to the very edge of the cliffs, its barren, rust-coloured terrain providing a dramatic backdrop to the teeming marine life below. The camanchaca — the coastal fog that rolls in from the Pacific each morning — sustains a fragile desert ecosystem of cacti, lichens, and the guanacos (wild relatives of the llama) that browse the fog-watered hillsides with the elegant indifference of animals who have never learned to fear humans.
The marine environment around Isla Pan de Azúcar is sustained by the Humboldt Current — the cold, nutrient-rich upwelling system that flows northward along the Pacific coast of South America, supporting one of the most productive fisheries on the planet. The waters around the island harbour Humboldt penguins (classified as vulnerable by the IUCN), bottlenose dolphins, South American sea lions, and the rare South American marine otter — the chungungo — that hunts in the intertidal zone and is one of the most endangered marine mammals in South America. Sea turtles, though uncommon, have been recorded in the park's waters, and the occasional blue or fin whale passes offshore during migration.
The fishing village of Caleta Pan de Azúcar, on the mainland coast opposite the island, is a cluster of brightly painted houses whose residents depend on the artisanal fishing that has sustained communities along this coast for centuries. Congrio (cusk-eel), reineta (bream), and the abundant shellfish of the Humboldt zone provide the protein, while caldillo de congrio — the fish soup that Pablo Neruda celebrated in a poem — remains the coastline's most beloved preparation. Fresh ceviche, made with whatever the morning's fishing has produced and dressed with lemon, onion, and the ají chili that is Chile's essential condiment, is available at the few modest comedores that serve the village.
Isla Pan de Azúcar and its national park are typically experienced by Zodiac from expedition cruise ships anchoring offshore, with boat tours circling the island for wildlife viewing. Landing on the island itself is prohibited to protect the nesting colonies. The best time to visit is from October through April, when the Southern Hemisphere spring and summer bring the warmest conditions and the most active penguin breeding season. The desert wildflowers that follow rare winter rains (approximately every five to seven years) create the phenomenon known as the desierto florido — the flowering desert — transforming the barren hills into a brief, astonishing carpet of colour.