Chile is an extremely long and thin country that is located on the western side of the South American continent. Its capital, Santiago de Chile, is home to a large proportion of the country’s population and is also its economic and cultural capital. However, Chile is an extremely diverse country and has a lot to offer, ranging from the Atacama Desert in the north, to the region of Patagonia in the south.

Chile is a country that I hold very close to my heart and is also somewhere that I have been to on four separate occasions, the first time being for an entire year as I did my exchange year at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago de Chile.

I was first arrived in Santiago de Chile in July 2013, which was during the height of the Chilean winter, as the country is located in the southern hemisphere. As part of my university course in Modern Foreign Languages, I had to spend a year studying in a country that spoke one the languages that I was learning (French, German or Spanish), and as such I chose to go to Chile.

Santiago de Chile is a very large and bustling city. For the first six months of my time there, I lived with a friend in the central Barrio Brasil area, before moving to the north-eastern part of the city in an area called Las Condes. I would recommend the latter as a better place to live as a foreigner, as it is much safer than living in the centre of the city, although does come at a premium.

My time at the Universidad Católica in Chile was definitely a main highlight for me: I studied some very interesting courses, met some great people, whilst at the same time significantly improving my Spanish skills. I spent two semesters studying at the university, with three months’ summer holiday between the two, which is when I travelled to Argentina, Brazil & Uruguay.

During my time off, I got the chance to visit large swathes of the country. Valparaíso and Viña del Mar are two coastal towns that I went to several times, with the latter also being a UNESCO world heritage site. Viña del Mar is a popular summer destination due to its great beaches, and if you continue further up the coast, you will come across other nice beaches in areas such as Maitencillo.

The furthest north that I made it in Chile was to the Valle del Elquí, as well as la Serena. The Valle del Elquí is famous as being a place where a lot of Pisco is made (a Chilean liquor), as well as for being a great vantage point for seeing into space via telescope. From there, we continued up to La Serena, which is another coastal town. From La Serena, it is easy to go on a day trip to Punta de Lobos, where we went on a boat tour and took in the seals and dolphins off the coast. If you do continue further north up the Chilean coast, you will come across the Atacama desert, which is another hugely popular tourist destination, but sadly for myself it remains on my to-do list.

South from Santiago de Chile, there are countless places to visit. A particular highlight for me was spending a week kayaking with my friend Charlie and our Chilean teacher Maco: although somewhat wild and dangerous at times, it was an unforgettable experience!

I also spent a week volunteering on a remote island in the south of Chile, which was an amazing experience and a real eye-opener! The majority of the village people could not read or write, but were extremely clever practically, having constructed their own generators for their electricity, and the majority were also talented fishermen.

One place that I am yet to visit in Chile is the region of Patagonia, and one day I will finally get round to it!