Arica, Chile

The vast silence and sand dunes of the Atacama Desert are broken by the Azapa Valley, an agricultural oasis rich in tropical fruits. At the mouth of the valley lies the port of Arica, gifted with springtime temperatures all year long. Founded in 1570, Arica is Chile's fifth-oldest city and a commercial gateway for neighboring Peru and Bolivia. It is a city rich in heritage and home both to a wrought-iron church designed by Gustave Eiffel and to pre-Columbian treasures from the Chinchorro culture dating back to 5,000 B.C.