Photo of the Day 484

Petrohué Falls, Chile

Photograph by George F. Mobley

The gentle falls of the Petrohué River frame the graceful slopes of Osorno Volcano, part of the Andes Mountain. The scene is but one memorable view within Chile's Vicente Perez Rosales National Park.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Chile, Republic on a Shoestring," October 1973, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the day 223

Desert Wildlife, Atacama Desert, Chile, 2003

Photograph by Joel Sartore

Birds perch on a cactus as a gray fox warily stands below in Chile's Atacama Desert. Rain rarely falls on the Atacama's coastline, but dense fog known as camanchaca is abundant. The fog nourishes plant communities from cactuses to ferns.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Driest Place on Earth," August 2003, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 26

Llama in Pickup Truck, Chile, 2003

Photograph by Joel Sartore

A nervous llama lies in the back of a pickup truck amid the moonscape of Chile's Atacama Desert. Atacama's barren high plateaus are home to the Aymara people, who raise llamas for their meat and wool.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Driest Place on Earth," August 2003, National Geographic magazine)