SAN VICENTE DE TAGUA TAGUA, Chile — An emerging group of farmers and growers in Chile, known as seed guardians, aim to protect the traditional crops of their ancestors, keeping them safe from industrial agriculture and genetic modification. The guardians collect, trade and plant hundreds of seeds to preserve forgotten varieties of tomatoes, corn and … Read more
IQUIQUE, Chile — Over a thousand years ago, the hundreds of giant geoglyphs carved into the desert in northern Chile were a bustling scene. They marked sources of water in the vast arid landscape and were where locals came together to trade skins, animals and fish. Now the carvings are scarred with hundreds of tire … Read more
Chinese firms, which needs the raw material to make batteries for the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, are hitting resistance in some Latin American countries that hold the keys to the world’s reserves of the soft, silvery-white alkali metal. The miners face environmental, protectionist and occasionally political barriers, analysts said, with some issues leading … Read more
Take the plunge! There are some truly spellbinding swimming pools in the world – as a lavish new book underscores. Swimming Pools: The World’s Best by Stefanie Waldek, published by Lannoo, is a ‘visual exploration’ of the globe’s top swimming baths – a curation of 200 of the most remarkable. The publisher says: ‘Discover pools … Read more
Like any Hongkonger worth their white pepper, I love yum cha. For us veggie folks, Lock Cha Teahouse (The K.S. Lo Gallery, Hong Kong Park, Admiralty. Tel: 2801 7177) does not disappoint, although I do think it is a lot harder to find great vegan dim sum than it was three years ago. Steamed Korean … Read more
It’s a bucket list like no other – all 1,223 Unesco World Heritage sites. And American couple Haley Crowley and Zachary Fisher are determined to visit every single one. The pair have visited 114 sites so far and have been documenting their travels on their @haleyandzach_ TikTok account, where they’ve raked in over 80,000 followers. They … Read more
South America’s answer to the Sahara, the southern part of the Atacama Desert is known as the Sea of Dunes (“Mar de Dunas”), with those dunes spanning 335 square kilometres (129 square miles). A snowboarder rides down a dune in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Photo: Shutterstock At 550 metres, El Medanoso is one of the highest … Read more
The Atacama is the world’s driest non-polar desert – a landscape so vast and arid that Nasa practices Mars expeditions there. So when a carpet of purple flowers began poking through the earth in October 2022, Chile’s president Gabriel Boric Font declared the diverse area a national park, giving it the most protected status the … Read more
Traditional allies appear to have abandoned Nicolas Maduro as protests rock Venezuela in the wake of Sunday’s election, which the longtime president claims to have won with 51.2 per cent of the vote. Maduro was quickly recognized as the winner by Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras and Bolivia, as well as Russia, China and Iran. But he got no recognition from … Read more
Canada’s deputy prime minister is echoing comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying Canada has “serious concerns” about the official results of the election in Venezuela. Speaking in Toronto, Chrystia Freeland said the government is in conversation with its allies over the results amid claims from Venezuelans that the vote was rigged. “Canada has … Read more
