Chile Police Fined Me on My First Day 🇨🇱

My first day driving in Chile did not go according to plan. After crossing into Chile, I rented a Chevrolet Colorado 4x4 to begin exploring the Atacama Desert, one of the driest and most extraordinary landscapes on Earth. The Atacama stretches across northern Chile between the Pacific coast and the Andes, with huge salt flats, volcanoes, high altitude lagoons and landscapes that sometimes look more like another planet than South America. But before I could properly begin this road trip, something happened that I had never experienced before. I had what felt like a panic attack for the first time in my life. This happened even before my encounter with the police and had nothing to do with receiving the fine. For some time, I simply wasn’t feeling normal and found it difficult to think clearly. Later, while driving through the Atacama, I missed an 80 km/h speed limit sign and continued driving at 101 km/h. Chilean police stopped me and fined me for speeding on my very first day driving in the country. For this journey, I rented a Chevrolet Colorado 4x4 because I wanted the freedom to explore the Atacama independently. This region isn’t just about paved highways. There are remote desert roads, high altitude landscapes, salt flats and isolated areas where having a capable vehicle can be extremely useful. The Atacama itself is fascinating. Parts of this region receive extremely little rainfall, and its combination of intense dryness, high elevation and exceptionally clear skies has made northern Chile one of the world’s most important regions for astronomical observation. Despite looking empty from a distance, the desert contains salt flats, flamingo habitats, geothermal areas, ancient settlements, mining towns and incredible Andean ecosystems. So this episode became much more than the beginning of another road trip. It was my first day in Chile, my first day driving the Colorado, my first experience of what felt like a panic attack and my first Chilean traffic fine, all within the same day. Welcome to my journey through the Atacama Desert in Chile. 📍 Location: Atacama Desert, Northern Chile 🚙 Vehicle: Chevrolet Colorado 4x4 ⚠️ Speed: 101 km/h in an 80 km/h zone Subscribe to follow the journey as I travel deeper into one of the most extreme desert environments on Earth.