The Chilean flamingo is the largest of Chile’s three species of flamingos, just slightly bigger than the Andean flamingo, reaching an adult weight of about seven pounds and a height of less than five feet. Its body is pink with shading transitioning to a darker pink on the hindquarters. Its gray legs have pink at what we wrongly believe to be the knee joint which is actually the ankle. The bill is black as are the under-feathers, noticeable when the bird flies.

• Under a system of organized forced labor in factories, called obrajes, the conquered villagers were put to work weaving. The first to be established was located in Otavalo in the northern Andean highlands. The craftsmen here who had long-standing weaving traditions on backstrap looms were taught to use the imported European treadle loom which could turn out finished pieces faster. There were roles for men, women and children in the many steps of culling the dirt and debris from the raw fleece, spinning it into yarn, dying it and finally weaving it into fabric.

Terrain and Weather
The northern reaches of the region are mountainous with glacial valleys, high plateaus, temperate cloud forests, semi-tropical valleys and central jungle. The canyon areas have dry days and cold nights; if it's going to rain, it will likely do so in January and February, and nights are coldest from June to August. On the lower eastern slopes of the Andes, temperatures are mild but humid and rainy from November to April.

The toppling of the Salvador Allende government in 1973 and the twenty-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet that followed in Chile sent many of the country’s artists, including its filmmakers, into exile. The turmoil of the country’s politics and daily life during this period eventually spawned many films by those who sought to ensure that no one would forget their September 11, the date of the coup. Exile became their muse. Visitors who are planning to travel to Chile or who have just returned from their Chile tours will find these films illuminating.

The Kuna, Embera and Wounaan all arrived in what is now Panama from Colombia and live in Panama's far eastern regions though some Embera have moved to live along the Chagres River near Panama City. The Ngobe, Bugle, Naso (or Teribe), Bribri and Bokata were westerly tribes and today live in the provinces towards the western border with Costa Rica.