Travel advice - 9 weeks mid April - mid June

Hey lovely people,

I have been fortunate enough to get approved for 9 weeks of annual leave from April to June 2026 and am really keen to go to South America as a solo traveller for the first time. I'm 25F with no Spanish skills but have just recently started learning the language.

Obviously I want to see as much as I can but I also know that I am a fairly relaxed traveller who likes getting to know each place well instead of hopping from town to town. I get stressed more if I have an overly structured itinerary. My main priorities are hiking, seeing nature and eating good food.

My current plan is to fly into Santiago (from Melbourne), do San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, then go across to Bolivia, then spend probably about 6 weeks in Peru. Here are the things I'm a bit stuck on and would appreciate some advice:

1. I'm having a hard time letting go the chance to go to Patagonia, especially the Argentinian side. If I go there as the first thing on my list I would be there the second half of April - this is 'shoulder season' and I heard that the fall is beautiful, but there is also a pretty big risk of it being wet, cloudy and cold. Would it be worth it? If I'm planning to hike Peru - namely the Huayhuash trek, would I be doubling up?

2. I'm wondering if I should add Ecuador or Colombia to my trip, given that I have an entire 2 months? Galapagos Islands? I know some people do the Gringo Trail in a fairly condensed itinerary so I don't think it would be completely unreasonable in some perspectives. Or potentially Iquitos / visit the Amazon? What else should I add?

Thanks in advance :)