35. Toro Muerto

Blog entries

one of the boulders at Toro Muerto, decorated with petroglyphs

It takes a while to get there, but the Toro Muerto petroglyph site is worth all the effort: a unique art gallery in the middle of nowhere.

We return to the bus station in Tacna the next morning, to find that the strike has not been lifted yet. No busses. But there are collectivos, shared taxis, and if the road to Arequipa is closed, we can always go somewhere else, no? So we move, in steps, by shared taxi to Camana, further north along the coast. Not because of Camana, but because of an extensive collection of petroglyphs nearby, a site called Toro Muerto.

local people in the square in Camana

Well, nearby: the only way to get to the village of Corire, next to Toro Muerto, is by taking a couple of connecting mini-buses, a system that works surprisingly well for short distances, of say, an hour or so, unless your luck runs out and the connecting bus, which leaves when full – no time schedules here – leaves just before you arrive. Our luck ran out three times, today.

the typical landscape on the way to Camana

and another view of it, bone dry

which is why this is interesting: “avoid deforestation”

or this one: “don’t destroy the vegetation” – would they have been too late?

 

along the coastal road, red and orange peppers drying

The drive to Corire yields another surprise: the valley we descent in is covered with rice paddies – and grapes, for good measure. The contrast between the dry, featureless desert and the beautifully green valley is striking, and to think that just one river can supply the water for growing extensive amounts of rice, in the desert! And grapes, which are, guess what, turned into wine and pisco.

the first glimpse of rice paddies

in fact, the entire valley is cultivated

the entrance to Toro Muerto

this is what it looks like, each boulder may contain petroglyphs

and indeed, if you come closer, you start to recognise them

In Corire we take a taxi to the site, where we arrive just before the ticket official arrives, on his motorbike. Somebody must have told them there are tourists in town, the news spreads fast. But we are glad he arrived. There are literally thousands of large boulders in this valley, of which hundreds have been carved with petroglyphs. The official points us in the right direction, where the best images are, and the most – which saves us from checking each and every boulder!

some more or less polished surfaces

geometric figures come back time and again

but also animals, depiction of a condor, perhaps

and another one, a bird of prey

a more playful drawing

and a group of people, etched in the rock

what could be a shaman, with headdress

We spend the next one-and-a-half hours, or so, wandering in between rocks, admiring a wide variety of images, apparently carved between 200-1300 AD. There are lots of different animals, something cat-like, a puma perhaps, snakes, lots of lamas, and lots of animals very similar to the ones on the Piedra del Guanacos. Some vey basically scratched out of the rocks, others much more elaborately worked on. People dancing, some with extensive headdress, the shamans probably. And lots of geometric figures, zig-zag lines are a repeating theme, as well as widely-carved straight lines, and the occasional sun. To be sure, so once in a while, vandals have been adding to the images, but not much, not as disturbing as in Kirgizstan and Tajikistan, where we were a few years ago. Somebody has tried to chop off a piece – and may have succeeded, no trace of the other half. But mostly, this is just a mysterious collection of images, in a remote place, and a place we have for our own this morning. Which is part of the enjoyment, of course.

A fabulous art gallery, only to be seen here, nowhere else.

next: Nasca, of Nasca line fame

and a panel with more complex drawn animals, a spotted cat-like, for instance

the view of the valley, from the Toro Muerto site – some colour back in the picture!

34. Tacna

Blog entries

Tacna lady on the Plaza

Stuck in Tacna, we take in the sights, which are not very many, and get our first taste of Peru, which is interesting…., different.

the Tacna Municipality building, not unattractive

Tacna actually turns out to be nicer than we expected. There is a railway museum at the station, but this is closed for renovation. Closed indefinitely, because the contractor who had started the work, has walked off, and there is no new contractor – there is probably no more money. But the people at the station – this is also the station where the train from Arica arrives – are extremely nice, allow us a peak onto the tracks, where several old locomotives and wagons are parked. There is also a huge albeit not particularly pretty cathedral, gone are the charming little wooden churches of Chile. In the square in front are a few old-fashioned photographers, who will take your picture for you – I thought that belonged to the past with the smartphone revolution (except that one young boy, enterprising, goes around with his phone on a selfie-stick, offering the same service!). And there is a nice atmosphere in town, immediately different from Chile, more chaotic perhaps, but not unpleasant. But neither is it enough to keep us any longer than necessary.

next: Toro Muerto

the Tacna cathedral, quite a lot bigger than most Chilean churches and cathedrals

the railway museum, closed for refurbishing, and likely will be closed for a while to come

the fountain at the plaza

and the professional photographers

33. to Tacna

Blog entries

haphazard tourist posing by the Welcom in Peru sign at the border

Crossing from Chile to Peru, from Arica to Tacna, is a piece of cake, really, as long as you have the right transport.

After a good five weeks in Chile it is time to move on. Tacna, just across the border from Arica, is only 40 km away. And there is a train connection! I love traveling by train, so we go to the station a day in advance, as prescribed, at a time the station is open, as advertised, only to find everything closed. Nobody there, nobody to explain why; no notice on the gate, no information. A mobile telephone number, that is not being answered. And we are not the only ones wondering, several Chileans also have turned up. Several people claim that the tracks have been damaged in the floods earlier this month, and train services have been suspended. It is only later that we learn that there are only 48 seats on the train, and when they have been sold, there is no reason for the station to stay open any longer, until the train leaves the next morning.

the queues at the Arica international terminal for buses and taxis, exclusively serving Tacna

The other options are collectivos – shared taxi -, or bus. Both leave from the same terminal, and for both enormous queues have formed. “Just after the carnival”, I thought, but no, this is always the same, from early morning to late evening. Collectivos have the reputation to stuff not just four, but five, or even six people in a car – and we are not particularly small ourselves -, so we opt for the bus. Despite the long queue, we are inside one of them within 15-20 minutes, all goes pretty quickly, and pretty efficiently. A little uncomfortable is that we have to hand over our passport to a guy, who subsequently disappears. But everybody else did the same, and nobody seems worried. Luckily, at the last moment he does join the bus, too.

a steam engine that is going nowhere anymore, in Tacna

Fifteen minutes’ drive to the border, then one-and-a-half hours wait – it is total chaos, hundreds of cars lined up, and quite a few buses, too. But finally it is our turn, we get our passport back again, and move in no time through passport control and customs. On to Tacna, altogether not too bad.

The good news is that it is no less than two hours earlier in Peru. How they manage whilst moving from south to north, it beats me, but we suddenly have a lot of time extra, necessary for our onwards travel to Arequipa, as we have no intention to stay in Tacna.

The bad news is that there is a trucker strike in Peru, or just on the road to Arequipa, who knows. There are no buses leaving. Funny thing is that the touts keep on directing people to their bus company’s sales window, and that the various bus companies happily keep on selling tickets, perfectly well knowing that there are no busses leaving. Well, they claim that the strike will be over by 4 pm, but I don’t bet on that.

So we find a hotel in Tacna, and wait.

and this is where we would have arrived in Tacna, had we managed to take the train

32. the tour

Blog entries

a vicuna near Lago Chungara in the Lauca National Park

Taking it the easy way, we book a tour to visit the Lauca National Park and the Chungara Lake, with all the extra elements that come with a tour.

Earlier we had the idea to move from Iquique to Arica through some of the National Parks high up in de Andes, but with the inclement weather and its effect on the roads, especially in the mountains, we had to abandon that plan. However, from Arica a good road moves up to the National Park Lauca and the Lago Chungara, apparently the highest lake in the world, at 4500 m. Quite a climb, from sea level, in a couple of hours. Feeling lazy, we decide to book a tour. Although normally we are not so much of the tour-type, where you are herded from one place to another, invariably with either too much time – because the subject is utterly boring -, or too little – when at least I find it interesting. Plus the obligatory stops at commission paying souvenir outfits hidden behind a thin veneer of authenticity from selling ‘genuine replicas’.

the Lluta Valley, well cultivated

here, too: the geoglyphs in the Lluta Valley

the cacti at the horizon

and nearby

in close-up, even

We are the first ones to be picked up, at 7 am. After almost an hour we have collected the rest of the group, 15 in total. Yet another reason to avoid tours. The usual suspects were all there, the one who is always last back in the bus, the one who has always something supposedly funny to add, the one who keeps bombarding the tour guide with the most irrelevant questions, and the one who at the last minute, when we all get ready to leave, decides she quickly needs to go to the toilet, “just a minute”, something she could not have decided during the entire stop of the last 30 minutes.

the view from one of the miradores

a pukara, a pre-Inca Indian fort

guanaco young panicking

three more vicunas at the lake

and even stranger, circular vegetation

strange mosses

a rodent, not sure about the name

In the next five or six hours we drive up, slowly, stopping for breakfast, for cacti, for guanacos, for vicunas (related to the guanacos; I don’t see the difference, but they can live really high up the mountains, which the guanacos cannot), or just for pretty views across the dramatic valleys, first the Llute Valley, extensively used for agriculture because of its river carrying water the whole year around, and then a side valley which is totally dry. Or views of the majestic mountains, many even in summer snow-covered. Amongst them the Taapaca volcano of 5860 m, and what I think is Parinacota, another volcano, even higher at 6348 m. The driver/guide is very good, actually, urging everybody time and again to drink lots of water and not to eat heavy stuff, to reduce the risk of becoming unwell at high altitude. But by the time we arrive at the lake, almost an hour behind schedule (because of the lady who “just a minute” needed a quick toilet visit, and the other one who was always last on the bus), the clouds have moved in, and a nasty, painful hail rains down. It is bitterly cold, and no fun to spent too much time outside. Of course, some of our group, who have bought lama-woollen ponchos and hats at the last souvenir stall, are now well prepared, so in no hurry to interrupt the endless selfie-taking process. Just when we are ready to leave, after half an hour, or so, the lady of the toilet stops hops out “just a minute” to buy a snack. When she comes back, two others decide that this looks so good, they want one, too. Of course.

Taapaca Volcano

the west-flank close-up

a series of lagoons close to the Lauca Lake

domesticiced alpacas also roam the plains

flamingos in the lake

and more of them

a type of duck building his nest

and another one bringing the raw material

and Putre’s bell tower

window in Putre

On the way back we stop in Putre, a small mountain town at ‘only’ 3600 m, for lunch, and some free time afterwards, to wander around. Which, really, is a five-minute affair, there is not much to see in Putre. When, one-and-a-half hours later we have all assembled back in the bus again, one of the group asked whether we can briefly stop at the village square, which she hasn’t seen yet. “Just a minute”.

next: to Tacna, in Peru

and it was even snowing, a little

by the time we arrive at the lake, the clouds have moved in

Parinacota Volcano

31. the carnival

Blog entries

carnival in Arica is all about having fun!

An unexpected bonus of our visit to Arica was the Andean carnival that happened to be celebrated whilst we were in town, with lots of music, lots of dance, and a lucky break at the end. Brace yourself for too many photos!

What we had not anticipated, was the carnival in Arica. The Andean Carnival, which is celebrated earlier than the Catholic version – at least this year –, is more of a harvest celebration honouring mother earth, Pachamama, than that it is religious festival. Common in Peru, Bolivia, North Argentina and thus also in North Chile; Arica’s is apparently one of the larger ones, certainly the biggest one of its kind in Chile.

Carnaval Andino is earlier than our Catholic carnival, and dedicated to the earth, the Pachamama

colourful groups at night

and frightening masks

the most active are the carporales, dancing groups

my view from the corner, at one time

Having found probably the last hotel room in town, and some of the last seats on the bus, we arrived on the day the carnival started, the Friday. So, settled in the hotel, we had something to eat, and then continued to the festivities. An approximately 2 km long circuit has been blocked off in the town centre, around the plaza, with fences and half-high yellow boards to create space for the 64 groups that participate. It is very busy behind the fences, with lots of people watching, so we slip in onto the circuit, also because it is better picture taking there. My travel companion is stopped within a few hundred meters, and told to get back behind the fence; I quickly move forward, out of sight of the official, and settle in a bend of the circuit, with camera ready. Great spot, although occasionally I am so close that I cannot see anything else but legs.

brass bands

and Andean bowlar hats

a feast for the old

and for the young

skimpily dressed

or humbly masked

surrounded by colour during the night

and equally colourful at day time

Andean music bands

even allow women, these days

one of the many groups

one of the many particcipants

Like any carnival, this one is a continuous parade of dance groups, accompanied by a band. Brass band with drums, or Andean flutes with drums. The groups compete in several different categories, the details of which are not entirely clear to the not-initiated like us. But it doesn’t matter. The explosion of colours, the sweeping music, the twirling dancers, they all combine to a great atmosphere. Some of the groups are more traditional, others make more of a glittering show, all contribute to a unique festival, one I have never seen before.

Next day we go back for more, in daylight. I have found another place to get close-up, and near the final 300 meters, where the stands have been erected, and the groups do their utmost best to impress not only the public, but also the jury. This is where it all happens, of course. I am quite jealous of the professional photographers with press clearance, and I actually manage to get closer and closer to the action… until I, too, get kicked out, like my companion yesterday.

and more traditional cloths

the girls debating

the boy on his cow

large dancing group

if the dress is not colourful, the face is

foam is a popular product during these days

another participant

and another

Hmmm. The third day, Sunday, we find another spot along the circuit, but not a very good one. Except that we are right there when one of the sponsors is handing out bright red umbrellas, against the sun. Nearer the stands is impossible, far too busy. It is hot, the sun is relentless, despite the umbrella. We are tired. And you know, we have seen it all, actually, so we may as well get back to our hotel. The quickest way is to pass behind the VIP boxes, to the end of the circuit. And then it is there again, our usual dose of luck. I jokingly point at the VIP box, where there seems plenty of space. To which one of the ladies guarding the entrance invites us in, if we want to take some pictures, perhaps? Sure. Oh, and if we like, we can stay a little longer. Sure! Plastic chairs, third row, looking out on the persons who present the show, a little behind the action, but not bad at all. In the shade. Then there is another lady who suggests that we may actually want to go upstairs? Sure!!!

ladies in red

rastafa hair

and a group of masks

Long story short, we spent the rest of the afternoon, not in our hotel, but on a platform directly above the final stretch of the circuit, with uninterrupted view of the dance act of each and every group. In fact, we realised that we hadn’t seen it all yet. Great spot. Although I did miss the legs, so once in a while.

scroll down past all the pictures, to see two videos – which illustrate the atmosphere so much better than all these pictures can, of course.

next: the tour

more traditional outfits

they can laugh about it

and a stern-looking young lady

more brass, too

the Andean flute

one of the seniors

and one of the senior ladies

another group of carporales, at night

with lights on their hats!

more colourful feathers

and true love in the group

the can-can on the street

fun with foam

Andean bowlar hats

and whirling dancers

behind the mask

will have to wait a little longer

somebody forgot his hat

at the end the confetti remains

30. Arica

Blog entries

pelicans in the harbour of Arica

The northermost Chilean town, Arica, is another harbour, and not very pretty, but it holds an impressive collection of Chinchorro mummies in several museums nearby.

Luckily for us, the road to Arica is open again, with an emergency bridge covering the river. So down we go, along the Panamericana, towards our last destination in Chile.

One of the things I haven’t mentioned yet – and I have also not extensively photographed – are the hundreds, no, thousands of crosses and shrines that have been erected along the motorway, obviously victims of traffic incidents. And it is not that the Chileans are irresponsible drivers, on the contrary, they mostly stick to the maximum speed, they do not overtake in blind corners. I suppose it is the design of the motorway that demands its toll. Especially nearer to Santiago and La Serena, where the Panamericana is a four-lane dual carriageway, around bus stops wooden steps have been installed for people to easily cross the guard rails on the central reservation – essentially inviting them to cross the motorway. The other thing that doesn’t help is that the motorway is also frequently used by cyclist. Many of the shrines have been adorned with items that identify with the victim, and in quite a few cases a bicycle is mounted on top. Others sport miners’ helmets, for instance. The crosses and shrines are extensively decorated, with plastic flowers, flags – often the Chilean flag -, and they are very well maintained, obviously family return often to the place of the accident. Here, further north, the Panamericana is just a two-lane road, but with no less crosses and shrines, sometimes a whole bunch together. A very sad element of the highway environment.

the Panamericana to Arica, or what is left after the floods

work is already underway to restore the road again

Near Arica we get a good view of the damage caused by the floods. The river has subsided again, but whole parts of the road have been washed away. Equipment has been mobilised to repair this important connection as soon as possible.

the San Marco cathedral

the cathedral from the inside

the metal construction around the pilars

and the simple stained-glass windows

the old customs house is also an Arica icon

the obligatory railway station, this the old line to La Paz

some nice buildings still exist in town

metal balcony

Arica itself is actually not particularly attractive, contrary to what many Chileans made us believe. The most interesting building is another church, designed by Gustave Eiffel, and unlike the one in Coquimbo – which was all corrugated iron plates -, this one is a much larger church, they even call it cathedral, which has Eiffel tower-like construction elements inside. The church was prefabricated in France, and assembled by the Peruvians in 1876, just a few years before the War of the Pacific. When Chilean forces attacked, the Peruvians threw away the special assembling key, to prevent the Chileans from dismantling the church and take it away as a war trophy; instead, they took the whole town!

The harbour is always attractive, with multicolour fishing boats, the fish market, and an incredible number of pelicans and sea lions. Why there are so many we only find out when one of the fisherman stalls disposed of the offal, in no time ransacked by the pelicans – until it is thrown into the harbour, and the sea lions take over. Your average seagull doesn’t stand a chance.

some fishing sloops in the port

fish being sold directly to the public, including ceviche in plastic cups

the offal is for the pelicans

and ultimately for the sea lions, once it is dumped in the water

a skull, still with hair attached

mummuies in the Arica museum, below glass plates

Arica also has a small museum with 48 Chinchorro mummies. The Chinchorros were a fishing community that lived in this region from around 7000-1500 BC, so quite a long time ago. What makes them unique is their habit of mummifying their dead, they did this well before the Egyptians even thought about it. The lack of rain, and the extremely dry air helped, of course. At the site of the museum a hotel was being built, when workers came across an ancient burial site. This turned out to be a Chinchorro site, so fragile that the idea of a hotel was blown off, and a museum was built instead, over the mummies. Now you can walk across a thick glass plate, under which a collection of bones, cloths and indeed mummies can be observed, like they were buried, and later on discovered.

the old market on a Sunday morning, when there is nobody

child mummy in the museum in Azapa, outside Arica

textile hat from the Tiwanaka culture, perhaps 1000-1500 years old

various earthenwork

a human figure

an earthen pot, decorated

one of the Chinchorro mummies in Azapa

and they have a whole room full of them, for research

very fragile, no doubt

A much better museum is just outside town, in the Azapa Valley near the village of San Martin de Azapa. Here is the fabulous Archaeological Museum, furnished by the local university. The museum has a much larger collection of mummies, also of children and even embryos, very well displayed: it sounds morbid, but it is really fascinating. A small number, maybe fifteen or so, are exhibited, but in a back room there are I don’t know how many more, perhaps a hundred, kept in metal boxes, behind a glass wall. Besides, the museum has a large assortment of ceramics embroidered tapestries from the superseding culture, the Tiwanaku, relatively recent with only 2000 years old.

the colourful cemetery in San Miguel de Azapa

with some plastic flowers

or even artificial grass patches

and other tools to bring colour to the desert

Coincidentally, no doubt, not far away from the museum is the present-day dessert cemetery, which is of interest because off the incredible, colourful decorations of many of the graves and tombs, with plastic flowers. Not so different, come to think of it, from the individual crosses and shrines along the motorway.

next: we also experienced carnival in Arica

29. Tiliviche

Blog entries

detail of the geoglyphs at Tiliviche

One of the most beautiful geoglyph panels can be found in the valley of the Tiliviche river

the valley of the Tiliviche river

Just north of the turn to Pisagua the road, the motorway, drops steeply into the valley of the Tiliviche River, and climbs out on the other side, from where we understood, we could see the geoglyphs of Tiliviche. Well, maybe, but you don’t really want to stop here. Instead, we have set our GPS towards the ‘official’ viewpoint, somewhere off the road. We find an old, rusted sign, where we – ignoring the GPS – turn off the road, and follow an unsurfaced track, which leads to more tracks – here the GPS picks up again – and ultimately to a place high about the river valley; we stop when the GPS tells us “destination reached”, get out of the car, and lo and behold, there they are, the geoglyphs on the opposite side. A very impressive panel with a man and a herd of lamas, all moving towards the coast. This, perhaps, could indeed have been a directional sign. From the days before GPS.

next: Arica

the full panel of geoglyphs, a man and a herd of lamas

in a bit more detail

28. Pisagua

Blog entries

the fishing club in Pisagua

Once important Pisagua s now a small fishing village, but its cemetery is a reminder of its saltpetre past.

Having our own car again allows for much more flexibility, of course. Not only so we can stop if and when we want, but also so we can go where we want. After having investigated some of the oficinas north of Iquique, we drive on to Pisagua, a small harbour somewhere halfway Iquique and the border town of Arica.

view of Pisagua, all of it

and the entire fishing fleet

the local church tower, above the village

the railway station, or what is left

station door

and ticket window

one of the few remaining mansions from the saltpetre era

and another one, slightly better maintained

As so many places here, Pisagua used to be important during the saltpetre era, as a place where the caliche was dug up, but also as one of the major ports for export. There is an old railway station – although, unlike elsewhere, there are no traces left of tracks, or anything else railway-related. A theatre, and several half-ruined mansions, like the ones we saw in Iquique, but not maintained. Signs of forgone glory: nowadays Pisagua has maybe 200 inhabitants, involved in fishing, not much more. It is hard to believe that this town, a hundred years ago, was one of the most beautiful cities around the Pacific, and the third-most important harbour of Chile.

not every house is a mansion

the entrance to the cemetery

simple crosses at the sea front

and a whole range of graves behind, up to the mountain side

a small grave, that of a child

one of the metal crosses, from 1892

and a wooden one from which the text is visible, from 1885

the opened-up mass grave from the Pinochet era

with lugubrious vulture keeping watch

But a little out of town the cemetery tells the story. It is much bigger than that of a small village, and runs from almost the coastline up the hill, wooden cross after wooden cross. In this dry climate, they don’t deteriorate, they don’t rot away, and many of these must be over a hundred years old, too. Problem is that the writing has eroded, so it is difficult to establish exactly how old, except for the occasional metal plate, which remembers someone who died in 1891. Some very small graves suggest that the one buried here was only a child. Not all the graves have survived, of course, some of the crosses have fallen, some of the wooden fences around the graves have collapsed, but it is remarkable how much is still left in its original state. Without anybody tending the graves: there is no family left anymore.

Pisagua was also the place where during the Pinochet years unwanted leftists were incarcerated, a concentration camp, really. Complete with its mass graves. At the far end of the cemetery is a monument to the ones who died here during the dictatorship, recalling some of the horrors. One of the pits in which 14 bodies were found is left open, as an example. The vulture keeping watch over it could not be more lugubrious.

next: the geoglyphs of nearby Tiliviche – or skip directly to Arica

not every grave is elaborate

27. the geoglyphs

Blog entries

geoglyphs on a mountain side in the Cerros Pintados

Geoglyphs, enigmatic figures on the mountain slopes, occur in many places in the Atacama desert, but nowhere as numerous and varied as in the Cerros Pintados.

Another fascinating element of the Atacama desert are the geoglyphs, which date – probably – from somewhere between 900 and 1450 AD. Unlike petroglyphs, which are images carved into the rock, with a sharp object, geoglyphs are images on the rock slope created by either removing loose material from the slope, so that equal colour frames are created, or by adding rocks, of the same colour. Or mixing both techniques, of course. Done at the size common here, this results in a striking gallery of geometric figures, and human and animal figures, visible from far away. Why the early inhabitants did this? Perhaps to guide trade caravans that came down from the mountains, but really, I don’t think anybody really knows. Why here, and not somewhere else? Why so many in one place, if it is only for signposting?

this gives an idea about the scale of the geoglyphs, compared to the houses below

range of figures

series of trapezoids, mostly

a huge lama, and rectangles, from which the loose stones have been removed

lots of different figures

two humans

this is the additive technique, laying stones together

and this is the other, taking loose material away (and add the nipples)

The first location we visit is immediately the most impressive, and most extensive in terms of different figures. Cerros Pintados, in the Salar del Pintados – Salar is an area exploited by the saltpetre industry, the oficinas – is actually a national monument, containing over 400 geoglyphs in several groups along a mountain slope. A walking path leads past the figures, in such a way that you never get really close (and thus cannot damage them by removing rocks or otherwise, a good decision). In any case, from nearby you would probably have difficulty recognizing many of the figures. Downside is that we don’t get a good feel of the size of these figures, which according to people we talked to are several tens of meters tall, each of them! Imaging the work this has taken, once again under the burning sun, I assume.

more random figures

and even more

one of the signs elsewhere along the road, indicating geoglyphs nearby

Some of the more important geoglyphs are in the guide book. But driving around, there happen to be many more, just small, individual panels. To be honest, we don’t spot them ourselves, all of them are properly indicated by the Chilean department of culture, with a sign along the road. And, to be equally honest, after you have seen a few, or a few more, like we did, you have seen them all, I think. But they remain a fascinating element of early civilizations in the desert.

and an overview of some of the Cerros Pintados geoglyphs – note the spotted animals

the interesting church of Matilla

and the horrible corrugated iron monster in La Tirana

with a massive square in front

and pretty ugly inside, too

After Cerro Pintado we drive to the oasis towns of Pica and Matilla, a weird experience. One moment you drive through the desert, and then suddenly this distant green blob is appearing, and coming closer and closer, there is this town, with fruit plantations around, palm trees, and – that’s why – a mineral spring. Exploited not only for irrigation, but also for tourism purposes: we could get ourselves a ticket to the spa. One look makes us decide otherwise. Several tour busses have unloaded their cargo, who are all fighting for a little space in the communal bath. We treasure our Thermas de Socos experience, and instead drive on to La Tirana, another village, but less oasis-like. La Tirana is three times nothing, except for its festival in July, when thousands of pilgrims come to worship the local Virgin. It is February, a lot quieter, which gives us the opportunity to admire the church; unlike the many charming little wooden churches we have seen mostly, this one is a huge corrugated iron monster, truly horrible. Also on the inside. Nothing compared to the elegant Eiffel church in Coquimbo. Like the geoglyphs, perhaps you don’t need to see them all.

next: Pisagua

the desert on the way to Pica, not yet the oasis

26. the oficinas

Blog entries

an old steam engine used between oficinas, in Humberstone

From most of the saltpetre oficinas is not much remaining, but the ghost town museum of Humberstone and Santa Laura is a wonderful example of how life must have been at the time.

The Oficinas, the places where the rich caliches with saltpetre were being dug up from the desert, have so far eluded us, because we don’t have our own transport. They are really just small establishments in the middle of nowhere, in the richest areas perhaps 3-4 km apart, places where workers lived who spent their entire day working under the burning sun. They were often connected by a railway that took the ore away. Quite a few of the oficinas were bigger, simple towns that supported whole families, complete with school, general store and a cinema,. Where everybody was dependent on the company, who supplied housing, but only if you worked there, and sold food, but only to the residents.

this is the sort of ground, the salar, below which the caliche deveeloped

We have rented a car again, and try to find some of the oficinas, with no more than Google Maps and a now dis-used railway track as a guide. A poor road parallel to the railway passes several of them, but none are really interesting; these oficinas have largely disappeared, are no more than a pile of rubble left in the desert. The abandoned ghost towns, described by various sources, are obviously elsewhere, and without detailed knowledge and/or a lot of time, we are unlikely to succeed.

 

the train track as our guidence to find oficinas

the occasional wagon isn’t going anywhere anymore

my travel companion investigates what is left of Oficina Mosquitos (I think)

ghost town Humberstone

more housing, and the street filled with old equipment

the bachelor accomodation

and quite attractive villas

wal full of wall sockets

and the selection of hammers, geologists, take your pick

window

series of doors in the sports accomodation

the theatre

and on the inside

But then there is Humberstone. An hour outside Iquique, a few enthusiasts have saved this oficina from pilfering and decay, and turned the town – here we do have a real ghost town – into a museum. With streets of abandoned houses, some used to exhibit tools and other artefacts from the saltpetre era. A wall full of hammers, another with spades. Kitchen utensils. Communication equipment. Wall sockets! But the most impressive part is just the town itself, with all its facilities. Houses for worker families, bachelor apartments, and middle class and management housing much larger and luxurious, with tennis court for the privileged. There is a basketball court, a theatre, the store and the hotel, everything kept as authentic as possible – well, the store is adorned with fake products and wax figures selling them, but in this case that is not too disturbing.

leading to the basketbaall stadium

don’t you love the horses?

entrance to a factory hall

a factory hall, at the production facilities

and another production hall

A little further are the Santa Laura production facilities, and several corrugated iron factory halls, containing the energy room, the garage, a hall full of old steam engines. All severely rusted; and when the wind blows, the noise of rattling walls and ceiling is somewhat unsettling, you have the idea that the whole thing may collapse anytime. But it doesn’t, we wander around for hours. And it is fascinating!

more corrugated iron, mostly flapping

the extend of Humberstone

and a huge lifting facility, left to rust

a distant remnant of another oficina

remnants of Oficina Mapocho, not far from Humberstone

The next day, with our newly-acquired knowledge, we try once more to find some of the other oficinas, not necessarily in museum form, but just left as they were. We come across Oficina Mapoche, and La Santiago, and a few others, too, but nowhere as spectacular as Humberstone and Santa Laura. What we do find is, at the locations of the oficinas, some buildings, and lots of rubbish, in the form of rusted iron bars, wire, nails etc, clearly left from the work. The railway is back, some more traces, but it looks like many of these have, at one moment or another, been used by the army, too, some newish barracks compromise the authenticity. I think, but who knows? We already miss our knowledgeable friend from Iquique.

a true warning, not to be ignored!

That we are in a military area is clear. All along the highway we have been warned for crossing cattle, crossing deer, all very unlikely in this driest of dry deserts. But a sign warning us for crossing tanks, hmm, that may be a lot more likely.

next: there is more to this area, including geoglyphs.