Resort Cities and Adobe Pueblos

We've travelled back over the Andes into Chile, making a brief stop in Santiago before continuing further north. Loreen and I took it easy, as we'd already visited the city, although Loreen did narrowly avoid getting her watch snatched right off her wrist by a little thief! Keenan took a city bike tour, and we introduced her to our favorite Chilean cuisines.

We also took the funicular to the top of Cerro San Cristobal, an 863 meter high mountain in the center of the city that has been made into a municipal park, with amazing views of the city and surrounding mountains. The big draws on the mountain are the cathedral, statues of Jesus, one of the Pope and some Saints, plus an open air theater area for church services that probably hold several hundred.

We then travelled by bus to Norte Chico region, or the little north region to a city on the ocean, La Serena. Chile is some 4300kms in length from the Atacama Desert to the southern most tip in Tierra del Fuego, and only averages 175kms in width. During that 4300kms there is a great difference in climates, terrain and vegetation capability.

Semi-Arid Desert

 We have been to alpine, tundra like areas in the far south, shrub and grasslands of Patagonia, the lakes, mountains and streams of the lakes districts, the fertile valleys of Central Chile and now are moving into the desert ares of the north. On the seven hour bus ride from Santiago to La Serena we passed through vast areas of desert like country, (sand, rock, shrub, cactus and I guess grass), being grazed by goats and a few horses. I think the goats had to pack lunches to get from one grass area to the next. Then into a valley with a stream or river between the mountains and the coast, these areas are all farmed, citrus, avocado, flowers, melons and vegetables. Farming in these areas is a hard job, they are still using a single horse and a walking plow or cultivator to till the land in some areas and all the harvest is done by hand.

La Serena is a beach tourist area, and Calgary circa 2006 with all the condos being built. We opted to stay as close to the beach as possible. Approaching the hotel, during the summer holidays, had both Keenan and Loreen wondering what we got ourselves into as we drove past hoardes of 14 year olds skateboarding, giggling and loitering in front of the mall. The beach area is Penticton on steroids: amusement areas, packed beaches, but not another English speaker in site. What fun, eh! We mostly just took it easy in La Serena, walked on the beach, laid by the pool, cooked our own meals.

La Serena

Then off to San Pedro de Atacama, situated in the Atacama desert, the driest desert in the world. It was a special day! We had a flight to Antofagasto scheduled for 1:30 and we were told to be there three hours in advance, we showed up 2.5 hours before and the counter was not to open until an hour and a half later. When it opened we checked in only to find out the plane was actually delayed and would not leave until 2:30. What to do in an airport for four and a half hours, but sit and contemplate the scenery.

New Condo Construction

Antofagasto, is the main port city for all Chilean imports and exports by sea. The total northern area of Chile was once under Bolivian control, but taken away in the "Pacifico War" of the late 1800s. Bolivia has been angry about the loss to the coast ever since. They not only lost a sea port but a very mineral rich area. The city is located at the edge of a vast mining area. The mines here are copper, nitrates and lithium and Chile produces around 35 percent of the worlds copper.

What can I say about Antofagasto, located on the edge of the desert, nothing but brown sand and rock as far as one can see. No beaches to speak of but lots of rocks and steep cliffs, even so there was a multitude of people camped along what beach there is. We went straight to the bus station for our bus to San Pedro, which was two hours late. What to do in a bus station for three hours, well have lunch, watch the pigeons fly, dogs and cats beg for food and wander around the restaurant. The pigeons had fun dive bombing Loreen, while a sad looking dog lay at Keenan's feet, finally a lady came and shooed everything away.

Outside of Antofagasto, Chile, train to the mines

Leaving the city the road climbs up through a set of reddish brown rocky hills and then miles of flat desert, carved up with cat trails, haul roads, open pit mines and processing plants. I got some flack down here about the oil sands, but think the mines in the Atacama desert and the balance of northern Chile is probably just as large. I need to google earth it!

Into San Pedro at last, arriving at the bus station at midnight. It was an adobe corral type of station, with no one around and no taxis in sight. So with the trusty map from the Lonely Planet and Keenan asking where the main plaza was, off we went, two of us with our backpacks and Loreen pulling her wheeled suitcase down the cobblestones streets. San Pedro was in full party mode, with lots of people on the streets and in the bars. We must have been quite a sight, this young lady being followed by this bewildered older couple through the dusty streets of San Pedro, at midnight. I might be getting too old for this backpacking stuff. Finally we find the hotel, the front gate of which was padlocked shut, so Keenan had to head up the road in search of a phone. The poor guy thought we ditched him. We managed to get checked in and settled down for our first night ever spent in a mud and straw adobe building. But the room was nice inside and the folks running the hostel were exceptional hosts.

Our Adobe Room

 You can see the Andes off to the east of San Pedro, otherwise it is miles of sand and rock desert. The village itself is adobe homes and fences, on every street. It seems like a straight tourist town where lots of South Americans and a few Europeans come to kick off tours of the Bolivian Highlands and Salt Flats, or to just hang out and have a good time. Mostly backpackers, mostly with dreadlocks -Loreen and I fit right in!

The girls heading home in San Pedro

 Maybe the most outstanding feature in San Pedro is the church, built in the mid 1600s of mud and straw adobe, it is still in use today. It dies get a new coat of white wash every couple of years

Four hundred year old church

From here we are making our way into Bolivia, which Keenan has tried to adequately prepare us for.

This mountian is split by the Chile-Bolivia border