November 8, 2024 - Iquique - Friday

November 8, 2024 – Friday                 Day 44 of this journey 

Iquique, Chili 

We are in a new country. Iquique is towards the northern end of Chile. It has been here since the 1500s, although there is very little left from that era. To this day, most buildings are made of wood. Douglas Fir boards were used as ballast in the early sailing days. The wood would be discarded upon arrival here and became free building materials for the locals. 

The drawback to this is the risk of fire. The town burned down numerous times over the years. Obviously, the modern high rises are not built of wood, but most homes are. 

It is also desert. As we approach the port in the early morning light we see the cliffs of the Atacama Desert. The cliffs rise from the sea to about 2,000 feet, boom. Mostly barren, and just behind the city of Iquique is a huge sand dune that is a very popular extreme sport area. 

The Atacama Desert is considered one of the driest spots on earth. It has an average rainfall of  0.6” . Many areas of the desert average less than that. Some areas can go years with no rain. It stretches about 1,000 miles in the northern third of Chile and contains about 41,000 square miles. It is extremely inhospitable. 

We are headed inland a little ways to an abandoned saltpeter (sodium nitrate) mine. Saltpeter was used for fertilizers and explosives. The mines were self-contained. They had housing for their miners, schools for the children, a communal swimming pool, a theater, a church, a general store as well as other small markets. Sounds pretty good. However, once someone started working for the mine, they were paid in tokens that could only be spent in the Mines’ stores and markets. The tokens could not be redeemed for real money, nor did they have value outside that specific mining community. Each mine had its own tokens. There was no way to ever get ahead and get away. 

The Humberstone Mine closed down in 1960. After becoming a ghost town, it was opened to tourism and in 2005 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They’ve done a good job of turning the site into a museum. 

Before daylight as we approach the port. Iquique below, Alto Hospicias above.

From the sea to 2,000-3,000 feet

Heading up the side of the cliff, looking down on Iquique.
 Note the sand dune to the left

The Atacama Desert - barren!

Saltpeter

Bleachers for the swimming pool

The swimming pool was made of leaching tanks. 
It also stored water that would be used in the leaching process later.

The church

A rail car

A locomotive

After our time at the museum, we headed to nearby geoglyphs. WOW! 

There is an area kilometers long that has extensive geoglyphs. The area is now protected, and there is a trail to follow to viewing stations. There are several panels of glyphs that probably told a story at one time. They are more concentrated near the desert floor but extend to the upper reaches of the hills. When you realize how far away you are from these images you begin to understand just how huge these are. Again, WOW!

What the earth looks like off the trail.
What a way to break an ankle

Look at the upper reaches of the hill

Among other things, a shark. This whole area was once
ocean, then it became a lake before drying up.

Bus and people for scale.

A bird

When we have exhausted our allowed time at the geoglyphs, we return to our busses and drive to a picnic ground where we are given box lunches that include sandwiches, juice, nuts, a brownie and a couple of other items. 

Then it is time to return to the ship. An interesting day.

Sunset as we leave Iquique