Arica
Chile
Other web pages showing our trip to South America can be found here
Colombia, Panama Canal, Ecuador, Peru, Arica
Chile, LaSerena
Chile,
Valparaiso
and
Santiago Chile, The
rest of the trip, and South
American Flowers
At
the port in Arica Chile we boarded a bus for a trip through one of the
driest deserts on earth to the highest place we have ever visited.
On the way our road
paralleled
this railroad track, unused since 2002.
The area was dry but
there were farms
and towns in the valley.
We stopped to look at
some geoglyphs
on the hillside.
Long ago the people who
lived here
had arranged stones in the form of immense animals, birds, snakes, and
other figures.
Because there is very
little rain the
figures have remained unchanged from when they were made by the Incas.
Nancy took the last
photo by putting
her camera lens against the eyepiece of her binoculars.
Try it if you don't have
a telephoto
lens for your camera.
We passed this unique
settlement of
members of the Hari Krishna sect.
Other homes along the
way.
We stopped at this
little church to
stretch our legs and look around.
It was originally built
in 1580.
The youngest member of
our tour group
had a good time climbing around on the wall.
As we climbed higher the
climate
became dryer.
Streams coming down from
the mountains are used to irrigate crops so there are occasional
patches of green.
Here borax was being
mined.
As we went higher we
found ourselves
in a desert so dry that not even cactus can grow.
It hasn't rained in
recorded history.
There are riverbeds here
in the
Atacama desert that geologists can show haven't had water flowing
through them for thousands of years.
The road steadily
ascended toward our
goal, Altiplano.
However our assent was
interrupted
when our bus developed trouble.
We would stop, wait a
few minutes, go
again then repeat.
Finally it stopped for
the last
time.
The driver got out
banged on some
things but to no avail.
Neither radios or cell
phones would
work to get help.
Finally a passing mining
truck
offered to carry our message to the police outpost we had passed on the
way,
The police showed up and
were able to
call for another bus.
A minor mix up resulted
when the call
went to the wrong bus company so our rescue was further delayed while
another was dispatched from Arica.
Of course I had magic
ropes so some
of the folks on the tour tried to solve my puzzles.
I also challenged one of
the officers
who came to help and he taught me some of the knots he uses for
mountain
climbing.
Where we stopped there
was a small
shrine.
It was a memorial to
someone who had
died there.
Nearby there was a small
wooden cross
placed in remembrance of another family who had died in an accident.
While we were waiting
there was
plenty of time to explore.
There were several rocks
that had
strange shapes and holes.
Nancy took a couple of
pictures as I
walked across this rock field.
You may be able to find
me in the
first picture but I bet you can't in the second.
Two and a half hours
later our
replacement bus arrived and we were on our way again.
As we went higher we
entered an area
that gets some snowfall in the winter and so has some cactus and brush.
Another small town could
be seen from
the road.
Then we started to see
animals.
The first were small
groups of vicuna.
Further along, llamas
and
alpacas. Sometimes all three in a single herd.
We finally reached
Altiplano, the
high plains, at more than 14,000 ft.
The guide told us that
the
temperature each day would go from plus 20 to minus 20 Celsius, that is
+68 to -4 Fahrenheit.
Melting winter snows
create the lake
which is a haven for a variety of waterfowl.
The most unlikely are
the flocks of
flamingos.
We only saw them as we
were driving
along so the pictures leave something to be desired.
We didn't get near
enough to the
shore to determine whether the deposits were minerals, ice or sand.
These mountains are all
volcanos.
The most distant is in
Bolivia.
No one in our group had
any serious
trouble because of the altitude but everyone on another bus had
problems (headaches, nausea).
Nancy and I both
experimented with
what a little physical exertion felt like at more the 14,000 ft.
We found that we got
lightheaded and
felt a little woozy if we walked briskly for only a short distance.
Not too surprising
considering that
the available oxygen is about 60% of what is available at sea level.
The symptoms quickly
subsided if we
slowed down.
Maybe our unplanned stop
had paid off.
I had fun chatting with
these kids.
I don't know spanish and
they didn't
speak english but we managed to talk anyway.
We bought some sweaters
and a scarf
made from llama wool from a vendor who had set up shop there.
Some of the sights we
saw on the way
back down.
Because of the breakdown
we were
nearly an hour late getting back to the ship.
Fortunately they waited
on us.
Here is a picture of he harbor as we returned.
Other web pages showing our trip to South America can be found here
Colombia, Panama Canal, Ecuador, Peru, Arica
Chile, LaSerena
Chile,
Valparaiso
and
Santiago Chile, The
rest of the trip, and South
American Flowers
We want to thank our friends from the trip Fran and Frank,
Esther
and
Michael, Bill and Lorraine for sharing their photos with us and for you.
See
other places we have visited here.
Go
to our Personal
home page
Go to our Community
page
Go
to our Science
Fun page
E-mail
Nancy
and
Alan