Roaming South America

Antofagasta, Chile

November 7, 2024

This was my first visit to Antofagasta. This small city of around 400,000 people, is a coastal city with some beaches and a lot of rocky coast. And the waves can get quite high. Apparently the beaches just south of town host some of the championship surfing competitions. Another note about the beaches here - they are all artificial, man-made. There are no natural beaches in Antofagasta.

The climate is pleasant, not hot by any means, but warm enough most afternoons for a t-shirt or light shirt and pretty much always long pants. At least during the summer months of November through January. The city is quite modern yet has many late-19th/early twentieth century buildings and houses. The amount of rain received here is miniscule - about 4.4 millimeters over the course of the year. Temperatures range from mid-high 50s in the winter months of June-July, and low 70s in the summer and spring months of December-March. It's said that Antofagasta is the world's driest city.

Remembering Tocopilla, Chile

October 29, 2024

In the process of renaming and compressing all the photos in my photo album, I'm also revisiting the many places Ivisited, this blog is about one of those places.

At the end of March, 2023, I visied Tocopilla, Chile. While I was there exploring the town I came across aninteresting church. What was interesting about it? Well, first, Tocopilla is on the northern coast of Chile which isall Atacama Desert. The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth. There are no trees here other than theones people have planted. And the church I came across is made of wood, all wood. The church is called "The Temple ofOur Lady del Carmen".

Arica, Chile and journey update

July 15, 2023

Arica, Chile. First, my final opinion about Calama, after my second visit to the town - I still am not enamored with the town, mostly because of the desert - it is very polluted with trash all around the city, and the dust that hangs in the air. You can't see it when you're in the city, but from outside the city you sure can see it. One visit to the Atacama Desert is enough, two was more than enough.

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

March 31, 2023

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile: population: about 11,000.

The town is supported by tourism and that is very obvious when you visit. I heard people talking in many languages, and it appears most are in their late 20s or 30s. I spoke to one, a man from Ireland, and he said he's met at least five people from the US on his journey. I realized today that my journey of South America starting in Colombia and going south is the opposite of what most people are doing. And there's this - everyone I have met and talked to in the past 4 months has been heading north. I have yet to meet anyone else going south. Anyway, San Pedro is very small, something like 12,000 people. There is one supermarket, and one or two gas stations out on the highway. But, there are many, many, many shops catering to tourists.

Calama, Chile

March 30, 2023

Calama, Chile: population: about 195,000. That population number includes several mining communities and other villages out in the desert in this general area. Calama's main source of economic support is copper mining. There is one very large open pit mine that has been in operation for more than 100 years. It is in the process of changing to underground mining.