Arica, Chile

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Monday-Tuesday, 30th-31st January, 2023

Two days at sea as we made our way down the coast towards Chile. Not much to report, except the unexpected sighting of some seals. All the more unexpected as I thought they were driftwood!

Taking it easy, pretending to be a piece of driftwood.

Wednesday-Thursday, 1st-2nd February, 2023 – Arica, Chile

Due to the change in plans, we have had an extra day in Arica, the most northern city in Chile. It was captured from the Peruvians during the War of the Pacific between 1879 and 1883 with the deciding battle being fought on the very high outcrop, El Morro that totally dominates the city. The city today is a dusty, rather ramshackle affair, though with plenty of bustle and activity. This part of Chile is virtually all desert – a light covering of sand over hard rock with absolutely no apparent life present. It is relatively close to the Atacama Desert.

The city thrived from guano and nitrate deposits but the bottom fell out of those markets early in the 20th Century and today fish canning is the main industry, plus being the main outlet for produce from landlocked Bolivia including corn and soya. I can’t say that it is the most beautiful city by any stretch, though the location is impressive.

There are a couple of sights to see, one a small museum on the site of what was going to be a hotel until a total of 32 Chinchorro mummified bodies were discovered when excavating the foundations. They are as they were found underneath a glass floor and date from some 6000 years ago (I believe). Fascinating stuff…

As far as I can gather, the mummification process was removal of all the insides of the bodies and attaching a wig of actual human hair – as you can see here.
Amazing to think that these are contemporary with early Ancient Egypt.
Amazing to think that these are contemporary with early Ancient Egypt.

Other than the view from El Morro (see below), the other sight of Arica is the cathedral. The original one was devastated by a tsunami in the 1860s and the current one was designed by Gustave Eiffel, prefabricated in France, shipped round the world and constructed in Arica.

Arica Cathedral, courtesy of Gustave Eiffel
A rather pleasant Gothic interior.
El Morro, with an enormous Chilean flag atop it, with another Eiffel building to the left in the photo – the Customs Hall.
The view from the top of El Morro, with Val and our friendly taxi driver, Hector to the left.
Looking South from El Morro towards the beach. Surfing is a big attraction in Arica.
I told you it was a big flag!!
Some sort of vulture, I think……
Some of the locals in national dress.

We wandered about the city on the first day, finding the obligatory Wi-Fi and doing a bit of shopping. In the evening Val and I and a couple of friends celebrated 40 years since Val arrived in Papua New Guinea as my common law wife (in order to ensure a long enough visa). Where does the time go, eh?

40 years on!!

The next day we were booked on a tour organised by the ship called Man and the Desert. It took us first into the desert (surprise, surprise!!), a truly dry, desolate place. Oddly our first stop-off was to see some modern statuary. Our local guide was a little bit dismissive and I will leave it to you to decide. The location was certainly fairly dramatic. We were also entertained by some local dancers, which was very jolly much enhanced by a couple of free glasses of the very potent local drink, pisco, a grape brandy, in this instance served as a Picos sour, when it is mixed with lemon juice and sugar.

One is a man and one is a woman – I will leave you to decide!
Waiting to start the dance….
In full flow!
As you have probably already guessed, this represents Mother Earth (the statue, not Val)
And this one is a sundial!!
The desert!

We then proceeded to another museum with more mummies, the Museo Arqueologico San Miguel de Azapa. It traces the culture of the area from very early times through to and after the early Europeans.

Not sure how good your Spanish (or eyesight) is, but this should give you an idea of the periods from the first human settlements up to the Incas.
A sample of some of the oldest-known mummies.
According to our guide, the reason for mummification might have been to compensate for the high amount of miscarriages and infant death and this picture shows that even foetuses were mummified.
Truly awesome. You wonder what they would have made of the world today!!
Some nearby geoglyphs – no prizes for guessing the animal!!
A rather more modern geoglyph!!
And just for fun!!

A good day all in all. Next stop down the coast to Iquique.

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Published by jfbemanuelorguk

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2 thoughts on “Arica, Chile”

  1. I have thoroughly enjoyed your recent posts, John. Thank you for taking the time to write them and the effort to find a place with Wi-Fi to ensure that they reach us. I am finding it very interesting learning of the history and art of these early civilisations. We, in Europe, are so Europe-centric we don’t always either know about or appreciate the intricate civilisations of cultures and countries in more remote areas of the world. Thank you, also, for fixing the ‘photo’ problem. They are now getting through so I am also enjoying all the photos that accompany your written blogs – they help me to orient myself in the places that you are visiting. Before I finish this comment of ‘appreciation’, I do want to send my love and best wishes for another 40 years of ‘togetherness’ to you and Val. Lala is not the only one who reads, and appreciates, every ‘blog’. thank you, and lots of love, Angie

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  2. I like the interior of the Cathedral! I was once taken behind the scenes at Kew Gardens to see where they stored all their research and samples from around the world and it was rather similar, with the iron columns and decorations. Otherwise, Arica looks a little underwhelming! L xx

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