Well, surf up it was in Iquique and Arica!

Nice beaches, nice wheather, big waves and beach rescue teams! We felt so Baywatch :)

With an average of 1 mm rain per year in Iquique, you could really say we were on the borders of the driest desert in the world, as in San Pedro de Atacama. After one day of enjoying the beach, we went on an amazing tour of the surroundings of Iquique (which comes by the wayfrom the local Aymara language,Ique Ique, which means ¨dream dream¨).

Iquique was in the early 20th centurya boom-town of the nitrate mining industry. We visited old ghost towns and old nitrate factories, really impressiveto experience that all this was done in such harsh circumstances, being in the desert.

On the same tour we saw geoglyphs of llamas, human figures, birds etc, probably made by the Tiwanaku people, a civilization long before the Incas. Realizing these figures had been there for more than 1000 years was already impressive, but especially the circumstances we saw them in made a deep impression on us. About 40 degrees celsius, in a salt flat, totally unprotected from the elemens or humans,these geoglyphs were there, almost randomly,appearing tobe forgotten bytoday´s civilization. In Europe, this would be a highly advertised site, highly protected, with a museum and entrance fee, etc. Very special to experience this!

And well, of course not only the mind got plenty of food for thought,but the inner human being got some attention too, when we next visitedthe town of Pica, an oasis town in the desert. If anyone has ever had a pisco sour orsomething similar, you know you will needthe limy fruit Limon de Pica. It grows here, together with other marvelous types of fruits,such as mango and guayabe. Lekker!!

Up next was the town of Arica. We rentedsome bikes and cycled around the town and its surroundings and got the best insidertip we could havegotten about Arica: the harbourwith its sealons and pelicans! Jaw-dropping experience! These animals are really beautiful, and it was an absolute privilige tosee themsoclose by!

To top off thisexperience, wehired a4WD car for the next day, to drive up into the mountains east of Arica and some very old Aymara andInca valleys with fortresses, terraces, etc. We loved the surreal landscapes we drove through, varying from totally dry moon-like plains, to lush green hills with flowers and goats, to sanddunes and multicoloured rock formations. We loved the immense varietyof cacti, the nandus and vicuñas and the Aymara villages we drove through. We definately got to know a completelydifferent side of Chileagain.

On the morning, we left for Peru, we had another true Chilean experience: an earthquake. Although it was really small, and nothing happened, it still was kind of frightening.Everything starts to shake around you. Really weird!

Well,next time a story about Arequipa and the Colca Canyon!

Adios!