A Visit to the Atacama Desert

Oct. - Nov. 1994

Logistics and Schedule

The underlying purpose of this trip was to view the eclipse of Nov. 3, which is described elsewhere on this web site; but while there we spent nearly a week in the Atacama Desert, a place so dry that there are some spots where rain has not fallen in 500 years.
We flew to Santiago where we stayed for two days while the entire tour group of 150 gathered; half of us elected to go to Iquique in northern Chile and the other half remained in Santiago. We were part of the group who chose to go to Iquique, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama plateau.
Our group flew in a chartered plane from Santiago to the Iquique airport, which turned out to be within a restricted army zone, no pictures allowed! We walked from the plane to our waiting bus under the watchful eyes of many armed soldiers. And then the drive to Iquique -- blue sky, yellow sand, and colorful billboards lining the entire route.

The Cherimoya

While in Santiago, we were introduced to the cherimoya, the most exquisite fruit in the universe! About the size of a grapefruit, with a green, scaley skin. When it is ripe, this skin turns brownish or black; and it is soft under a finger's squeeze. Cut it open to reveal a milky white flesh, flecked with large black seeds. Dip in a spoon and taste the pudding-smooth interior; the flavor resembles a mix of vanilla pudding and ripe pears.
The cherimoya grows in the Andean countries of South America, and does not ship well. Occasionally some California grown cherimoya will show up in Pittsburgh, but these are inferior fruit; small and either unripe or over ripe. I will just have to keep returning to the Andes to enjoy this fruit.
Cherimoya were available both in Santiago and in Iquique, and cheap! We gorged ourselves, knowing we could not take any home with us.

Iquique

Iquique was founded in the 16th century on a rocky peninsula sheltered by the headlands of Punta Gruesa and Cavancha. The city became the center of the nitrate trade after its transfer from Peru to Chile at the end of the War of the Pacific. The wealthy "Nitrate Barons" all called Iquique home, and some of their wooden houses built between 1860 and 1903 are still standing. Also of interest to the tourist is the Naval Museum, extolling the heroism of Arturo Pratt during the "War of the Pacific" -- a war that never quite made it into the history books of the U.S., but very important here. The Museo Regional will give the visitor mucho information about the Nitrate trade and process, and features many of the important families of Iquique. There are also several of the Andean mummies, found in the mountains not far from the city.
Iquique is an important port, and has a Free Zone, where goods from Hong Kong and Taiwan (reasonably priced cameras, electronics and cheap film) are sold. Limit on tax free purchases are US$650 for foreigners, and US$500 for Chileans.

Geoglifas de Chiza

We took several bus trips out into this desert. Just outside of Iquique, the road climbs to a plateau, and there, stretching before us is the desert! The Atacama is so dry that there is absolutely no vegetation -- no trees, no grass, no shrubs. The sun is unyeilding in its intensity, as is the heat. There are some areas where no rain has fallen in recorded time -- over 500 years!
We were on our way to see an archaeological feature -- the geoglifas de Chiza, which were located on the far side of the Atacama, against the foothills of the Andes. On the way we saw numerous dust devils. These are swirls of dusty wind that look like miniature tornadoes but do not carry the destructive power of a tornado. I was alarmed as we drove through the first one as it danced across the highway, but it was just a lot of wind and dust outside the bus windows. And then, as obviously we suffered no damage, we sat back and relaxed. We encountered about a dozen that afternoon.

How are geoglyphs made?

The desert is actually a light sandy soil covered with small, dark colored pebbles. By removing the pebbles from one area and building them up in another, the ancient people were able to create huge designs in the desert floor. Because these geogliphs are on a large scale, and can be seen from far off. Were they signposts? Were they messages? Nobody knows.

Humberstone

The next day we were on the bus again, heading back into the desert to visit the ghost town of Humberstone. On the way we stopped with a picnic lunch at a surprising "oasis" -- a woods in the middle of the desert! These thorny trees must have very deep roots, but one has to wonder how they got started!

Much of the northern Atacama was mined for nitrates, an important ingredient in gun powder. In order to extract this "white gold" from the desert, towns were built, populations moved. In the years between the 1870s and the first world war, nitrate sales accounted for most of Chile's export earnings; and immense fortunes were amassed. Chile accounted for 65% of nitrate production in 1910. In 1914 the Germans, cut off from a supply of natural nitrate,

invented the Haber-Bosch process which fixed nitrogen from the atmosphere. By 1920 the nitrate boom collapsed and by 1950 Chile provided only 3% of world production.

The mines closed, the towns were deserted. Given the preserving atmosphere of the desert, these towns stand today just as they were when their residents left. We were there on "The Day of the Dead" and many families had returned to the town of Humberstone to celebrate the holiday. Our guides decided that we'd get as good a taste of the deserted town by touring the industrial section, where the nitrate was brought to the surface and processed.
Now in the ghost towns of the American west, one worries about stepping accidently on a rattlesnake, scorpion or other unpleasant desert animal; that is not a worry in the Atacama where there are no animals, no insects, no birds. In a patio next to the administration building, there had once been a garden, we walked through dried plants and vines rasping in the hot wind, with an empty fountain in the center. It was an oasis, once, when people were there to tend to them.

Codelco -- El Salvador, Chile

While we were in Santiago, Larry met with a customer of MCS, DIN Instrumentos. They were about to install control units in a copper smelting plant in the Atacama and wanted to incorporate some of Larry's software.
One month later, Larry was back in Chile, back in the Atacama, at the Codelco plant in Portorillos. Portorillos is strictly a company town, identical tin houses lining the one road in and out of town, with the smelting plant in the center. Larry, and the three Chilean engineers from DIN Instrumentos, stayed in one of these houses, a guest house of the plant.
Larry brought home some fantastic photos of the barren desert stretching as far as one could see on either side of town, and of the smelting process in the plant. It was hard, hot and dirty work.

Summing up

How can we sum up our Atacama experience? Without the lure of the eclipse we would never have gone there. We are so glad we did! We have walked on one of the most desolate, forsaken landscapes on this planet. It was astounding, incredible. I admire the courage and the fortitude of the people who live there. And I was happy to get back on the plane and return to my lush, green garden in Pittsburgh.

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