Nitrate Time!

Kate and Dan rented a 4x4 and headed down the norte grande coast to see the remnants of the Chilean nitrate boom.

Our first stop was roca verde (green rocks), which featured (you guessed it geologists) huge epidote deposits. Among the epidote and volcanic rocks were tidal pools teaming with crabs and stranded jellyfish.

Kate's favorite epidote.

Rocas verdes

100 km south of Iquique, we approached the active nitrate port of Puerto Pastillos, hung a left and headed into the very dry pampa region of the Chilean norte grande. As we started up the hill salt dust filled the air and left a salty flavor in our mouths. From the desert mountains 2000 meters above truckloads of nitrate are carried and processed for shipment at the port.

Puerto pastillos up close.

Puerto pastillos from afar.

Ubiquitous nitrate trucks

We're still trying to figure out how all the nitrate was concentrated in the pampa region. It clearly was left behind when closed drainage basins evaporated. Whether these basins were entirely stream fed, fed from the sea of a combination of the two is a mystery to us.

El Salar Grande (The big salt flat).

When you rent a 4x4 in the US, they warn you not to take if off road. In Chile, your 4x4, comes equipped with a roll cage, two spare tires, a tow rope, a shovel, tire blocks and a burlap sack (for traction in sand?).

Along the side of the road there are shrines, probably to family members who didn't make it home. We took a "shortcut" from Mina Punta los Lobos to Rt 5 along an improved dirt track and visited the shrine below. Note the bottles of water in the shrine, no doubt a gift for someone with car trouble in the middle of nowhere.

Oficina Humberstone is an abandoned 1920's Nitrate mining town approximately 40 km east of Iquique. The town is lovingly restored and clearly haunted!

Casts for a pump

School house

Haunted.

Painting of nitrate mining

Iquique at the turn of the century

The Humberstone power plant

Fields of mined nitrate

At the conclusion of a long day, we headed back to Iquique for dinner!

Dinner in Iquique was delicious. We ate at El Tercer Ojito (the third eye), a hip little restaurant in downtown. Dinner was delicious and quite reasonable. Kate dined on homemade gnocchi and Dan enjoyed a local fish with potatoes dish. Muy delicioso!

On our way out of Iquique, we checked out some more nitrate era ruins. This time at Santa Laura, across the highway from Humberstone.

Kate en el bano

Estamos en Iquique

After a luxurious Monday morning nap, we headed downtown to explore Iquique, a port city located on the northern coast of Chile that supported the historical nitrate business. Today Iquique is a fishing city, a tourist destination for nationals and a bit of a college town. The town itself is rests on a strip of land surrounded by huge sand dunes, which are surrounded by still larger cliff faces. The topography is stunning.

Kate at the art museum in Iquique

El Centro de Iquique

Historic Iquique theater

We took a walk through the "seedy port district" to the naval museum and took a tour of Iquique bay by boat. The guide was so excited to have Americans on his boat that our tour fee was waived.

Little boats

Big boats

Bigger boats

Boats on boats

Sinking boats

Kate on a boat

Dan on a boat

The life jackets are purely decorative. I don't think you'd last a minute in the water with the hundreds of portuguese man-of-war jelly fish and other sea creatures.

The Iquique coat is beautiful with stunning topography.

After the boat tour, we walked the beach and caught a taxi back to the hotel.

Kate relaxing with a glass of delicious Chilean wine at sunset.

Chile I - It's a long trip to Chile

Sure we brought everything?

We left Colorado under sunny skies toward Chile. The plane’s path took us over the Arkansas Valley. As we passed over Holbrook Reservoir, I was reminded of last summer’s field work, last year’s meetings with Lower Arkansas River water managers and discussion of temporary agricultural dry-up in the past months. With a tailwind, our first flight arrived early in Dallas. We were told that the connecting gate for Santiago, Chile was D26. After consulting a map and walking the terminal, we learned that there is no “gate 26.” Soon we learned that our flight was delayed for 11 hours. I suppose that “Connect at Gate 26” is gate-attendant code for “your flight is cancelled, but go talk to someone else about that.”

After a sleepless night at the Dallas Westin Inn due to an all-night hallway Salsa Party, we bid the revelers adieu at 5am and caught our flight for Santiago.

Crossing the equator 30,000 feet above Ecuador

Sunset over the Pacific

Santiago mountains

36 hours after arriving at DIA, we’re sampling Chile’s cervesas at La Pausa airport bar. Four hours later we arrived in Iquique, ate breakfast and slept right through siesta.