Part 28 Valparaiso to San Pedro
de Atacama
(Click on a photo to enlarge it)
Cousin Ellen and her husband Mel
left Santiago for Canada on Tuesday. They are such warm and caring people. It
was great fun getting to know them. We had been visiting altogether at the
house of her brother, my cousin Murray and his wife Carmen along with little
ones Fernanda and Bruno in Santiago. It was also wonderful to get together with
Murray again after more than 20 years.
Murray invited us to stay on
until Saturday in order to meet fellow moto travellers, Francisco and Carmen.
Francisco is a colleague of Murray’s in the Chilean mining industry. The five
of us spent a pleasant evening at the home of Francisco and Carmen. We came
away with great travel advice for northern Chile and some maps. On their advice,
we added a couple of days in Valparaiso, a visit to the observatories in Vicuna
and a visit to the Elqui valley.
Santiago Cathedral
South American Silver
Finishing our time in Santiago
included a great walking tour of the city. The next day we did some strolling
around on our own in the crowded downtown. Near the end of the afternoon we
discovered that Isabelle’s bag was zipped open and her phone was missing. A
little discouraged, we made our way on the subway system back to Murray and
Carmen’s house. My iPhone was a generation older than Isabelle’s and hadn’t
been used since Ecuador. It immediately stopped being dead weight on my
motorcycle and became our primary navigation tool.
Police presence does not stop all pickpockets
Thanks again, Murray and Carmen
for your tremendous generosity and welcoming spirit. Isa and I said our
goodbyes on Saturday morning and headed west for the port city of Valparaiso.
It was a short ride and soon we checked into the “La Joya” hostel. The motto painted
on the main staircase is, “We are striving to be the best hostel in South
America”. The place certainly was clean and nicely laid out.
We took a thorough walk along the
extensive waterfront and northern part of the city. There was a colony of sea
lions sunbathing on the remains of a concrete pier. Other port action included
the unloading of two huge container ships. Beside the floating giants was
anchored the Chilean navy.
Valparaiso
Valparaiso has experienced hard
times, being made essentially redundant by the opening of the Panama Canal but it
is showing signs of slow recovery. It is one of the oldest settlements in Chile
and was a mandatory port of call for centuries. The country’s seat of
government was moved here by the dictator, Pinochet. This economic boost to the
previously depressed area (Pinochet grew up in Valparaiso) has attracted tourism
and a service industry that each give much needed employment to local
residents.
Street Art
Street Art
No Building Code
Funicular
Walking Tour
On the way to the next morning’s
walking tour, we passed by barricades, mustered riot police and vehicles. Plaza
O’Higgins, the Chilean House of the National Congress was around the block from
our hostel and the new president was to be sworn in that day. Demonstrations
were expected. We returned after 5 that afternoon to find the barricades gone
and traffic flowing.
Valparaiso Scenes:
The walking tour was good and
brought us through many neighborhoods. The city grew through the centuries in a
haphazard manner. There was no city plan for the wild port town. The result is
twisted, narrow streets that wind their ways over and around knobby hills
covered by houses and buildings that conform to no building code. Here, found
materials like corrugated metal from shipping containers combine with adobe
bricks to create structures for housing and for businesses.
Valparaiso is famous for its
funicular pedestrian elevators along with its street art. It is considered to
possess one of the three best collections of outdoor painting in South America.
Only Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro and Colombia’s Medellin have street art that
rivals that of Valparaiso in both quality and quantity. Here, street “taggers”
respect street art and do not deface it. Building owners are thereby encouraged
to give permission to artists to display their work. Businesses benefit from a
good street painting on their wall by becoming a landmark within the rabbit
warren of twisted streets.
Valparaiso Mirador
Butch Phillips, is that you?
Riding north out of Valparaiso,
highway 5 brought us to the beach town called La Serena. We checked into posh
camping beside the beach and set things up. An evening walk along a beach that
was lined with resorts brought us past the casino and bars. High season was over.
It was strange to see a large density of tourism infrastructure completely
empty of tourists.
From La Serena we rode east,
inland to the picturesque town called Vicuna. The sea breeze effect was gone, the
cooling Pacific current no longer tempered the strong sun and the mercury rose
steadily. This was the place Francisco had recommended. It was away from the
Pan Americana highway and astronomy was the attraction. The Atacama Desert is
the driest place on earth. The climate combines with high altitude in the Andes
mountains to produce the best viewing condition of the heavens, on earth. We
booked a tour of the night sky for the next night.
A van took us up a twisting dirt
road that passed through little villages. The van gained about 1500 meters
altitude before the driver turned off its headlights for the last section to
the Mamalluca observatory. Our guide, Raul led us along a path lined with weak
green and red lights. The path led up to and inside the telescope housing. Raul
reassured us that the place was built without the use of stairs. The darkness
was almost complete on the ramp up to the telescope.
Raul gave a presentation on the
constellations visible in the southern hemisphere. He used a green laser
pointer to focus our attention on a feature in the sky. The telescope allowed
detailed views for each of us in turn. Raul’s passion for astronomy was
evident. The tour was fascinating.
The next day we rode through the
beautiful and fertile Elqui Valley to the town of Pisco. Extremely dry
conditions and strong sun help meticulous vintners produce the potent grapes
needed for the distilled potion called pisco. Chile claims that pisco was
invented in Pisco, Chile. Peru claims the same fame for the town of Pisco,
Peru. Who knows which came first?
Route of the Stars
Elqui Valley
Elqui Valley
Elqui Valley
Elqui Valley
Lunch in Pisco
Pisco Plaza
Heavy morning dew drenched our
tent in the campground that was surrounded by bone dry pink and yellow hills.
Little to no vegetation on the features made visible to us the mineral veins in
the exposed bedrock as we rode back toward the Pacific Ocean. It was a hot 30
degrees when we set off that morning. An hour later, the temperature had
dropped ten degrees as the waves came into view on the endless beach.
Collecting Solar Power
Riding inland, we were flanked in
the desert by many high-tension power lines. We saw wind farms and gigantic
solar photovoltaic plants producing the power that was transported to market.
Much of the photovoltaic power is consumed by the extensive mines in the north
of Chile. The vegetation dwindled from sparse to visibly nothing by the end of
the day. We were truly in the Atacama Desert.
Desert Scene
We wild camped among volcanic
stones that lay in the gravel and loose rock above a wave battered beach. The
sea unleashed its force without relent on the sand and rock below. We heard
pounding and thumping all night. A flock of sea birds searched with their beaks
in the sand for clams, hoping to add to the piles of discarded shells. We saw
scavenger birds too and dolphins in the morning. Behind the beach lay pink and
yellow hills that showed few signs of fluvial action. The whole area was like
one would imagine as a landscape on Mars.
Watching the Sunset
Wild Camp Above the Beach
A slow morning on the beach
merged into a switchback climb to 2400 meters by noon. The sky was intensely
blue, the sun powerful and the atmosphere was surreal. It’s difficult to
describe. We were back in the highlands
and we loved it.
Internet booking had landed us a
spot on a tour of the “Very Large Telescope” (VLT) at Mount Paranal, 2635 meters
(8645 feet) above sea level in the Atacama Desert. Arriving early in the
parking lot outside the security perimeter we met a fellow motoviajero,
Michael. He rides a DR650 and lives in Montreal. He grew up in Germany and also
speaks fluent English and French. We chatted during the two hour wait.
Very Large Telescope Housing
Track Mounted Telescopes
The observatory was
fascinating. Considering my brother Rob,
I kept notes and took photos. Rob is someone who greatly enjoys astronomy.
Underside of Primary Mirror
Gigantic Door
Tiny Secondary Mirror
The facility is the “world’s most
advanced visible-light astronomical observatory”. Its proper name is the
European Southern Observatory (ESO). European taxes built and staff the
facility. An approved research proposal wins an accredited astronomer all expenses
paid telescope time. The ESO features four main telescopes with primary mirrors
measuring 8.2 meters in diameter. The liquid nitrogen cooled 4 VLT’s can
combine their strength with underground mirrors, light tunnels and
sophisticated computer driven light delaying to form a virtual telescope
called, “The Very Large Telescope Interferometer” (VLTI).
The VLTI can monitor a broad
spectrum of electromagnetic radiation from ultraviolet to mid-infrared. The
site also features four 1.8-meter movable (track mounted) telescopes that can
also combine with VLTI technology. The VLT has made a major impact in the field
of astronomy, leading to the publication of an average of one peer reviewed
paper per day.
The four VLT's
Observatory from Access Road
After the observatory visit we
rode on toward the famous sculpture, “Mano Del Desierto” where we had agreed to
meet Michael for photographs. On the way we were struck by two rogue
sandstorms. We stopped for the first one as it swept across a wide valley
toward us. We braced with both legs, feet on the ground, against the wind.
Unable to see, we listened to the sand pelting our helmets for about 15
seconds. Then all was quiet again. After
Patagonia the wind force seemed surprisingly mild.
The Hand of the Desert sculpture
was impressive in real life. It was also devoid of tags. Trip research had
turned up numerous images of the hand that had been spoiled by graffiti.
Michael was still there, waiting
patiently for us. He took our photo. Visiting the Hand of the Desert was an
important moment for us, another milestone in our trip.
During the past few days we had
experienced our first return to high altitude in many months. Earlier in the
trip, we had slowly reached then lived in the northern highlands near 3000m elevation
for about 6 months. This time we had reached that altitude rapidly but still
had suffered no bad effects. The three of us rode together to the oceanside
city of Antofagasta to camp for the night.
Gas, Coffee Stop with Michael
The next day’s ride brought us up
again and inland to the oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama, 2600 meters above
sea level. Seemingly lifeless landscapes reinforced our understanding of the
absence of any moisture. Canada contains 20% of the world’s surface fresh water.
This place was foreign to us. Along the way there was much evidence of the mining
industry that brings wealth to Chile. Copper is the most important mineral but
lithium contained in the numerous salt flats of the Atacama Desert may prove to
be even more lucrative in the future. A mirador at a red valley near San Pedro
gave dramatic views.
Wind Farm
Michael
Approaching Cordillera Blanca
Salar de Atacama
Red Valley
House Into the Hill
The town of San Pedro de Atacama
has a more Bolivian feel than a Chilean one. There are indigenous people. Dirt
streets and adobe structures make up this charming place. People speak more
slowly here. It feels familiar and comfortable. It feels good to be back in the
highlands.
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