Historical/Background Info:
This is a new port for us as it was not on 2012 itinerary. Iquique is located in far northern Chile just 125 miles south of the Peruvian boarder with Chile. Chile is a most interesting country, geologically wise. It is 2653 miles long but only averages 110 miles wide and 80% on the country is mountains of some form. Most of its population of 18 million live near the mountains. The world’s most arid desert, the Atacama Desert, is over 600 miles long and starts at the border with Peru. The desert contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. We will be cruising past this unique desert for two days.
For now let’s get back to Iquique. It was founded in the mid-1500’s and then this area was a part of Peru. In the War of the Pacific between Bolivia and Chile, in 1879 during the naval Battle of Iquique, this portion of Peru was given to Chile. Iquique developed during the 1800’s when saltpeter (sodium nitrate-used as fertilizer and in gunpowder) was mined near here in the Alacama Desert. This mining has pretty much played out now. Iquique now has one of the largest duty-free commercial ports in South America. Copper mining is now important to its economy. Climate wise, it has an average of 1 rain day per YEAR and then only a trace amount is recorded. Once again due to the Humboldt Current the city’s temperature is very moderate with high of averaging in mid 70’s. If you go swimming at the beach, you will find the ocean water very cold (60F during summer months of Jan-Mar) Remember seasons in southern hemisphere are opposite of ours.
What We Did Today:
We were supposed to be docked here from 1:00pm to 9:00pm today. I was supposed to have a 6 hour tour in the afternoon, "Humberstone & Pintados Geoglyphs". It was visit the ghost town of Humberstone. This town was established in 1862 and was home to thousands of workers that mined sodium nitrate. When the price of nitrate plummeted the town was abandoned in 1960 when the refineries closed.
We were suppose to view some of the over 400 geoglyphs near Pintados. Geoglyphs are prehistoric works of art carved in the earth between 600 and 1500 AD. There are over 5000 of these are found on hillsides, pampas, and valley floors in the Atacama Desert. There are 400 geoglyphs here at Pintados. These human and animal figures and geometric forms were made either by scraping the darker soil away to expose the lighter colored subsoil and/or by carefully placing stones or other natural materials to form the figures. The complete reason for these geoglyphs is unknown but some of the possible functions include a ritual worship of mountains or devotions to Andean gods. Some believe the geoglyphs were used as "traffic signs" to store knowledge of safe pathways for llama caravans through the desert. The information includes where they could find water and fodder to feed the llamas.
From there we wee suppose to visit the Tamarugal National Reserve before returning to the ship at around 7:15 pm.
Well, it did not happen!! There is a swell coming in the port harbor. They started the tender operation. I was at the end of the line to board the first tender but the platform that is used for boarding the tenders broke. I decided then to turn in my ticket and stay on board. They finally got 85 people on the tender and on the way to shore. Now the Captain came on the PA at 2:00 pm and said it was not safe to continue the tender operation. The tender with 85 people on it are on their way back to the ship. We cannot dock here as an earthquake last year tore up the docks. Here are some photos I took from the ship of Iquique and some photos taken on the top deck (sports deck).
Here is an example of geoglyphs. Photo from internet. Disappointed I did not have the opportunity to see them in person.
It's 6:15 pm and we are still bobbing around in the harbor. The ship is rolling side to side as the swells hit us. At 5:00 the Captain said the 85 passengers are back on board but there are 2 people still on shore. I assume they are crew. I saw the tender go back to shore over an hour ago. ????? Yesterday I asked if Chef Michael could make us veal parmesan tonight as the menu for tonight did not grab us. He said the ship had run out of mozzarella cheese. That's kind of weird?? So we asked for Dover sole instead. We love that too and is probably better for us diet wise. For the show tonight there are a couple acoustic guitarists. Probably will skip it. Tomorrow is a sea day.
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