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Heading north from Santiago,
Chile's rich central valley gives way to the Norte Chico. This is a transitional
area before the Atacama Desert begins in earnest. As vegetation becomes
increasingly scarce, so do large population centers. This church is in
the town of La Serena, about 300 miles north of Santiago. While it has
become an increasingly important coastal resort for Santiaguinos, it marks
the beginning of a long and, at times, monotonous journey through some
of the earth's most perfect desert. There are places in the Atacama that
have had no measurable precipitation in the past 20 years.
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For much of the ride
northward, the only thing visible for endles miles are the remains of ghost
towns from the hayday of Chile's nitrate mining boom. We couldn't figure
at first why much of the Pan Am route was paralleled by this nice gravel
road. The anwer was provided by these dump trucks that serve the Norte
Chico's smaller copper mining enterprises. At 25 feet wide they are wider
than the Pan Am. The only thing that reveals their size is the telephone
pole at left. We would learn more about these trucks later. At right you
can see the bareness of the landscape near Antofogasta.
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Also near Antofagasto
is this 60-foot high sculpture by Chilean artist Mario Irrarrázaval.
Earlier in our trip, we had seen a similar smaller sculpture by the same
artist that emerges from the sands on Playa Bravo in Punta del Este Uruguay.
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Just east of the Pan
Am near Huara a lone hill contains this geoglyph--the largest anthropomorphic
glyph in South America.
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NEXT
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