Iquique taxi system

Kevin and a Christmas tree

A sign you will not find in Derbyshire


Monday 24th December

We walked from the hotel into town which took over an hour. Just behind the hotel there is a residential area with a huge sand dune looming over it.





There are some really strange trees as well.


The beach was almost empty and we passed a strange burnt out night club. It reminded Joan of Blackpool, where they tend to set light to unsuccessful ventures at the end of the season. However this is full season.



The we saw an outdoor gym on the beach.


The next beach was busier and there were a lot of vendors selling water, ice lollies and newspapers. Further on there was an area for surfing.


There were some fishing boats moored out at sea.



And someone was paprapenting off the sand dune.




Next there was a statue of Bernardo O’Higgins. There seems to be one in every Chilean city.




There seems to be a local tradition of painting happy Christmas messages on your car.



In to the town, there was a bustling street market, selling clothes, hats, shoes and Christmas tat. We eventually found a café and had something to drink. The main news seems to be Coro Coro winning the cup final, which we saw in the restaurant last night. There were also some shots of the bad weather in Ontario. Poor Philip!!

We wandered around the town which used to have the reputation for the highest consumption of Champagne per head in the late Victorian era.


There are a lot of the old style buildings left.




If it wasn’t for Italian restaurants, we wouldn’t eat. The waiter said he could make us a special of cannelloni with spinach and ricotta. At the end he asked us, in Spanish, from where we came. When we said, he asked what city. Sheffield and Leeds passed him by, but Manchester solicited the reply: “It rains a lot.”

Then we tried to catch a taxi home. Initially everyone refused us, but eventually we flagged one down on the prom. To our surprise two other women were already in it. He dropped them off before taking us to the hotel. The hotel receptionist explained the complex system of taxis to us. It seems they only go to certain zones. At least we got back and it only cost a pound.

A taxi

Sometimes life is hard and you have to spend Christmas Eve in a pool or a jacuzzi overlooking the Pacific Ocean.