Pisagua to Arica

Sunday 30th December

During the night we could see people wandering around looking for the source of the electricity cut. It seems that the local Caribineros usually sort it out, but this time they had to get someone from the city, which we assume is Iquique, about 200 km away.

The old Fire Station

By the morning the lights were back on. We had breakfast and signed the visitors’ book for the landlady. She wanted to read our guide book, and was appalled at how out of date it was. We promised her that we would email Rough Guides when we get back, and ensure everyone knows about her hostel.

Public phone box outside La Roca

View from our bedroom

View of our bedroom on the left

We then set off back to the headland to video the sea lions, or “lobos” (wolves). On the way we heard a racket come from the sea, and saw an armada of pelicans, who were bossing the seagulls about.

On the pier, people were buying fish, but not in bulk, one or two per person.

It was much hotter this time, but we still made it down to the shore. The sun was in a better place. We did quite a bit of filming and took some better photographs. Sea lions seem to love playing around in the incoming waves – a bit like humans.








As we made our way back along the narrow track on the edge of the hillside, a 4X4 came along and offered us a lift. As it was so hot we did not think. The man was obviously a local, as he drove precariously close to the edge, up and down the very bumpy track. We both held on tight and leant towards the hillside, as if that would make a difference.

Kindly he dropped us off at the hostel, where the Landlady was keen to offer us a beer. We tried to explain about not drinking and driving, and politely refused.

Finally we set off. On the way out of town we visited the cemetery. We are told that there are many British people buried there from the nitrate era, but the names on the graves have disappeared. It was quite a dilapidated place, and quite gruesome as you could see collapsed coffins. We didn’t want to look in!!

However the most terrible thing about this cemetery came at its furthest point.

During the initial years of the Pinochet regime (11 September 1973 – 1990), Pisagua was used as a concentration camp for the local leaders of the opposition Socialist Party. Socialists were incarcerated in the Pisagua jail, tortured and falsely accused of crimes to justify their treatment. About thirty individuals were either shot or had their throats cut in the graveyard or thereabouts, including a fisherman and a young boy who had nothing to do with politics. In some of the cases, their corpses were blown up to conceal their executions. Many of the families have still not had the chance to bury their relatives.

There is an open pit in the graveyard where they excavated some bodies. It has some words by Pablo Neruda above it, the famous Chilean poet, and roughly says that thousands of years could not wash away the blood spilt here.





More recently (last year) a new monument has been erected giving the history of the site, and the names of those known to have died whilst incarcerated at Pisagua.

After visiting this sad place, we left Pisagua, up the steep track again, and headed north to Arica. There isn’t much along the Ruta 5, not even a petrol station. Just a few posada, or truck stops.

A subtle Chilean warning sign

The Ruta 5 has been mainly flat across the nitrate pampa, but towards Arica, it goes down and up steep hills, high above deep valleys. There were loads of mad bus drivers, hurtling their way to Iquique and Santiago, which is almost a full day’s drive from here.

Eventually we descended into Arica, which is more like a city than Iquique and Antofagasta. Our hotel is on General Valasquez, near the port. To date, we have been used to half deserted hotels, with a few mining engineers or European tourists for company. Here it is packed with families, who mainly seem to come from Bolivia.

Initially they gave us a room overlooking the pool, but there were loads of kids, music blaring and no privacy, so we asked to change and were given a suite of rooms in the rear of the hotel with two bathrooms and a Jacuzzi.

We walked into town, which was bustling with street traders and taxis. As usual there wasn’t much choice for veggies, so we ate Italian in a wooden building, on a corner. It must have been the worst Italian in the world. Kevin initially ordered “cerveza national” (local beer) and was told they only had Mexican. Joan asked for a wine list, referred to on the main menu, and was told there was no wine. Joan ordered a Pizza Ecologico and they did not have the ingredients. And then when we asked for pepper, they had none of that either. We won’t even talk about the “banos” (toilets.)

We didn’t stay long!!!

pozo alomonte to pisagua

A lorry carrying ammonium nitrate outside our hotel in Pozo

Saturday 29th December

We missed breakfast again, and had to go to a modest café that we had visited previously. It was quite basic, selling hot dog, burgers and “sandwichs” which seems to be the Chilean for “bocadillos.” They served very slowly but we were in no rush. We noticed that lots of people drank fizzy pops, rather than water.

Outside our bedroom window there was a lorry that contained ammonium nitrate. We had also noticed quite a few tankers passing through town with “acido sulfurico” on board.

After filling up again, we headed north to Pisagua. The road down was initially deceptively good, contrary to the guide book. It was a real wilderness. We passed another deserted graveyard, being swallowed up by the sand.

Then there was a desvio! The road down to Pisagua was being reconstructed, so there was a small (not) diversion via Viejo Pisagua. It involved a very narrow track, hovering on the edge of a very steep cliff, with only a small mound of sand to protect us from the abyss. Kevin drove with his eyes wide closed and leant heavily towards the hillside, just in case. We thought the trials were over when we descended into a valley with a beautiful bay, however we had taken a wrong turn and had gone to Viejo Pisagua (old Pisagua). We had to ascend again but not so high to pass over a cliff to new Pisagua.

Don't look down!

The beach at Viejo (old) Pisagua

Pisagua is overlooked by a fine clock tower which no longer works.

Behind the wooden facade is a mish-mash of corrugated iron and other materials.

The old hospital

We had not expected much of the town, but in fact it was quite charming. A former, booming nitrate port, there were many grand but crumbling buildings. We couldn’t find the hotel that was the former jail, but came across an hostel that had rooms and lots of cats.

It was perched on a rock, above the sea. It was all a bit ramshackle, and the landlady spoke a curious melange of Spanish, English and French because she used to live in Quebec.

The landlord had built the hostel himself and their bedroom was built on stilts with panoramic views of the Pacific.

A Chilean couple who were staying here told us that if we walked south of the village, there was a colony of sea lions.

The fishing fleet

Not a dog kennel, but a small shrine thanking a saint for a miracle last year.

We walked along the hillside, and about after an hour heard the sea lions making a racket. We followed the noise and found them. There were loads of them, camouflaged against the dark cliffs. We managed to get quite near one family, who seemed to be somewhat fascinated by us.

At this point, we realised that the battery on our video camera was flat.

The headland was clearly volcanic as there were several collapsed lava tubes.
We walked back to Pisagua.

Back at the hostel we discovered that the hotel in the former jail had shut several years ago. It has not a pleasant history (especially if you are a socialist, but more of that tomorrow.)

We had dinner in the dining room overlooking the Pacific. The landlady had made a big effort, given that we are vegetarian. And then there was a power cut, so we are sitting here, writing this by candlelight.