Buenas noches from Arica, Chile’s northernmost city, lying only eleven miles from the Peruvian border. I had an amazing day here, but before I describe my excursion a brief history lesson is in order. Why, you ask? Because, two really big things happened here in a city that you’ve probably never heard of.
The first occurred in 1868, when one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the coast of Arica. Estimated at magnitude 9.0, the quake lasted a few minutes and generated a massive tsunami that hit the Peruvian port (yes, Peruvian, and I’ll get to that in a minute) with several fifty foot waves. The town was completely devastated, and altogether the tsunami resulted in 25,000 deaths up and down the coast.
The second big thing that happened here was the battle of Arica, which occurred twelve years later, in 1880. I had never heard of the War of the Pacific, also called the Nitrate War, but it was a big deal and had lasting consequences. Long story short, Bolivia increased nitrate taxes on Chilean mining companies in violation of a treaty, resulting in war between the two countries, with Peru joining in with Bolivia due to a secret treaty. One of the major battles of the war occurred in Arica, when Chilean troops stormed the city and defeated the outnumbered Peruvian forces, with the Peruvians suffering over a thousand casualties. Ultimately, Chile won the war and took significant territory from both of its defeated enemies, with Bolivia becoming landlocked and Peru losing coastal areas including Arica. The war and its aftermath remain a sore spot to this day.
With that as background, let me tell you about my day, which was full of surprises. They started early, too, as nothing you’ve read can prepare you for the view that greets you when you walk out on the deck of the ship. El Morro is Chile’s Rock of Gibraltar, and the analogy seems fair when you’re up close to it as we were on our ship. The massive rock dominates the harbor, and the giant Chilean flag on top serves as a reminder that the climactic engagement of the battle of Arica took place up there, when the Chileans stormed the last Peruvian stronghold in the city and slaughtered the defenders. There’s also a war museum up there, which Michele saw, but I was off on a different excursion and missed it.
Once I tore my eyes off El Morro and looked out across the city I was blown away by the sight of the hills surrounding Arica. With its lovely harbor the city faces the Pacific Ocean, but at its back is the world’s driest non-polar desert, the Altacama. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is growing on those hills, and I’ve never seen anything like it. Hopefully my photos will accurately capture the starkness beyond the city.
We had barely gotten off the ship when we got our next surprise, and it was a delightful one. By happy chance, today was the first day of Carnival in Arica, and it was just a couple blocks from the harbor. Make no mistake, this is a big festival. Arica, a city of 220,000 residents, is home to the fourth largest Carnival in South America. It runs day and night for three straight days, with music, dancing, elaborate costumes and organized chaos. The costumes are incredible, and we were told that some cost more than a thousand dollars. Again, I hope my photos will convey at least a little of the energy, noise and celebrating of a South American Carnival.
Reluctantly we left Carnival behind, got on our bus, and headed out of the city to visit an olive farm. There are two river valleys that extend out from Arica, and they are the only places where there’s anything but sand. The rivers are fed by Andes snowmelt, and they don’t run often, but between them and an underground aquifer, there’s just enough water to grow a variety of crops in the valleys. Olives thrive in the dry, Mediterranean climate, and Arica olives are highly regarded. It’s not harvesting season, but we did get to see how the olives are grown, picked by hand, and processed for sale, locally or abroad. We also got to sample some, and they were delicious.
On our way back to Arica we got to see some of the geoglyphs on the nearby hills, which was a highlight for me. These stone works of art are estimated to be two thousand years old, and they’re beautifully preserved. When I have some time I want to learn more about them, but today it was on to our next stop at the largest farmers market I’ve ever seen. The market is open air, but with shading overhead, and covers the equivalent of a city block. There were all kinds of locally grown fruits and vegetables, but my favorite was the large tubs of olives. Check out my photos below.
We had one more stop at a craft market, where the shops were mostly closed for Carnival, but we were treated to mango sours and a private performance by a group of dancers who were on their way to Carnival. The dancing was great, and once again I was dazzled by the costumes. I’ll include a photo below.
After that it was back to the ship, hot, tired but exhilarated by our day in a truly unique place. I’ll include a few of Michele’s photos after my own, because her excursion took her to some different locations, including the top of El Morro. She also saw the world’s oldest mummies. Incredible.
Tomorrow is a sea day, and I may check in briefly on Facebook, before we’re off on one of the true highlights of this nine month cruise, a visit to Machu Picchu. Can’t wait to tell you about that when we get back. Stay tuned.
El Morro stands guard over the harbor. It’s immense, and photos don’t do it justice. Note the giant Chilean flag on top. Chile won El Morro, Arica, and the surrounding territory fair and square, by conquering it and defeating Peru and Bolivia in the Nitrate War.
Another view of El Morro from downtown, with Carnival going on full swing.
The Carnival costumes are great, and the participants, who come from several countries, are very friendly.
Another shot of Carnival. I wish my photos could convey the loud music from the bands that accompany each group of performers.
The costumes are amazing.
I like this photo. Behind the noisy and colorful celebration of Carnival stands St. Mark’s Cathedral. The Cathedral is truly unique, because it was designed by Gustav Eiffel. Yes, that Eiffel. How about that.
In stark contrast, and I do mean stark, is what you see as soon as you leave the city outskirts. The Altacama Desert is the world’s driest non-polar desert, and the only signs of life are found along the two mostly dry river valleys extending out from Arica. This is the view from the olive farm we visited. It lies along one of the river valleys, but look behind it. That’s what you see everywhere else. Believe it or not, that lighter section on the hill is a covered greenhouse-like structure where they’re going to use precious water from the underground aquifer to grow tomatoes. Farmers here buy water from a canal by the hour.
Olive trees can live for hundreds of years. The thicker the trunk, the older the tree.
The olives are picked by hand, and then put on a conveyor belt which cleans and sorts them.
The conveyor belt. You can’t see it in this photo, but farther down the olives drop into various buckets.
The olives go into these large tubs, where they spend nine months fermenting. The farm uses only water, salt and vinegar to ferment the olives, a very clean process.
The tubs we saw contain olives that are pretty much finished with the fermenting process. Our guide scooped some out for us to try. They were salty, but absolutely delicious.
Next we went to the largest farmers market I have ever seen.
Look at these giant tubs of olives.
These geoglyphs are at least two thousand years old. Amazing, aren’t they.
At the craft market we were treated to a performance by a group on their way to Carnival. They were wonderful, and how about those costumes.
The mummies Michele saw on her excursion are the oldest in the world.
Cannon and flag at the top of El Morro.
View of Arica from the top of El Morro.
Arica has a beautiful harbor, but look at that desert in its back yard.
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