Day 62 & 63
Today I'm in: Arica and Iquique, Chile
As further proof that I'm currently in an orderly, predictable country, the lead story on last night's Chilean national news was about a teenager who, as a nighttime prank, reset the hands on a flower clock in the city of Viña del Mar. They devoted a full two or three minutes to the story, complete with commentary from residents who used the clock as a reference and got confused. That's what passes for headline news here - awesome.
Day 62 certainly felt like "Arica, siempre Arica." I mentioned that I wasn't sure how I was going to fill a day after seeing so much of the town in such a short time the day before. The original plan, after all, had been to be at Lauca National Park before I discovered there was no way to dodge altitude sickness on a daytrip. I purposely saved a few sights to give me something to do, starting with the climb up El Morro, which I reached by a set of steps up the hillside just behind my hotel. At the top there was a panoramic view across all of Arica, plus a nice little museum explaining the finer points of the battle fought there during the War of the Pacific. There was plenty of patriotic music and monumental sculpture as well, including several placards dedicated by ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet.
When I'd had my fill of the view I scissor-footed down the mountain (it's a really steep path) and back into town for some lunch. I opted for another lomo a lo pobre, and this one wasn't miniature, either. It arrived swimming in oil (not so good for me) but packed with stuff I like - eggs, steak, sausage and potatoes. Any more than a week in Chile and I'd probably die of heart failure; I don't know how the people here manage to keep themselves healthy.
Post-lunch I walked out to Arica's beach, which is known throughout the country for being warm enough to swim in, even in the dead of winter. I didn't bring my suit, but there were people in the water. Compared to some of the beaches I've seen on this trip, it wasn't much of a looker - the sand is like brown sugar and the wind was a little bit strong - but the weather was nice and I could see why folks from Santiago might enjoy a trip up here. Several large resorts are located along the beach as well, and during school holidays Arica is packed with vacationers.
That - and a lot of time lounging around the hotel room either using the computer or trying to make sense of the rapid-fire Spanish on TV - wrapped up Day 62. This morning started before sunrise with a trip out to the airport for my flight down the coast to Iquique. I was very happy when I got to the gate (warning: airplane dorkdom ahead) and saw a Boeing 737-200 parked at these gate. The 737 is still the world's best-selling plane, but the -200 series came out in the late 1960s and hasn't been in use by any US carriers for about a decade. I have lots of good memories from childhood flying -200s on Southwest, United and Delta, and it was nice to get back on one of these old planes. They're most notable for the clamshell thrust reversers that open up when you land and make a LOT of noise. Beautiful.
In any event, the flight down to Iquique was only about a half hour, and we arrived to mist and gloom. Both of my days in Arica started out murky and cleared up by lunchtime, but today in Iquique that hasn't been the case - it's 5:30pm and still pretty gross-looking out. My whole rationale for coming to Iquique was to try paragliding, which is where you parachute off of a mountaintop and then, using a series of controls, glide for anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour on your way down. Iquique, being located right on the ocean with steep, almost vertical mountains right behind it, is the biggest paragliding center in South America, so it seemed like a good place to try it out. I'm staying at the Altazor Flight Park, which is a paragliding school and hostel made entirely from shipping containers. I was a little bit nervous when we pulled up, but my container is, well, fully self-contained and actually quite nice inside, with a bathroom and bedroom inside.
Originally I was hoping to do a flight today, and when I got there at 10am the school's director penciled me in for a flight at 2:30. He then loaned me his bike so I could go into Iquique for lunch, and I got about halfway there before I remembered I forgot my camera - so no pictures of town. It's a pretty agreeable city, much larger and nicer than Arica, with plenty of high-rise condos underscoring its status as the country's number-one summer beach resort. When I got back at 2:30, there was nobody around, and finally at 3:30 the instructors came back to say the winds weren't cooperating and they weren't going to do a flight today. So I'm rescheduled for tomorrow. The forecast is for good, strong winds, so keep your fingers crossed. (The photo, by the way, is from Arica, not Iquique.)
Today I'm in: Arica and Iquique, Chile
As further proof that I'm currently in an orderly, predictable country, the lead story on last night's Chilean national news was about a teenager who, as a nighttime prank, reset the hands on a flower clock in the city of Viña del Mar. They devoted a full two or three minutes to the story, complete with commentary from residents who used the clock as a reference and got confused. That's what passes for headline news here - awesome. 
Day 62 certainly felt like "Arica, siempre Arica." I mentioned that I wasn't sure how I was going to fill a day after seeing so much of the town in such a short time the day before. The original plan, after all, had been to be at Lauca National Park before I discovered there was no way to dodge altitude sickness on a daytrip. I purposely saved a few sights to give me something to do, starting with the climb up El Morro, which I reached by a set of steps up the hillside just behind my hotel. At the top there was a panoramic view across all of Arica, plus a nice little museum explaining the finer points of the battle fought there during the War of the Pacific. There was plenty of patriotic music and monumental sculpture as well, including several placards dedicated by ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet. 
When I'd had my fill of the view I scissor-footed down the mountain (it's a really steep path) and back into town for some lunch. I opted for another lomo a lo pobre, and this one wasn't miniature, either. It arrived swimming in oil (not so good for me) but packed with stuff I like - eggs, steak, sausage and potatoes. Any more than a week in Chile and I'd probably die of heart failure; I don't know how the people here manage to keep themselves healthy. 
Post-lunch I walked out to Arica's beach, which is known throughout the country for being warm enough to swim in, even in the dead of winter. I didn't bring my suit, but there were people in the water. Compared to some of the beaches I've seen on this trip, it wasn't much of a looker - the sand is like brown sugar and the wind was a little bit strong - but the weather was nice and I could see why folks from Santiago might enjoy a trip up here. Several large resorts are located along the beach as well, and during school holidays Arica is packed with vacationers. 
That - and a lot of time lounging around the hotel room either using the computer or trying to make sense of the rapid-fire Spanish on TV - wrapped up Day 62. This morning started before sunrise with a trip out to the airport for my flight down the coast to Iquique. I was very happy when I got to the gate (warning: airplane dorkdom ahead) and saw a Boeing 737-200 parked at these gate. The 737 is still the world's best-selling plane, but the -200 series came out in the late 1960s and hasn't been in use by any US carriers for about a decade. I have lots of good memories from childhood flying -200s on Southwest, United and Delta, and it was nice to get back on one of these old planes. They're most notable for the clamshell thrust reversers that open up when you land and make a LOT of noise. Beautiful. 
In any event, the flight down to Iquique was only about a half hour, and we arrived to mist and gloom. Both of my days in Arica started out murky and cleared up by lunchtime, but today in Iquique that hasn't been the case - it's 5:30pm and still pretty gross-looking out. My whole rationale for coming to Iquique was to try paragliding, which is where you parachute off of a mountaintop and then, using a series of controls, glide for anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour on your way down. Iquique, being located right on the ocean with steep, almost vertical mountains right behind it, is the biggest paragliding center in South America, so it seemed like a good place to try it out. I'm staying at the Altazor Flight Park, which is a paragliding school and hostel made entirely from shipping containers. I was a little bit nervous when we pulled up, but my container is, well, fully self-contained and actually quite nice inside, with a bathroom and bedroom inside.
Originally I was hoping to do a flight today, and when I got there at 10am the school's director penciled me in for a flight at 2:30. He then loaned me his bike so I could go into Iquique for lunch, and I got about halfway there before I remembered I forgot my camera - so no pictures of town. It's a pretty agreeable city, much larger and nicer than Arica, with plenty of high-rise condos underscoring its status as the country's number-one summer beach resort. When I got back at 2:30, there was nobody around, and finally at 3:30 the instructors came back to say the winds weren't cooperating and they weren't going to do a flight today. So I'm rescheduled for tomorrow. The forecast is for good, strong winds, so keep your fingers crossed. (The photo, by the way, is from Arica, not Iquique.) 
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