Wednesday, 20 March 2013
After a day at sea, we arrived at
Arica, Chile, at the northern tip of the country--so far north, that at one time it was part of Peru. The area around Arica is one of the driest in the world--annual rainfall is .03 inches a year, and Arica gets 2 days of rain per year, on average. On the other hand, the record high temperature is only about 91 degrees Fahrenheit. There is a huge rock outcropping (Morro de Arica) that overlooks the city.
We had booked a tour of the area with some other folks on the CruiseCritic board, so as soon as we got off the ship, we began the tour.
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| Morro de Arica |
One of the first stops was Catedral de San Marcos de Arica, which is on the main square and was designed by Gustave Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame. The church is constructed mostly of wrought iron.
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| Catedral de San Marcos de Arica |
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| Inside the cathedral |
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| Another building near the main square. Unfortuately, I don't remember what it is. |
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| Customs House, also designed by Gustave Eiffel |
After walking around the center of the city, we drove along the coast, through the outskirts of town, and eventually to the top of Morro de Arica.
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| Nice wave action along the coast |
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| Another view along the coast. Note lack of vegetation. |
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| Some suburban housing |
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| On top of Morro de Arica |
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| View of the coast from the top |
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| More stuff on the top of Morro de Arica |
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| View of our ship from the top. |
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| View of Arica from the top |
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| Another view of Arica |
From the top of Morro de Arica, we headed back through the outskirts of town to view some petroglyphs and eventually to an olive farm.
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| Housing on the outskirts of Arica |
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| Suburban Arica |
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| More from the suburbs |
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| Not much business at La Tienda del Desierto |
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| Some petroglyphs outside Arica |
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| It really is dry.... |
At the olive farm, we got to see them making olive oil, and bought a bottle to bring home.
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| A grove of olive trees |
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| Olives going into the presser |
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| Olive oil coming out of the presser |
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| What's left over. It's used for animal feed. |
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| Strikers near the olive farm |
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| They really don't like management. |
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| More farms in the desert near Arica |
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| More petroglyphs |
Our next stop was the San Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum, a few miles outside of Arica. In addition to all sorts of pre-Columbian artifacts, the museum houses the
Chinchorro mummies, which are about 2,000 years older than the oldest ones discovered in Egypt.
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| Some artifacts from the museum |
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| A 7,000 year old mummy |
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| Another mummy |
After the museum, we headed back into town for some shopping, and then went back to the ship.
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| Street seen in Arica |
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| Souvenir stands in the Plaza de Colon |
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| View of Morro de Arica from the ship |
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| A final view of Arica |
Next:
Lima, Peru
