Good For One GalaxyA long, 18 hour bus ride from La Serena on the mid coast of Chile to the North had us arriving in Iquique, Chiles’ sun and surf destination. Even though feeling a little dusty and stiff as we trudged off the bus we were so glad to be by a beautiful beach and in a warmer climate.
The boardwalk on the main beach in Iquique — our hostel was only 1 minute away from the seashore!
However, we had to work a little miracle to get this far North. You see we were attempting to travel amidst Chiles’ week long Independence Celebration, which in hindsight may not have been the brightest idea as the whole country practically shuts down and all accommodation was near full for weeks.
Watching the military parade from our hostels’ bedroom window
The celebration, however gave us a unique insight into Chilean culture. One morning we woke up to a parade charging down our street. Thousands of military personal were marching in the parade, uniforms impeccable and guns blazing.
Cowboy boots, spurs and brightly coloured dresses
Later came a fleet of young girls wearing bright frilly dresses and boys in ponchos, cowboy hats and boot spurs dancing the traditional Cueca (pronounced like quaker). The dance looks like an act of courting; the boy approaches the girl, the girl accepts by linking with his arm and they proceed to dance, dresses twirling, boots stomping, spurs clattering to the beat, and a flurrying of handkerchief waving. It is quite a spectacular sight.
Local kids in traditional dress
Later that night,we were lucky enough to befriend two local Chilean girls on holiday from Santiago. They took us to the annual “ferria”, or fair, in town, where we witnessed more Cuaca dancing, ate a tonne of mixed meat skewers and completo hotdogs, followed by the toxic Terremodo alcoholic drink (see a post about memorable Chilean food and drink), and played a game or two of foosball and dart shooting.
Just a few hours inland from Iquique in the middle of the Atacama Desert lies the ghost town of Humberstone. The town was slowly abandoned with the sudden collapse of the nitrate industry in the 1930’s, which fed the town and its people employment and wealth.
Abandoned Santa Laura nitrate plant. Nitrate can be used in both fertilizer and explosives
The world was in the grip of the Great Depression so when the discovery of synthetic ammonia was made, the natural form of nitrate extraction was found to be too costly, and with that Santa Laura was shut down.
Copper, steel and other worthy materials were scavenged from the plant, so what has been left is what could not be taken by hand.
The people of Humberstone held onto the hope that their town could survive the Depression and closing of its nitrate plant but slowly it’s demise was realised with the last of the town people leaving 30 years later, rendering Humberstone completely abandoned.
The abandoned streets of Humberstone was once filled with a thriving community, now all that is left is dust and decay.
The town remained untouched for a further 40 years. It is for this reason the area has recently been made a world heritage site, to ensure that everything is kept as it was abandoned; the communal pool, once a recreational Sunday past time sits empty and rusting, the school classrooms lined neatly with work desks and chairs, never moved since the abandonment, have slowly faded and withered over time.
The bake house still has logs piled up, waiting to be burned from 40 years ago. Humberstone truly is an eerie sight; time has literally stood still here.
Abandoned school classrooms
Scale still sits in the old supermarket
The swimming pool, an icon of leisure and fun, now sits empty and rusted
These were the shoes left by children that once lived in the town
On another day, we decided to take a bus trip to the local fish market, which was actually one of the biggest in Northern Chile. By the time we arrived, much for the catch from that morning had already been sold and the crowd was dwindling, which I think worked to our advantage, as we could move at our own pace.
At the edge of one of the docks Tyce and I noticed a group of sea lions waiting for the fisherman to throw over any scraps from the days catch. Sea lions were becoming a normal site for us each time we visited the coast.
Iquique would mark the end of our travels in Chile for the moment, as we begin to head further north crossing the frontier into Peru.
