About a kidnapping (actually a dognapping)!

Here is a story for you and anyone with a pet will completely understand my meltdown. Our sightseeing trip of the day was going to be the Tropic of Capricorn Monument and the day started out like most others. Get up, make coffee and let Winston out in the morning for his business. In the mornings he is usually quick because he knows he is allowed on the bed to play and maybe catch a few more zzzs with Tom. After about 15 minutes, he did not come back. There were some surfers on the beach and they said they had seen him close by but then he just disappeared. After scouring the beach and even driving to the next cove over and asking everyone we met if they had seen a Beagle including the police, the gendarmerie and the garbage collectors, we came to the conclusion that someone had kidnapped him! Pascale, one of the ladies with the surfers suggested making flyers, so in tears I downloaded a couple of photos onto a USB drive and she took them to her home to make up some copies. During the time she was gone, Tom and I continued walking the beach even crossed the busy street to go up into a housing development and calling for him. When Pascale returned, we started posting the flyers on lampposts and handing them out to people. We are offering a $1,000.00 dollar reward for his safe return. I am a basket case and can’t stop crying. Tom thinks we need to be more proactive and decides to go into town and speak with the bomberos and see if they had any ideas. He also decided to visit the local TV and radio stations and if necessary pay them to put Winston’s information and reward details on the air. In the meantime I would stay with the RV in case someone brought him back. As I waited, there were quite a few surfers and their friends who were driving around the neighborhoods to see if they could spot him. One of them came back; he thought they had seen Winston with a lady. I got in the truck and went to the housing area where they had seen the dog. His friend had an older lady by the arm and she was with a beagle on a leash. My heart sank, it wasn’t Winston. “His name is Roy” she told me. “He’s mine and I’ve had him for 5 years”. After I had assured the two guys that it wasn’t Winston and to let her go, I almost smiled. If we were in the States this lady would have been screaming for the police if someone held her against her will accusing her of dog stealing but here…the poor lady just looked at us all defiantly, muttered again “He’s mine and his name is Roy” and went on her way. Unbeknown to me, Tom was already at the TV station and they put out an alert on air, free of charge (can you believe it!) and so everyone listening knew about the North Americans and our lost Beagle and that there was a $1,000.00 reward. Then, in the afternoon I was walking the beach, again and as I turned to head back to the RV, a car pulled up, the door opened; they pushed Winston out and took off! It was crazy. The surfers and I couldn't believe it. I started to run and call his name, Winston looked a bit dazed. They could have got the reward. I would have gratefully parted with $1,000.00 just to get him back. I was so relieved. Winston was limping from a cut on his leg and was hungry but was otherwise ok. When Tom got back from town, he was totally amazed. We were going to do whatever it took to get him back even if it meant renting a house and bombarding the media with photos. We tried to come up with a plausible explanation as to why the people did not try to claim the reward but could not think of a reason. We were just so relieved to have him home. When I told Tom about the false alarm and the story of the older lady and her dog Roy, Tom said that it was just as well that he was back. He said he would have had visions of people coming with a parade of Beagles to see if any were Winston. By evening word had gotten out that he had been returned, and not only did the TV people drop by to check on him but many people from the town. After that we dared not let him out of our sight because now everyone in town (and this is a poor town) knew that Winston was worth a thousand dollars! I jokingly told Tom "Jeez, if they know you will pay that much for the dog, what's the wife worth!" "Nothing" he said "We were only going to pay that for Winston so my life would be worth living!!" We both laughed but agreed it was a close call. Joking aside, he was gone for about 7 hours and it must have taken 5 years off our lives.

Mano de Desierto (Hand of the Desert)

The Atacama Desert is one of several seemingly lifeless places that make Chile look like another world. The scorched lunar-like landscape stretches for hundreds of miles on both sides of the Pan-American Highway, with much of that distance undisturbed by any sign of human, animal or avian activity. About 75km south of the town of Antofagasta, the monotony is broken by a sight even more eerie then the desert itself. I guess there is nothing like a blank canvas if you want to create a massive sculpture even if that sculpture is an enormous hand protruding out of the sand. And that's just what Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal has done here. Inaugurated in 1992 with funding from a local organization, Mano de Desierto (Hand of the Desert) is made from iron and cement and looms 11 meters (36 feet) tall. Since its inception, it has become a point of interest and a popular photo stop for tourists traveling this section of the Pan-American Highway, even bus companies tell their passengers to “just look to the west”. We do not want to just look; we want to get up close and personal with the sculpture, which means leaving the highway and driving down yet another dirt trail. As we get closer, the statue towers over us. On closer inspection, the detail is incredible. Palm, thumb, fingers, joints even the fingernails, it is remarkable. Sort of like looking at your hand under a microscope. But why a hand? Well, the notion of hands rising from the ground is an obsession of Mr. Irarrázabal's and his trademark of ideas. His other famous work includes another over-sized sculpture of a hand exploring the same idea: We had seen Monument to the Drowned at Playa Brava in Punta del Este, Uruguay, when we were there. (see blog from Punta del Este, Uruguay). According to Irarrázabal he uses the human hand to express emotions like injustice, loneliness, sorrow and torture and the exaggerated size is meant to emphasize human vulnerability and helplessness. Well! It is extraordinary, if a little strange. It is also unfortunately an easy victim of graffiti and although it is cleaned occasionally that must not have been done in a while as there were quite a few markings on it. We took photographs while Winston waited in the shade of the palm and thumb, like I said this thing is rather large. After walking around it a few more times, we left but marveled at the fact that first of all someone had thought of doing this, two; someone agreed to fund it and three; they had chosen this of all places which is, quite frankly in the middle of nowhere to build it. Oh, and four; if you are ever in the area, don’t miss it!

La Portada ("The Gateway")

Located just off-shore, 18 km (11 mi) north of Antofagasta, La Portada is a natural arch and is considered to be one of the highlights of this dramatic coastline. Declared a national Monument in 1990, it is one of fifteen natural monuments included among the protected areas of Chile and covers an area of around 77 acres. It has since become an icon of the region and one of the most recognizable and photographed landmarks in Chile. Following a strong earthquake a couple of years ago, the whole area was redesigned and built with a new access road, several viewing platforms designed to optimize views of the arch from different angles and a restaurant. The arch itself is 43 m (140 ft) high, 23 m (75 ft) wide, and 70 m (230 ft) long and is clearly visible as we drive down the access road. Comprising of sedimentary rocks, yellow sandstone and layers of fossils that date back 35 to 2 million years ago, the sea has steadily eroded the cliffs to form this amazing natural structure. Unfortunately, it is surrounded by cliffs that are themselves the victim of erosion and after the earthquake left the cliffs more unstable, the beach and pathways at the base of the cliffs are now closed to the public. This monument is outstanding and despite the fairly strong breeze blowing from the ocean, we walked to all the viewing platforms to get photographs from different angles. The highest one and which also happens to be the closest to the restaurant is built out over the rocks and ocean, giving the sensation of being suspended but the views were incredible. After taking numerous photos, we headed into the restaurant which is actually a step above the regular café style places that is found at most park services. We found a window table and our waiter obliged us by taking our photo with the arch in the background. The beef empanadas we ordered were good and the pisco sours were excellent. We both agreed that this was a wonderful place to relax and enjoy this unique monument. As we were eating, a tour bus arrived and disgorged a couple of dozen people who proceeded to crowd the platforms and take photos so it seems as though we arrived at just the right time since it was around the time we were paying and leaving that they noisily descended on the restaurant. We left to check out the small ranger station and collected a couple of park stickers to go on our ever-growing collection of stickers on the rear window. We also visited the small museum just a short walk along the cliff, which highlights the erosion process that created the arch and the local sea life that inhabit the waters. Although we had been told that the visit to La Portada would only be a couple of hours at most, we enjoyed the site so much that the almost four hours we spent there went quickly and still as we drove along the access road, we pulled over for one more look at this unique natural monument.

Antofagasta

Just a couple of hours drive from Paranal is the city of Antofagasta. We now in an area known as Norte Grande and Antofagasta is the largest city of this region and the second largest city in Chile after Santiago. Throughout Chile, the town is called “La Perla del Norte” (The Pearl of the North), for both its historical and economic importance and as such has the highest GDP per capita of Chile at 37.000 US dollars. Since mining hit the region in the 19th century, profitable nitrate mines of the last century and the recent silver and copper mining from the nearby mountains brought many foreign settlers to the city. Today, Antofagasta is the distribution point for copper mined at La Escondida and Chuquicamata--the latter of which holds the distinction of being the largest open-pit mine in the world. After a visit to the tourist office,located on Plaza Colón (the main square in town), we are told that there is currently only one campground open during winter and it is on the south side of town. As we leave the tourist office we are struck by the unique architecture of the buildings around us. Due to the influx of foreigners over the decades, there is a markedly European feel in the city’s architecture and ambiance. The clock tower in the plaza is an exact replica of Big Ben and as we drive through the Barrio Històrico we see many historic Victorian buildings. Just as interesting to us is the fact that with more than 20 km (12 miles) of beachfront, Antofagasta has been developed as a year-round beach resort. Unfortunately the information the tourist office is not up to date and even the campground they sent us to is closed for the season which was actually okay because it looked run-down and a bit seedy. Our spirits were buoyed by the fact there was large coves with long stretches of sandy beaches so we are confident we will find a place to park for our stay. Enter Playa Llanalcan, a popular surf spot with fabulous curling waves a couple of mile south of town. In addition, it was clean and there were plenty of level areas to choose from and of course, plenty of space for Winston to run. Our plan is to stay here for a few days and explore the town and immediate vicinity as there are quite a few monuments to visit just outside the city. As evening approached quite a few surfers from town came to enjoy the waves and the majority of them were very good. A lady who was with them and who seemed to be the “unofficial” photographer and videographer introduced herself to us, speaking very good English. For the rest of the evening, we chatted with her as she told us of places that we must see, all the while watching the surfers who put on quite an exhibition and Winston who seemed content to run in large circles, smelling everything in sight. After the sun set, the surfers left and we had the beach mostly to ourselves for the rest of the night. Very quiet with very little street noise, just the way we like it.

Observatorio Paranal – Paranal Observatory.

Located in the Atacama desert, one of the driest places on Earth, at the top of a mountain consisting of an amazing “out of this world” cluster of buildings and telescopes, Paranal Observatory truly is “in the middle of nowhere” and it looks exactly like a lunar landscape, except for the blue sky and a paved road. Belonging to ESO (European Southern Observatory) co-founder Dr. Massimo Terenghi, orchestrated the design, construction, and implementation of the observatory. For science and astronomy enthusiasts, Paranal has in scientific terms a VLT (Very Large Telescope). A VLT actually consists of four 8.2 meter (26 feet) diameter telescopes and four smaller meter-size (3.2 feet) telescopes which can be operated independently or as one and for the time being is the most powerful optical array in the world. However for the star struck enthusiasts of a different kind, the futuristic looking observatory is the place where portions of the James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” was filmed. We had heard that the free of charge, Saturday only tour had to be booked months in advance but our luck held with us and we were able to reserve a place for this coming Saturday for the morning tour. Our luck continued to hold because when we checked in at 10 am, there was only one other gentleman, an Italian visiting Antofagasta for a convention, who would be with us. The security here is strict and as we entered the property, we were given a short talk on the do and don’ts of the tour. The best part though was that filming and photography of any part of the facility was allowed and that there would be plenty of time for photos. Cool! As to be expected our two guides were knowledgeable not only about the observatory, telescopes and all the technical data but were also entertaining and easy to understand. The tour started with a walk around the exterior of the four large telescopes housed in their individual buildings and the smaller telescopes which combined become a VLT. We then moved inside one of the buildings to see one of them up close. Each telescope has a team of technicians who check and double check the cables, equipment, mirrors and casings every day so the telescopes are fully functional every night. How sophisticated are these telescopes? Well, there are no eyepieces and the astronomers are not allowed in the domes even at night! They are so complicated that they are run by engineers trained to do nothing but operate them every night from a control center. That’s right; these telescopes function by way of commands sent through banks of computers that micro-adjust the mirrors and coordinate 1, 2, 3, or all 4 of the 8.2 meter telescopes at once. From there we went to the control center and observed the computers that monitor and run the telescopes. It is from here that the telescopes are programmed, either individually or combined to watch the night sky for whatever project is being studied at that time. While there are 12 resident astronomers at Paranal, because of the VLT, they often have visiting astronomers who stay anywhere from a week to a couple of months. Most of the 120 staff work on a week on, week off basis and live at the observatory so from the command center, our final stop was the architecturally award winning hotel and living quarters. The hotel is built into the side of the mountain and as we entered through the main doors into the lobby, the place looked like a scene from Shang-ri-la. Huge tropical plants and trees gave way to a sparkling swimming pool complete with lounge chairs. Off to one side was a restaurant were all the staff ate (and ate very well, according to our guides). Since most of the activity is at night, we were cautioned to be quiet as much of the staff sleep during the day and even now at 1pm, there were only a handful of people, sitting around reading or on their laptops. “How cool would it be to stay here” I asked Tom but the guide told us that besides staff, only visiting astronomers were allowed to stay overnight. The 3 hour tour flew by and we had a great time and give this observatory tour a big thumbs up. As we drove back down the steep hillside back to the main road, a bus turned up the road, then a couple of cars, then a van. The 2pm afternoon tour. We were glad we went in the morning.

Parque Nacional Pan de Azucar

After leaving Caldera, we followed route 5 to Chanaral and then took a minor provincial road Pan de Azucar National Park. Meaning “Sugar Loaf National Park”, it was founded in 1985 and covers an area of about 43,000 hectacres. It is well known for its diversity of sea life primarily the Humboldt penguin which breeds on an island off shore and varieties of cacti, although since it is winter we are not sure what we will see. One thing, with it being off-season we won’t run into many tourists. The road is fairly well maintained and along the way, we started to see a few different types of cacti, some really tall and others more shrub-like and close to the ground. One that interested us looked like a soccer ball, round with medium sized white flowers – very pretty. There is supposed to be a charge at the entrance but when we passed, the ranger station was closed up and no-one in the time we were visiting the park asked us to pay any fee. It crossed our minds that maybe the park is closed for the season, which will mean the campgrounds will also be closed, but we press on. Worse thing is we will have to park on the beach. As we drive we pass a few gorgeous white sand beaches although some had the access road closed off and signs indicating that fauna renovation was underway. Our destination is Caleta Pan de Azucar, the main settlement where there is a couple of campsites with facilities. However again, due to it being winter the only campground open is the one owned by CONAF at Playa Piqueros. With ecology in mind the place operates on solar power. The problem is, it is winter and the cloud cover sticks around most of the time so, no sun, hence no power. It also meant no hot water for showering, brrr!! On the positive side, the place is clean and quiet and each site has its own palapa with a table and benches and a large barbeque pit. However at a cost of over $20.00 for the night, we decide to stay only one night and then “wild-camp” on one of the beaches. Another positive is we have great views of Isla Pan de Azucar where Humboldt penguins hang out and Winston gets a lot of time playing on the beach. Tom barbeques chicken for dinner and we eat early as the sun sets as after dark this place will be pitch black. The next day, we doubled back to check out one beach, Playa Refugio, which other overlanders claim to have “guerilla” camped at. Unfortunately, it looked to us that people were living there in tents and the beach was filthy with mounds of trash so we headed a little way back north to another small cove which had no name. It also had no signs indicating we couldn’t park there and it was clean and trash-free. We found an almost level spot so with just a minimum of effort, one block under each of the left side tires achieved the desired result. We spent the day, checking out some of the walking trails and climbing to the top of a rock to check out some sea lions but tomorrow we will head north again. Although the park is pleasant, it is probably a lot more interesting in the summer months when everything is open, as long as you can stand all the tourists, that is.

Copiapo and Caldera

Today is Tom’s birthday and our (my) main goal is to be somewhere where we can find a restaurant for dinner. Leaving the Penguin reserve behind, we go back down the same dirt road that we came in on to route 5. From here the Pan-American heads inland and we soon start to climb in elevation. Passing through the town of Vallenar, we toyed with the idea of going to the Huasco Valley and Parque Nacional Llanos de Challe. This park is extremely remote about 60 mile out of our way on yet another dirt track and is really only supposed to be interesting in the summer or in the winter on the years when there has been a lot of rain and so the desert has what is known as a “desierto florido” when latent, parched plants explode in a multi-colored display of wildflowers, turning the area from a desert landscape into a flowering garden. Since this has not been a particularly wet year and it is still a little early for the desert flowers to show, we decide to keep going. We had thought we would stop and stay in the larger town of Copiapo. This has been a mining town since the 1700’s. First attracting gold speculators, then silver and now Chile’s multi-million dollar investment in copper mining. Chile is the world’s leading copper exporter. In spite of all the money that has been poured into the city and maybe because of its blue-collar roots, the town turned out to be disappointing. It has a seedy, well-worn feel to it and neither Tom nor I really wish to stay. The next town of any size is the beach town of Caldera. This will make for a long drive day for us, about 300 miles total, but we go for it. Built in 1852, South America’s first railroad, from Copiapo to Caldera was begun and as we continue on route 5, we catch glimpses of the old, narrow gauge track as we meander through the mountains before dropping back to sea level at Caldera. Caldera is on the south shore of a bay and during the mining boom it was the second largest port in the country. Whilst we had read that it is a popular resort in the summer, right now it is deserted with much of the town boarded up. We cruise the road along the beach looking not only for a place to park overnight but a restaurant for Tom to enjoy a birthday dinner. The beach is run down and a little dirty and to our dismay had lots of tents where it looked like the destitute lived. We move a little further down and find a level area for the motorhome. Close by is the pier where the fisherman haul their fresh catch in every morning and there is a market plus a couple of restaurants. We walk Winston on the beach and after feeding him, set out for the wharf, passing some more tents along the way. At the pier, we browsed the few stalls that were still open but did not buy anything. We will come back in the morning to purchase fresh fish or shellfish for dinner. We also spied a restaurant at the end of the wharf with outside tables to watch the sunset. After looking at the menu, we both settled on crab dishes for dinner and their specialty, cerviche mad with Chilean Sea Bass for a starter. We also ordered a couple of pisco sours and settled in to watch the setting sun. I toasted Tom and quietly sang “Happy Birthday” to him. It may not be the fanciest restaurant in the world but the view across the ocean was brilliant and the food was very good and fresh. Happy birthday to Tom!