Sunday 5th October 2014
If you are ever going to visit this amazing country, try to arrive during the week – Chile is closed on Sundays.
Originally we had planned to organise a hire car today, visit the Museo de San Miguel de Azapa to see the oldest mummies in the world and then carry on to the Lauca National Park.
Nice idea, but like almost all other shops and businesses, the rental services in Arica are closed and so we have to postpone our schedule for 24 hours. Never mind, we always strive to make the best of a situation and so we will explore Arica today.
Finally being on the Pacific coast, our first walk is to the beach.
The Morro de Arica in the background
We find a lot of dead animals in one particular part of the bay…
… and surfers in another
Arica is an important port for a large inland region of South America. The city serves a free port for Bolivia and manages a substantial part of that country’s trade.
Around midday the sea mist clears
Precaution in case of Tsunamis
… a side-effect of the frequent earthquakes
Fortunately for us, the bus terminal is open and we can organise our onward travel to Antofagasta – and enjoy some icecream and leche con café.
The cathedral – designed by Gustave Eiffel and built in the 1870s
On the Plaza Colón
Start point of the climb onto the Morro de Arica
First viewing platform
Chilean Navy Building
It’s quite a steep ascent…
… but the views are worth the effort
We are not the only ones enjoying the sun…
On the way down
De gustibus non est disputandum…
While strolling through the pedestrian zone…
… we find an open supermarket where we buy provisions for our excursion to the Lauca National Park, which will hopefully materialise the next day – pending a suitable car rental service. In one of the aisles we find a most surprising item:
We take this as a happy omen…
Pumpernickel on Tour 
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