Day Two

Today we set off from Bahia Inglesia around 8am and headed towards Antofagasta. We crossed the Atacama desert where there has been no rainfall for over 50 years.

Our first stop was to see some wildlife. We pulled up and went on a little stroll to see some sea lions and birds on the cliffs.

As our guide was talking about the habitat and human impact on it we were slowly trampling all over it which was lovely. The smell was pretty bad as there was generations of crap caked on the rocks making them white. As our guide led the group out onto this cliff edge i decided to be safe and stay where i couldn't topple off.

The sea lions all lived on a rock island just off the cliff. There were some interesting birds too. There is this bird that just stands on the rocks in the sun with their wings out drying them as they get wet from the night mist. After a few photos we got back into the van and headed on.

Our next stop was an old cemetery, Officina Alemania. It was from a nitrate mining town that was set up as a source of income for the country. Many were created but not all were run properly and this grave site was one of the scam mines. The people were told they could earn lots of money and so went to work. The mining company however paid them in tokens that they could only use in the village therefore they were almost prisoners. Many died and many were young teenagers. The graveyard has now been ransacked and a lot of it destroyed because the crucifixes were made out of valuable wood and expensive statues.

After that stop we moved on to some artwork in the middle of the desert. The Mano Del Derierto. This sculpture was made by Chilean artist Mario Irarrazabal in 1992. The hand has an environmental message attached to it. Mario was stating that if we don't lend a hand to the environment then the land will all become desert. The hand is also a left hand as he was funded by the left wing political party. Here we stopped and the group insisted we have a group photo in front of the hand. Sadly both Tiffany and I deleted the photo.

After the hand in the desert we headed to an oasis to have lunch. This oasis as you see in the pics was stunning! The restaurant seemed amazed to see people. Seeing as it is not the busiest place on earth there wasn't a menu so we had the set food which was chicken soup and salad. After our oasis break we got back on the road and headed for Antofogasta.

Antofagasta is the 5th largest populated city in Chile and is one of the primary ports linked with Bolivia and Argentina by trains. It is also a drug central as it is the easiest port to smuggle drugs in from Columbia and Bolivia. We arrived around 5 or so and headed out of town a little to see the La Portada cliffs. This is a rock formation in the sea shaped as an arch. It is the main symbol of the city and apparently is a geographical marvel! As you can see it was a little chilly and rather windy!

After a few pics we headed to our accommodation. We were very spoilt on this night as for the first and last time on the trip we stayed in a hotel. Tiffany and I got to share a room and actually got sleep thank goodness. We even had cable TV and watched Seinfeld and Friends in English, very special.

We arrived and were asked to go out for dinner with the gang. We refused with our first excuse that Tiffany didn't drink and we were a little tired. They accepted and went out themselves and we got some supplies before heading to our room to indulge in a packet of cookies.