Exploring the Arica Province

On the last day of our stay in Arica, Claudio and I had planned to drive to Parque Nacional Lauca, which is a little under three hours away. However, the car we'd rented the day before had a slight problem, and we didn't quite trust it to cover that sort of distance, especially on desert roads in the middle of nowhere. So we decided to have a more relaxing day exploring some sights closer to the city.

The first place we went to visit was San Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum, which is located in a small village a short distance away from Arica. Here you can see many of the Chinchorro mummies, which are even older than the Egyptian mummies! They were made by the Chinchorro people, who lived in Arica and the surrounding area thousands of years ago, and some of them date back to around 5000 BC. They have remained intact because of the desert climate, and it's really incredible to see them in the museum today and to think that they were created so long ago. 

The museum also had lots of information and artefacts from the era of the Inca, another group that was present in the area. That was also really interesting to learn about, and it made me even more eager to visit Machu Picchu than I was already. I think this part of the world (the north of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia) is really fascinating, with history and cultures stretching back for so many years.

It was also nice to look around the garden of the museum, which was a little green oasis in the middle of the desert. It even had some petroglyphs, which made up for us not seeing the ones in Miculla two days earlier!

Next we drove back in the direction of Arica to see some more history: the Cerro Sombrero geoglyphs. Initially, we parked at an area with signposts which seemed to indicate that this was the place to see the geoglyphs. There was a pathway going up a very steep hill, which we followed up to the top. Unfortunately, the geoglyphs were nowhere to be seen from up there! However, there was a viewpoint with amazing views over the desert and mountains.

There was also a huge bird of prey, circling around and waiting for his or her chance to grab some leftover food people had dumped up there. We had seen several of these birds at Morro de Arica the previous day, but not as close as this one. I thought they might be cóndors, but a Google image search showed me I was wrong about that. In any case, it was amazing to see such a big bird so close up!

It turns out that in order to see the Cerro Sombrero geoglyphs, you just have to dump the car on the side of the road and quickly look at them from there. Unfortunately, there are fences ruining the view a bit, but it's still amazing to see these shapes of llamas, humans and other creatures that were drawn onto the hill in ancient times.

Although the Atacama Giant was more impressive to see, partly because it was in the middle of nowhere with nothing but desert for miles around, I would definitely still recommend paying a quick visit to Cerro Sombrero if you're visiting Arica.

After lunch in Arica, we visited the final destination of our trip: Anzota caves. These caves are located 12 kilometres south of the city, and are one of the places where the Chinchorro people lived. Entry is free, and you can do a short trekking there and even go inside some of the caves. Supposedly, lots of wildlife lives there, including sea lions, but we didn't see any of them. However, we did see some big lizards, which can be spotted in the following photos!

The caves are an incredible place of natural beauty, with amazing rock formations and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. Exploring them was a great way to finish our trip!

To sum up, we had a really wonderful few days celebrating our anniversary in the north of Chile and south of Peru. During our time away, we discovered beaches, cities, beautiful nature, and plenty of history and culture. This is a special part of the world, and we would definitely go back in the future.

Next up on this blog, I'll probably be writing about some new places we've been to in and around Santiago, but I'm hopeful we'll go on some bigger travels again soon. We have a few ideas, so watch this space...

Our Day Trip to Peru

One of the most exciting parts of our recent trip to Arica was the day that we spent in the Tacna department of Peru.

Peru was a country I'd wanted to go to for a while, so it was great to finally have the opportunity to explore it a little bit. Before I came to South America for the first time in 2018, Chile and Argentina were the countries that intrigued me the most, because of places like Patagonia and the Atacama Desert, and the fact that they had the highest mountains, most dramatic nature, and most varied landscapes in the continent. But interestingly, it was initially Peru that I was planning to spend part of my Year Abroad in four years ago, as I really liked the idea of volunteering in South America, and I had discovered a nice opportunity to volunteer at a dog shelter in the north of the country. However, I later realised that I could spend a semester studying in Chile, and I jumped at the chance to do this. It was a spontaneous decision, which turned out to be one of the best choices I've ever made, and which led me to where I am now!

Four years later, I've been back to South America a few times as a tourist, and I'm finally living in Chile again with my boyfriend Claudio. I've now seen a lot of Chile and a decent amount of Argentina, so I've been experiencing Wanderlust for other Latin American countries, and Peru is most definitely one of them, because it's a country with such a rich history and cultural heritage.

So when Claudio and I were on holiday in Arica, we knew we had to take a day trip to the Tacna department - even though it's only a small corner of the country, it gave us a great opportunity to discover a little bit of the Peruvian culture.

Getting from Arica to Tacna probably takes less than an hour of driving, but if you add in time spent crossing the border, it makes the overall journey quite a bit longer. For that reason, we decided to take a shared taxi there rather than a bus. On the way there, we had to go through the Santa Rosa border crossing on the Peruvian side, which involved passing through a Covid-related checkpoint, Chilean border control, and Peruvian border control. This border crossing was modern and well-organised with places to queue inside, and it took us probably less than half an hour to cross. (Which was a big contrast to the Chilean border crossing we had to pass through on our way back!)

When we arrived at the bus station in Tacna, we weren't too impressed, as that particular area was a bit run-down. But fortunately the city centre is just a short walk away, and is much more picturesque.

The first part of the historic centre that we saw was the most famous part, Paseo Cívico. This is Tacna's main square, and is very typically Peruvian (at least judging by pictures that I've seen of other cities, like Lima and Cusco) with a Colonial-style cathedral at one end, and lots of green spaces.

Like Arica's cathedral, the cathedral here was also designed by Gustave Eiffel. However, it has been much better preserved and looks good as new. In fact, something in particular that stood out from our day in Peru, was how much better looked after their public spaces and historic monuments are compared to the ones in Chile.

The other famous landmark of Paseo Cívico is Arco Parabólico, an 18-metre-high arch built in honour of the Peruvian heroes of the War of the Pacific. It really is a lot bigger in real life than it looks in photos!

Next we walked round to see the back of the cathedral, which is equally as impressive as the front.

The next place we went to see was Parque de la Locomotura (Locomotive Park). We thought it would be like the train museum in Parque Quinta Normal in Santiago, which has lots of old trains that you can even go inside, but actually there was only one old train. 

Then we went to see somewhere completely different: Bab-ul-Islam mosque. This is the only example of Islamic architecture in the whole country, and it's a very elaborate and beautiful building.

The last attraction we went to see in Tacna was Parque de Topiarios Animales, which is quite a special place. This park is filled with hedges shaped into different animals, and is super photogenic! I'd never been anywhere quite like it, and I'd say it's definitely somewhere you can't miss if you visit Tacna.

Another great thing about Tacna is that all the squares are really pretty and clean with lots of plants and green spaces. Here are a couple of nice examples...

After lunch, we wanted to visit the archaeological complex in the nearby village of Miculla, and we found out from talking to some street vendors that a good way of seeing it is to take a guided tour with World International travel agency. So that's what we decided to do!

I don't remember how much exactly the tour cost in Peruvian soles, but I do know that it was really good value - in fact, it was incredible how far our money went in Peru compared to in Chile, which has really become such an expensive country in recent years.

The tour lasted three hours and started with a quick tour around the city.

Then we stopped off at a bodega for a wine and pisco tasting session! Like in Chile, Pisco is the national drink in Peru, and we tried a few local varieties. There was a peach-flavoured one which was too sweet for my liking, but the rest were really nice, in particular a berry-flavoured one.

Driving through the countryside on our way to the next stop of the tour, we spotted a llama sitting in a field, which made me very happy!

The next stop was at a little place serving pastel de choclo. In Chile, pastel de choclo is a a traditional savoury dish, but in Peru, it's a sweet cake. We got to taste a little piece, and it was really nice. We're planning to have a go at making it sometime soon!

Next to the café, there was one of the biggest cacti I've ever seen. There were quite a few cacti like this throughout Arica and Tacna, and I really liked seeing them.

A short while later, we arrived at Complejo Arqueológico Miculla, which was one of the places we'd most been looking forward to visiting. The actual museum part was closed, but we could look inside it a little bit. It was quite an interestingly-shaped building, with cacti and paintings inside.

We had been hoping to see some ancient petroglyphs at the site, but the guide said that they were in random places that you had to hike to get to, so we didn't get to see them.

What we did see (and also walk across!) was Puente Colgante de Miculla, a rope bridge suspended over an 8-metre drop. Crossing it was slightly scary - it moves around a lot more than you'd expect - but also very fun! 

The desert and mountain scenery of this area, which is called Valle Viejo (Old Valley), is really spectacular to look at, and is quite reminiscent of Valle de la Luna in the Atacama Desert.

Then we drove back to Tacna and finished the tour with a pisco sour in a sort of club in the city centre.

It was getting late and very cold, so we were looking forward to getting back to our cosy hotel room in Arica as soon as possible. However, when we got to the Chilean border, we were were greeted by the sight of long lines of people queuing outside in the cold. To make matters worse, both Claudio and I were chosen to take "random" Covid tests, which were carried out in a rough and painful way, and which meant we had to wait outside even longer. I think these tests are pretty unnecessary at this stage of the pandemic, and it certainly wasn't a nice way to finish the day.

But putting that aside, we had a really nice time exploring this little part of Peru, and we're looking forward to coming back to the country in the near future. I'm hoping we can go to Cusco and Machu Picchu for my birthday in October, but we'll have to see how things pan out in terms of work, etc. We're also intrigued by Lima, and want to see how it compares to Santiago.

Next I'll be writing about some of the other things we discovered around the Arica area, including the Chinchorro mummies and Anzota caves!