After San Pedro we took Diablito for a long drive up the Panamerican Highway to Chile’s northernmost city, the port of Arica, near the border of Peru.
On the way north we passed several geoglyphs! These weren’t as extensive or grand as those in Nasca, Peru, but still pretty impressive and emblematic of the Atacama. Some were created by clearing earth and outlining the shapes in stone; others were made by stacking the stones into anthropomorphic shapes. Nobody knows why these were created thousands of years ago, but the static desert air has preserved them for all to see, and they are well signed and well kept as important cultural sites.
We also passed through Humberstone, the remains of a once prosperous saltpeter mine (a natural nitrate used as fertilizer) and company town that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mineral extraction has always been an important part of the Chilean economy; Chile, Peru and Bolivia even fought a war over the region’s saltpeter deposits in the late 1800s. Chile (with the help of British and American business interests) eventually wrestled what is now the entire northern third of Chile from the other two countries, effectively cutting Bolivia off from the coast and creating tension with Peru and Bolivia that persists to this day. We stopped for a quick wander through the ruins. You could literally hear the corroded tin roofs flapping in the wind, and we expected Clint Eastwood to step onto the street corner at any minute and draw his pistol. It’s a pretty desolate place.
We made it to Arica with just enough time to sleep and wake up early to embark on a jaunt through the Andean precordillera and altiplano in the northernmost reaches of Chile…an epic drive to be documented in Part II of our Norte Grande adventure!
Bones Without Borders 
The bunny and your cat look alike! Happy Trails and enjoy building so you can build one in Ellen’s backyard w/ me!
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