We spent January 20 in Antofagasta, a city of about 400,000 in northern Chile that looks a lot like Iquique from the ocean:  sitting on a narrow shelf between barren mountains and the water.  This is still the Atacama Desert; Antofagasta gets about 0.1 mm in annual rainfall making it the world’s driest city.

     Antofagasta started life in 1869 as a Bolivian town, built primarily as a port for nitrate exports from the mines in the desert in the region.  But that didn’t last very long because in the settlement of the War of the Pacific in the 1880’s the town was ceded to Chile.  This left Bolivia landlocked, but the settlement provided that Bolivia would have free access to the ports of Antofagasta & Iquique for its exports. Not sure how that worked out, but to this day these two countries do not have diplomatic relations.

     We visited here during our 2012 South American voyage, and you can see it here:

https://baderjournal.com/2012/01/26/antofagasta-coquimbo-chile/

     As you can tell if you look at that posting, we weren’t too impressed then with this port in the desert.  Seven years later it was a little better, so they have made some progress, but still not a place to put on your bucket list.  HAL’s location guide, Heather, told us (as if this made the stop exciting) that this is the first time since 2012 that they have visited this rarely visited city.  Lucky us, hitting it both times. 

     We took the HAL shuttle to Plaza Colon, the central square of the old city.  Presumably named for Christopher Columbus, this is a very nice & very green space. In the center is a clock tower contributed by the English community of the town.  It is said to be a replica of Big Ben in London, but doesn’t really look like that to us.

      It was Sunday morning, but the cathedral, on one side of the plaza, was open to visitors.  It is modest as cathedrals go but pleasant.  While we were there a dog walked in with a HAL tour group and sat down quietly in one of the back pews until they were ready to leave.  He looked like he was a veteran of such occasions.  There are quite a few loose dogs walking around in this city.

     On the opposite side of the plaza was an old distinguished looking building that housed the post office and the regional library.  It was Sunday, so the post office was closed, but surprisingly the library was open.  It was a very nice library too, with many comfy looking chairs and skylights at the top of the high walls.  Even the children’s room was open.

     In 2012 we left the plaza toward the south, finding nothing but dusty streets and lazy packs of dogs.  This time we turned north & walked to the old port, where they used to ship the nitrate.  This was a much better choice.  On the way we passed a couple of museums, closed on Sunday, and some nice flowers.  At the small port were a few vendors (mostly closed) and a fish market.

     The one accessible museum was the old railroad station which, we think used to connect Antofagasta with the Bolivian interior.

     We walked back to Plaza Colon, where we found on the first corner an unlabeled monument that we think must be Ferdinand & Isabella.  Makes sense on a plaza named for Christopher Columbus, right?  At the lower left of the monument was a lion, but we aren’t sure what it was supposed to represent.

     We returned to the ship to await the sail away time.  Here are some pictures of Antofagasta from the water & as we sailed away.

     January 21 was a sea day, but there were a couple of events worth sharing.  First there was a medals ceremony.  HAL hands out (fake) copper, silver, gold & platinum medals for passengers who have spent certain total numbers of days at sea on HAL ships.  We think this is pretty silly; after all, the only “accomplishment” being honored is being a particularly good customer of the company (not sour grapes, we have received two of them).  But a lot of folks really like this and on this day our friends & tablemates Robert, Bill and Sharon were among those receiving medals.  The ship’s penguin squadron looked really proud of their medals too.

     The second notable event was the Filipino crew show.  Most of the crew on HAL ships are Filipino and Indonesian; HAL has a crew training facility in Indonesia called the MS Jakarta where they learn their trade.  The professional and friendly crew are one of HAL’s best calling cards for repeat customers.  On every grand voyage each of these groups of crew members take time from their unbelievably busy schedules to rehearse & present a show of their national song and dance.  They work very hard at this and it shows; the crew shows always attract a large and enthusiastic audience of passengers.  Here are a few images from the Filipino crew show that was presented on this day.

     So that is all for this episode.  We leave you here with a couple of cantaloupe sculptures and a pair of bedtime towel animals.

     We spent January 19 in Iquique, our first port in Chile.  We were a little sleepy when we pulled the curtains back to see the city because when we crossed into Chile we lost not just one hour but two, all at once. We assume that this change was mostly a political difference between the two countries, since Iquique isn’t really east of Matarani.

     With a population of about 200,000, Iquique sits on a narrow flat area tightly bound by 2500 foot mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.  The mountains are mostly sand, this being a desert.

     The population here never exceeded 100 before the 19th century.  Iquique was part of Peru until the Pacific War of 1878-1883, fought among Bolivia, Peru & Chile.  When the smoke cleared Iquique was part of Chile.  Its growth was fueled by the nitrate boom of the late 19th & early 20th century, when Iquique was one of the wealthiest cities in Chile.  That ended with the development of synthetic nitrates and the city suffered a decline.

     HAL’s shuttle bus took us to the Plaza de Armas, which in this city is called the Plaza Prat.  In the middle of the square is the Torre Reloj, an 82 foot tall white clock tower built in 1877 by the city’s English community.  It is white & looks like stone from a distance but is actually made of wood, specifically Oregon pine.  This apparently was the building material of choice for the nitrate barons of the late 19th century.

     In the center of the clock tower is a bust of Arturo Pratt, for whom the plaza is named.   Arturo Pratt appears to be one of Chile’s greatest heroes.  During the Battle of Iquique in the Pacific War Pratt commanded a ship called the Esmeralda.  He refused to retreat during the battle & his ship was sunk by the Peruvians, with Pratt and most of his men perishing.  He is honored for being willing to sacrifice his life (not to mention all of his men) to defend Chile’s interests.  It is rarely mentioned that the Chilean interest involved was seizing a Peruvian city rather than defending his homeland, but nonetheless he is a great hero.

     One thing we really wanted to see in Prat Plaza was the Teatro Municipal.  Another wooden building that looks like stone, the theater was built in 1890.  It is reputedly very interesting inside but we didn’t get a chance to find out because some kind of platform was under construction in front and it was closed to the public.

     On the other end of the plaza is the Casino Espanol, built in 1904 by the city’s Spanish community.  It was closed in the morning but we were able to wander inside a bit in the afternoon before returning to the ship.  Its façade is in Moorish style and inside it is filled with Spanish tile and mirrors with columns and a series of 9 paintings of scenes from Don Quixote.  Today it is an opulent restaurant, where we gawked but did not eat.

     Leaving the plaza, we walked down Avenida Baquedano toward the sea shore.  We looked through a market that had nothing we wanted and then we found the library!  Unfortunately it was closed on Saturday (one might think this would be the best time for schoolchildren and working people to visit the library).  It was located on the tsunami evacuation route.  From the avenida we walked down you could see the sandy mountains looming over the city.

     Avenida Baquedano is pedestrianized all the way from the plaza to the seashore, with palm trees down the middle and a streetcar that runs down tracks in the middle.  It is lined with old mansions built of Oregon pine by the nitrate barons in the late 19th and early 20th century, many of which have been restored and painted bright colors.  We stopped in one called the Palacio Astoreca that is famous for its painted glass Art Nouveau ceiling, but the ceiling was covered with wood for some restoration work.  The wood paneling and grand staircase were nice, but the ceiling was what we had come to see.

    We visited the Museo Regional, an interesting little museum (it would be more interesting if we could read Spanish).  The museum was quite eclectic, with skulls of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures that presumably lived in this area and a large exhibit about the Santa Maria de Iquique Massacre of 1907 in which up to 2,000 striking miners and their wives were shot by the Chilean army as they assembled inside the Santa Maria school.  But the exhibit was all in Spanish so we could only look at the interesting pictures.  Best of all was an exhibit of mummies of the Chinchorro people.  A sign (in English!) said that some were up to 7,000 or 8,000 years old, thousands of years older than the oldest mummy found in Egypt.  They are well preserved because of the extreme dryness of the Atacama Desert.  Some ancient textiles (but not quite that old) were displayed here as well.

     The day was sunny & the ocean was very blue.  Lots of people were out in it swimming and doing water sports, since it was the weekend.  We walked down the seaside promenade for a while enjoying the ambiance. Among other things we passed a fountain full of ducks, strangely still because they were made of stone. 

    We walked back to the plaza to catch the shuttle back to the ship and had a final view of the plaza from the bus.

     From the ship we had a good view of the large container port next to where we were docked.  The modern city extending up to a sharp boundary on the sandy mountain was also an interesting sight from there.

     As we sailed away the city diminished until it was little more than a line separating the mountains from the ocean.

     January 18 found us in the port of Matarani, on the edge of the Atacama desert.  This is one of the driest areas in the world.  When we were here in 2012 we were told that there is a town not far away where no rain has ever been recorded.  You can see that earlier visit here:

https://baderjournal.com/2012/01/20/general-san-martin-matarani-peru/

     There is not much to see or do in Matarani beyond its scenic coastline, so we signed up for an excursion through the desert to Arequipa, a city of more than 800,000 located more than 7,500 feet high in the Andes.

     We drove through the desert & mountains for many miles, about an hour and a half each way.  There was a lot of cactus among the mostly barren mountains.  There had recently been an election and party logos were painted right on the mountain rocks, a desecration that probably won’t go away soon.

     As we crossed the high desert we passed several settlements of shanties.  These shacks were built by squatters and many have no access to running water or electricity.  But the government has a program permitting these people to buy the land they are living on for, if memory serves, $150 that can be paid over time.  Eventually water and electricity will be provided as well, though it can take a long time.  Its hard to imagine living in these conditions unless you are pretty desperate.

     Finally we reached Arequipa, driving into town past terraced fields built before the coming of the Inca in the 15th century and a giant statue of Jesus overlooking a neighborhood.  We also saw shanty towns reminiscent of the ones we saw in Lima.

     Archaeological evidence indicates that the location of Arequipa has been occupied by people for at least 10,000 years.  Legend has it that when the Inca arrived here in the 14th century the soldiers liked the area so much they asked their king, Mayta Copac, if they could stay here.  He replied “Yes, stay,” which in the Inca’s Quechua language is “Ari quepay.” Thus the name of the city.

     The Spanish under Pizarro founded their city here in 1540, usurping the natives.  This is Peru’s second largest city (less than one tenth the size of Lima) and the residents have a reputation for condescension toward other Peruvians.  It also has a history as a right wing political stronghold.

    We left the bus at Mundo Alpaca, where we learned about the production of alpaca products.  There were several llamas and alpacas that we were encouraged to feed, including a baby llama born just the day before our arrival.  Llamas and alpacas are difficult to tell apart without some familiarity with the animals.

     A woman in traditional attire was demonstrating how they weave the wool & there were examples hanging on the wall.  The designs are very intricate & it looks like demanding work.

    Then came the main event: the gift shop.  It featured alpaca yarn and finished sweaters, coats, etc.  Nothing was cheap!  We spent some of the time wandering through the gardens.

     From Mundo Alpaca we walked to the Plaza de Armas.  Arequipa is known as “the white city” because so many of its buildings are constructed of white lava blocks called “sillar.”  The city is actually surrounded by three volcanoes, one of which (El Misti) is still active.  We have read that this is the signature aspect of Arequipa, with the volcanoes rising to more than 20,000 feet (more than 10,000 feet above the city) behind the buildings of the town.  But on the day we visited the low cloud cover made the volcanoes completely invisible (sigh).  If we hadn’t read about them we would have left Arequipa without knowing there were any high mountains, much less volcanoes, near the city.  So when you see the clouds above the buildings in the pictures, imagine the spectacular mountains behind them.

     As we walked to the Plaza de Armas we passed the Monasterio de Santa Catalina,a convent established in 1580 and one of the most important religious buildings in Peru.  There are still a few nuns living there and it is supposed to be quite interesting, but we didn’t have an opportunity to go inside.  Like many of the buildings here it is constructed of sillar blocks, the white stone created by nearby volcanic eruptions.  Outside the convent was a woman selling hats.

     Arequipa has a really nice Plaza de Armas, full of flowers & palm trees with a bronze fountain in the middle.  One side of the plaza is occupied by the cathedral & the others by rows of arched portals looking like cloisters and containing shops and restaurants.

     The first church in Arequipa was begun in 1640 at the founding of the city and was consecrated in 1556.  It was destroyed by earthquakes in 1583 and again in 1600, when reconstruction was almost finished.  Completed again in 1656. it survived three more earthquakes & a damaging fire, then in 1868 several parts of the cathedral were seriously damaged by yet another earthquake.  Finally an earthquake in 2001 destroyed the left tower & damaged the right one.  Restoration of the cathedral to its current state was completed in 2002.  But really, with that history, how long can it be before it happens again?

     The cathedral was closed to the public all afternoon until 5:00 PM, almost as if they wanted to exclude any day visitors to the city from entering.  But the façade was quite impressive, dominating the Plaza de Armas.

     Across the plaza from the cathedral is the Jesuit Iglesia La Compana (church of the company), much smaller than the cathedral but open to the public and quite beautiful in its own right.  Originally built in 1573, destroyed by (what else?) an earthquake in 1584, then completed again in 1660, it has a fabulous doorway façade that was completed in 1698.  It is sculpted from stone in the intricate Mestizo Baroque style, considered one of the finest examples of that style.  The work force was comprised primarily of indigenous people and their local flora and fauna are included in the stonework and decorative work inside.

     Inside the church was quite elaborately decorated, with an impressive carved and gilded altar under a dome with skylights built in.  It is filled with old sculptures & paintings and has a number of side altars (the one pictured below appears to be dedicated to St James the apostle).

     We spent about an hour walking around the vicinity of the Plaza de Armas before it was time to go.  We visited some shops & had an ice cream cone.  It started to drizzle at the end of that time, so we walked to the bus to begin the long ride back to Matarani.  Herewith a few random photos that didn’t fit in anywhere else.

     We drove back to the pier through the mountains, pretty much the same route by which we had come but it seemed much longer because we were a lot more tired.  The mountains were a rich color of brown, largely devoid of vegetation, with what looks like snow on the top and sides of many of them.  This is not snow, however, but the white ash from the volcanoes, the same stuff as the sillar blocks in the city are made of.

     Back at the port we got some needed rest before it was time to sail away.  The shore line is quite beautiful, boasting cliffs, desert & mountains.  There were fishing boats in the harbor near the ship.  Altogether, this was a very full and interesting, but very tiring, day.

     We got up bright and early on January 16 for our second Lima excursion.  Our first visit was to the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology & History of Peru.  It was Peru’s first public museum and has the biggest collection, although the items we saw on display weren’t all that numerous. The museum is housed partly in an 18th century mansion where Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin both stayed (but not at the same time). In front is a huge bust of Bolivar, a gift from former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and the courtyard has many colorful flowers.

     The museum’s collection contains many thousands of artifacts reaching back before recorded history, to at least 10,000 BC.  It includes textiles, a great deal of pottery and even a recreated burial site.

    Most of the rooms we visited contained collections of pottery from the Incas and several pre-Inca cultures.  Each is listed separately below.

Nasca Pottery

Amazingly realistic Moche Pottery (this is the culture that built the Temples of the Sun & Moon in Trujillo):

Recuay pottery:

Wari (or Huari) pottery:

Inca pottery:

Chimu pottery (this is the culture that built Chan Chan in Trujillo):

    This was a very interesting museum and we wished we had a good bit more time here to explore it in greater depth.  But our time was limited because we had to proceed to our next stop, the ancient ruins of Pachacamac.  This is an important archaeological site & the main reason we chose this excursion.  On our last visit here in 2012 we were on a private excursion that was supposed to include this site but when we reached the gates they were locked because an important automobile rally was scheduled to pass nearby.  So better late than never!

     Pachacamac apparently began around 200 AD and was dedicated to the local creator god Pacha Kamaq.  It was a site of pilgrimage & was occupied by a succession of cultures until 1470, when the Inca took over.  The Inca incorporated Pacha Kamaq into their pantheon, subordinate to the sun god, and built several new buildings at the site, including the massive Temple of the Sun.

     Francisco Pizarro sent his brother Hernando with 14 horsemen to pillage Pachacamac of all the gold and silver he heard was kept there, but none was found.  Legend has it that the priests received advance warning and hid a great deal of gold and silver objects, but they were hidden so well they have never turned up.  Anyway, a disappointed Hernando and his men trashed the place and it lay fallow until the end of the 19th century when archaeologists showed up (and found a lot of it had been plundered by looters).  As at so many of these sites, a great deal of “restoration” has occurred, so that a lay visitor cannot really tell what is original and what is a modern reimagining.

     We briefly visited several of the structures at Pachacamac.  First was a pyramid with terraces connected by a central ramp.  This was an administrative center and/or possibly a palace.

     Calle Norte-Sur (North-South Street) was a long street providing important access to the pyramid.

     The Mamacona complex was built by the Incas to house the virgins of the Sun Temple.  These women were picked out at a young age and taught skills like textiles and gardening.  They serviced the temple and periodically were sacrificed in an important religious ceremony.  A couple of llamas were hanging out nearby.

    And here are some random ruins we can’t identify any more.

    Lima is home to vast squatter settlements called “pueblos jóvenes,” or young towns.  Lima has experienced rapid growth from folks moving in from rural areas, particularly during the war with the Shining Path guerillas during the last two decades of the 20th century.  In the 1930’s Lima had about 300,000 inhabitants, rising to about a million in the 1950’s.  Today there are some 11 million people here.  Many of them live in these shantytowns, many lacking water and electrical service (except what is pirated through patched in lines).  There was a very large one (or maybe several of them) right next to Pachacamec.

    We had lunch at Hacienda Mamacona, presumably named for the Pachacamac structure that is right next door.  Peruvian Paso horses are bred here and we were treated to a show of horsemanship and dancing.  The grounds were beautiful, with many lovely flowers.

     Paso horses are descended from the ones brought here by the Conquistadors.  Apparently due both to natural selection in this isolated desert area and breeding by owners, these horses have developed a natural four beat gait that gives a very smooth ride.  They walk, rather than trot, and their backs remain steady enough that no posting (bouncing in the saddle) is necessary.  They brought out a month old colt, too young to train, to demonstrate that this gait is natural and not learned.  This characteristic was valued by the folks here who had to travel for days to cross their plantation lands.  The horses tend to lift their front feet high as they walk, and some move them outward at the same time.  A brass band played while the horses went through their routines.

   There was a dance performance in the horse ring, then a dance between the woman & a mounted rider (which was a little weird).

    The dancers and band were back, performing on a wooden stage platform, while we had a delicious Peruvian meal.  Some of the dances appeared to be the same as some we saw the night before on the ship.  Altogether a very enjoyable visit.

    We drove back to the ship through Lima’s still congested traffic, passing through Miraflores for one final view of the beach below the cliffs.  Thus ends our extended visit to Lima, as we retired a bit early because we had a long excursion scheduled for the next day in Matarani, Peru.

     We pulled into the harbor in Callao, the port for Lima, around noon on January 15.  Callao is an old city in its own right, having been founded in the early 16th century and served as Spain’s primary west coast treasure port for quite a long time.  The Spanish retreated into the fort here (which is still there, though we didn’t see it) near the end of the war for independence in the 1820’s.  Today it is a commercial port, although we passed some fishing boats on our way in.

     Lima is by far the largest city in Peru with some 11 million inhabitants.  It was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro who planned the street layout himself.  You can see our last visit here in 2012 here:

https://baderjournal.com/2012/01/19/lima-peru/

With half the day gone before we arrived we decided to take an excursion to see the Plaza Mayor, also known as the Plaza de Armas, the historic center of the city.  The bus trip through Callao was unexceptional (apart from the dense traffic), but we did get a few random pictures through the bus window on the way.  In Peru one often sees fully inhabited buildings with rebar sticking out the top like there is more to be built.  This is a graphic example of the law of unintended consequences:  because unfinished buildings are not taxed, people often leave their buildings visibly “unfinished.”

     Our route through Lima took us through two important plazas.  The first was Plaza Dos de Mayo, named after an important battle in 1866.  It is situated near what was once the city wall and in the center is a statue topped by a figure of Nike, created in France in the 1870’s.  Its outstanding characteristic upon passing through was the bright blue buildings.

    The second square was Plaza San Martín, named for General Jose de San Martin, liberator of Peru in the 1820’s.  The plaza was dedicated in 1921 on the 100th anniversary of Peru’s independence.  In the center is an equestrian statue of General San Martin.  On one side of the square is the venerable Hotel Bolivar, which has hosted numerous important diplomats and movie stars.  The Rolling Stones were thrown out of this hotel for misbehavior.  Imagine!

     We exited the bus and walked to an imposing Franciscan monastery called Basílica y Convento de San Francisco.  This church is famous for being about the only building in central Lima to survive the devastating earthquake of 1746.  We toured the museum in the convent but not the church itself.  Photography was not permitted inside, which is unfortunate because it was filled with beautiful 16th century Spanish & Moorish tile work, as well as a number of paintings and frescoes of similar age.  We did not get to tour the catacombs, which are famous for the elaborate designs made from the bones of some 70,000 people that were buried there.

     We walked from the Convent of San Francisco to the Plaza Mayor.  It was not far & we passed the church of Nuestra Senora de la Soledad on the way.

     We entered the Plaza Mayor by walking past the Archbishop’s Palace, notable for its beautiful carved cedar enclosed balconies.  Housing the residence and offices of the Archbishop of Lima, the current building was built in 1924 on land set aside by Francisco Pizarro in 1535 for the residence of the head priest of the city.

     The Plaza Mayor or Plaza de Armas is the center of Lima and was the first part of the city.  We have read that Francisco Pizarro actually paced out the outlines of the square himself, but whether this is true or not he certainly was the one who selected the site & determined its dimensions.  His house was located on one side of the plaza.  In 1821 General San Martin declared Peru’s independence in this square.  It is a beautiful park-like plaza still today.  In the center is a fountain erected in 1651.

    Next to the Archbishop’s palace is the Basilica Cathedral of Lima.  Begun in 1535 and originally completed in 1649, it has had a number of renovations since after damage by earthquakes. Francisco Pizarro (who else?) laid the first stone and carried the first log on his shoulders.

     Inside the cathedral seems quite huge and elaborately decorated.

     Chapels line both sides of the cathedral.  One contained a statue of Mary contributed by the King of Spain.  Another paid homage to the holy family.  Many of these chapels have been destroyed several times by earthquakes and rebuilt.  A plexiglass cover allowed a view into the crypt, where thousands of remains were found.  And there was a beautiful pipe organ in a loft along one side of the room.

     The first chapel on the right as you enter the cathedral houses the tomb of Francisco Pizarro.  Pizarro was assassinated here in 1541 by relatives and followers of his erstwhile partner, Diego de Almagro. He was apparently interred in the crypt but in the 1890’s a body identified as his was put on display in the cathedral.  It turned out not to be Pizarro, for in 1977 another body was found in the crypt labeled as him and forensic analysts determined this was the real thing.  These remains were moved to this tomb in 1985.  There is a skeleton on display in the chapel, but we were told that this is a reproduction and the real skeleton is in the tomb.  Some of the walls are covered in nice mosaics,.

     On the north side of the Plaza Mayor is the Government Palace, containing the residence of the president and the executive offices. It sits on the spot where Francisco Pizarro built his governor’s residence in 1536, but has been expanded and rebuilt after fires and earthquakes a number of times since then.  The current building was completed in the mid 1930’s.  Before Pizarro this was the site of a huaca containing a shrine to the last local indigenous ruler.  We did not get to enter this building.

     We left the Plaza to the left of the Government Palace and walked a couple of blocks to meet the bus.  From that spot we could see the pinkish tower of the Iglesia de Santo Domingo & a large shopping arcade covered with a glass roof.

     From here we drove through Lima’s incredibly congested traffic to Miraflores, a wealthy neighborhood situated above an ocean cliff.  We visited the Parque del Amor, a popular hangout for young couples.  Apparently this has been known as a place for young lovers for a number of decades, but now there is in the center a large statue of a couple kissing called “El Beso.”  A brightly colored mosaic wall runs near the edge of the cliff, reportedly inspired by the work of Gaudi in Barcelona.  Paragliders pass above the cliff in a never ending parade. The park also has many beautiful flowers.

     This evening after dinner there was a folkloric show with a Peruvian music and dance group.  They were very colorful & very good.  A lot of energy was expended in the performance of several representative Peruvian dances in very colorful costumes.  Here are excerpts from the first three dances:

     Then the drummer, who also appeared to be the bandleader, came out front for a solo spot drumming with his hands on a box on which he sat.  His fingers really flew and it looked like his hands should be very sore afterward, but he resumed the drum chair for the rest of the performance without any apparent detriment.

     Then there were two more dances to end the performance.

     After the show we went to bed to rest up for another day in Lima tomorrow.