We awoke to find two men launching a boat in a nearby cove.
Other men were moving around with nets and pick-trucks. Out in the waves, we
could see something bobbing in and out the water, and realised it was someone
snorkelling with large flippers.

After breakfast, we headed south on the Ruta 1, alongside
the coast. Alongside the road there was
the graveyard for Gatico with its wooden crosses and cot like structures
surrounding the graves on the beach. Just beyond was Gatico itself, a former
nitrate port and railway hub that closed in 1930 and now deserted, except for a
small hut selling drinks. Most imposing of
all is the structure of the former Casa de Huespedes, an old hotel now standing
empty and overlooking the sea. It is a
substantial structure and it left us wondering why it isn’t inhabited by
someone, given the houses on the coast tend to be made out of chipboard.

Ten kilometres further south are the remains of Cobija,
founded by Simon Bolivar in 1825 when this part of the coast still belonged to
Bolivia. A few stone walls are all that was left of the port that once housed
1,000 residents. Seemingly it was hit by
a tsunami in 1868 and its fate was sealed the next year when there was an
outbreak of yellow fever. There are now
a few huts around. A young man was
gathering seaweed from the sands and drying it on the rocks. Another was out in the water, snorkelling,
presumably looking for shellfish.

Then it was a long drive down towards Antofagasta. It’s paved now and not perhaps as much fun
when we did it last – a dust road criss-crossed by railway lines. Just before Antofagasta we turned off to
visit La Portada, a rock arch just off the coast. Vultures were circling above. There have been
attempts to develop the area around but all the cafes and bars looked long
abandoned.

It was now mid-afternoon and we made the decision to stay in
Taltal for the night, an old nitrate port some 200 plus kilometres south of
Antofagasta. As we climbed out of Antofagasta we called in at a petrol station
and were delighted to find they had showers.
They weren’t that great and there was no hot water but …… The drive was
across a featureless desert on mainly ridiculously straight roads. A solitary
road led off to Cerro Paranal, a huge telescope that takes advantage of the
Atacama Desert’s clear skies. We have
also noted that there are very few motorhomes in Chile and that when we see
another, they flash and wave.

Descending back to the coast past mines, we were soon in
Taltal. We parked up, found a
supermarket and then headed north again to find a municipal picnic area, where
they allow wild camping. As it was going
dark, groups of kids were heading back to the town. We found a quiet spot by
the sea and ate a dinner of cauliflower and macaroni cheese – somewhat more
appetising than the previous night’s meal.

It was dark and a car pulled up behind us. We wondered what was going on, but then heard
a family with a small child pitching up beside us in the smallest possible tent
for three people.