It’s not surprising that Arica seems a cross between Peru and Chile – the region was a spoil in the 19th century War of the Pacific in which Chile defeated the combined forces of Peru and Bolivia (and occupied Lima for four years for good measure!).The town is a dusty spit of green by the sea, with the hills of the Atacama Desert behind, where
it hasn’t rained for thousands of years. “Arica Highlights” didn’t seem like quite the way to spend our day; “Off the Beaten Track: Codpa Village” did offer a “medicine man,” who could “read the future,” but struck us both as a bit “folk-lorical” despite the countryside that we might have seen. Anyway, on this odyssey we want surprises!This left “Man & the Desert,” a tour which combined a bit of sight-seeing in Arica with visits to the geoglyphs of the Aza Valley, the San Miguel Archeological Museum, and the “Presencias Tutelares.” And at the start, everything was just fine sort of. We say “sort of,” because our bus although modern enough was of the “no va” variety. We spent fifteen or twenty minutes standing on the pier which wasn’t too bad as we were able to improve our seating position. Always look for big windows to improve pictures on-the-go.
Our first stop was Arica’s Iglesias San Marcos, an Eiffel-designed church. (Yes, that Eiffel!) We had about thirty minutes, which was about right for seeing the building and the market in front. Despite guidebook warnings, we had no problems with the guano-supposed dropped by the yeco birds, which nest in the boulevard’s palm trees, but reading the guides had not prepared us for what was in store!
“Be back at the bus at 9:45 sharp!” the tour guide had said. We ALL were. He was. But the bus driver, now immortalized as “El Tardo” was not. Twenty-five to thirty minutes were spent waiting! (Apparently, he had gone to the bank.) He was a fill-in, and the guide announced to applause that he would not be returning to work!
Next stop was the Azapa Valley geoglyphs, sort of younger cousins of the Nazca Lines. These hill figures are allegedly related to the llama pack trains, which traversed these mountains – unfortunately, after Peru – they failed to impress. The Museum Archeological San Miguel de Azapa was a bit better – we didn’t expect the depth of Lima’s National Museum, but the exhibits, particularly of ancient weaving, were quite interesting and they had some examples of mummies
antedating the pharaohs (the preparation process was different as well) and a collection of rock art salvaged from the valley. Most of the available books were, not surprisingly, in Spanish, and at least one Sam picked was totally miss-bound (check before you buy!).
Finally, there were the Presencias Tutelares in the desert just off the Pan-American Highway. On the way, we passed several interesting roadside shrines to individuals, who had been killed, the so-called “animita” (“little wandering souls”). At least one of these had a “vanishing hitch-hiker” tradition attached to it. The Presencias may be nice if you like modern sculpture, but they also had a group of high-school dancers and a band to “spice up 
the experience.” The band was not bad. The dancers – well let’s just say they didn’t go particularly well with the desert. Ironically, it’s the Atacama itself that’s most impressive – a former sea with fossilized pieces of coral. No animals, no plants, just the rock, the dust, and a few roving dust devils. You can squint your eyes and forget the statues, the band, and the sequined dancers. And that, folks, made the price of admission worthwhile alone – the desert has to be experienced to be believed and is the one thing we saw that would bring us back ….
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