A SAD DAY IN CHILE

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Would we not have moved to a different Hostel last night, we would not have heard the news about the earthquake that hit Chile this morning.

While I am having my shower, Ramiro goes for breakfast in the common area, where the TV is turned up loud.
Within two minutes, he comes storming into our room, with tears in his eyes. He can barely speak.  “What’s wrong” I ask.  “A major earth quake in the Santiago area”. I quickly get dressed and watch the horrifying reports on the TV with him. Meanwhile he tries to make some phone calls to his family. The only one he is able to reach is Patricia, in Viña del Mar. They are fine, thank God. As soon as she heard on the news, that a Tsunami may follow, they  took their car and drove into the mountains, together with her brother Michael, who is staying with her and Delio.

As we continue to listen to the reports, we learn that Constitucion and Concepcion, where most of Ramiro’s family lives, has been the hardest hit, as this is where the Epicenter is. The peninsula north of Concepcion; Talcahuano, where Ramiro’s niece Lily lives with her family has almost been wiped out. We are not able to contact any of them.

While Ramiro thinks about his family and friends in Chile, I think about my family and our friends outside of Chile, who will be very worried about us.
I suggest we go to the Internet Cafe right away, where I can post a quick blog entry, and Ramiro a Facebook message, indicating that we are safe.

We don’t know how this will affect our plans when we return to Santiago the end of March, but we won’t worry about this now. We need to focus on safe travels further north, and pray for those who suffered a loss of life or property.

As we leave San Pedro and drive to Calama, everything seems to look different. The mountains seem even more powerful than ever.  We’re both quiet with our own thoughts. We’re concerned about the after shocks, which usually occur.

We make a short side trip to the Valley of the Dead, but the deeper we drive in this canyon, the more uncomfortable I feel and we decide to drive back on the main road to continue west.


The plan was to stay in Calama for a few days, so I can get some work done and to make a few side trip to some interesting places, including the copper mine.
We are not successful however, in finding a suitable place and decide to continue to the coast and stay in Tocopilla. We road takes us via Chuquicamata, where the mine is located. The closer we get to the mine, the more questions I have; This place is huge. Ramiro tells me how this copper mine, the largest in he world, can be seen from outer space. There once was a big city here, with a hospital and schools. It appears that there was a Rotary Club here as well. Most citizens worked for the mining company.

With an open pit mine, the earth which is excavated is piled up at least four storeys high around the pit.  There is a lot more copper to be mined and they are running out of space to put the dirt and rocks. The solution? Shut down the city, kick everyone out and pile up the dirt over the city.
Much of the city is already burried with mountains of dirt, including the hospital, the church and one of the schools.
In the remaining part of the city, the houses are boarded up, piles of dirt are placed at the beginning of the streets. A high fence prevents anyone from entering the neighborhood. The high mountains are slowly closing in on the rest of the city.
Nothing is being recycled. The excavated material gets dumped directly onto everything. The mountains of dirt are moving in closer and closer.

I don’t understand the process, but am not in agreement with it. I have so many questions; Wy?
We may consider arranging a tour on our way back south. I need to understand why they are doing this.

As we drive farther west, we keep tuned in on the news, and try to make a few more calls. We also receive calls from friends in the south, inquiring about our safety.

The next 100 kilometers are not very interesting. The area looks like a giant field of sand, ready for construction. We follow the power lines along both sides of the road. These originate in Tocopilla and provide power to the Chuquicamata Copper Mine.


As we get closer to the coast, we cross through the coastal mountains; dull grey, depressing looking mountains, with numerous tunnel mines.

With all the mining activity in this area, Tocopilla is exactly what I thought it would be. It reminds me of one of those wild west towns from the movies. The only difference being that this is mining and not cattle.

We enter the city from the north, down the mountain, looking down on numerous railroad tracks and old rusted rooftops. How depressing. The centre is somewhat better, but in desperate need of some paint and repairs. It has some old historic buildings. Interestingly, the Government buildings  look nice and are mostly restored. It is the privately owned buildings that are in big contrast.

We hope to find a place for the night and will move on quickly to Iquique tomorrow.
After zigzagging through town we settle for something along the main street. We only take a small overnight bag out of the car and park behind the gate, before we for our usual walk to explore. We do mange to find at least a few interesting buidling. I like the all wooden church in particular.

The street is full with small discount stores and lots of people with their family are shopping, drinking and eating. We spot a frui market and stock up on some fresh fruit.

Everywhere we go TVs  turned on and reports of more tremors continue to come in. Some as strong at 7.5.

I find a hairdresser and have her give me a quick haircut, so it is easier to manage again. Ramiro meanwhile has been in touch with more family members and they are all fine, but, of course in shock and without water, power or gas. The only one we have not been able to contact is Lily in Talcahuano.