Salitrera Santa Laura

Next stop on our Sunday tour was the abandoned salt mine Santa Laura. It is an old ghost town just outside Iquique in the middle of the driest desert in the world. The people lived there only because they mined salt. When technology improved, the mines were no longer needed and the people no longer had jobs, so they moved from the town because who wants to live in a desert? It was pretty cool to see the abandoned buildings and structures that were still standing and try to imagine what it would have been like to live there during that time. There is another ghost town just like it right down the road called Humberstone (which is even better preserved), but it was closed when we got there so we'll have to try again a different day.

The only part left of the school building...the steps.

Los verdes

My tour guide friend took me to some more typical places today. First stop: Los verdes. I'm not sure why it's called that because it's not green at all, but it was still pretty cool next to the sea. It's a little fishing community/neighborhood right on the ocean just outside of town. The fisherman get their catch and bring it directly up to their restaurant/house and cook it up fresh to serve. The seafood there is as fresh as you'll find it and very delicious. I tried something called a "loco" which is a type of seafood somewhat similar to octopus, except that when it was fried like it came, it tasted like a chicken nugget. Then I got a huge slab of albacore tuna and a salad that I couldn't finish. The restaurant we went to was called "Casa 13" and was a cute little place made famous because when the president came to Iquique he stopped there to eat!

Corrida de los mineros

Another race last weekend but this time I had a team to prepare with! We trained during the week and they lent me one of their bright orange club shirts to wear to represent. It was supposed to be a 10k but ended up only about 9k...but I won again for women! She almost passed me with about 2k to go, but I got a second wind and bested her. My prize was a medal and a sweatsuit. Classy.

Pedro Piedra

A friend invited me to a small concert that was going on in the cultural center downtown so since I love concerts, naturally I agreed. The guy's name was Pedro Piedra and he's from Santiago. I loved the music and it was such a cool venue on the top floor/deck of the cultural building...and apparently he's famous...and I got a picture with him! I was so excited to find some music I like here so hopefully I'll find some more concerts to go to. Just like home. :)

Pica

On our second day off, Friday, I went with two friends to a small interior town called Pica. It is a desert oasis...it has an underground river which gives them water to create a green spot in the middle of the driest dessert in the word. To get there, we had to drive through the desert about an hour and a half. When we arrived, we went to the natural thermal pools to swim which was amazing, then went to lunch at a typical restaurant with amazing natural fruit juices, bought some of the incredible fruit they grow and sell in the oasis, and headed home. It was a great day trip and I'll definitely have to go back.

Sulfur plant...it's like piles of yellow sand.

The Atacama Desert...still astounding me.

 Vegetation and ruins

Stopped for some empanadas in a little town on the way

What's that green thing out there in the desert?

Get a little closer and realize they are trees...it's an oasis!

The church in the small town of Matilla before getting to Pica.

The famous alfajores de Pica/Mantilla...not sure what it's made of but it's some sort of sweet cream/caramel around the outside with little layers of pastries in the middle. Who knows...but I do know that it was delicious.

On the way to Pica there was this random dinosaur attraction called "The Valley of the Dinosaurs". Supposedly there were preserved dinosaur footprints found somewhere around here, but we didn't see them...all we saw were dinosaur statues and face-holes.

As we were leaving an ADORABLE homeless puppy came bounding up to the car and made me so sad I wanted to take him home. But instead we gave him some alfajores to eat because he looked hungry and left him to hopefully survive alone in this desert oasis. :(

Pica is famous for their fruit trees and here we have some giant representations of these delicias. The best is the natural juices and ice cream...YUM.

At the natural hot springs thermal pool! There are some caves in the back that are pitch dark, but they are super cool. The water was perfectly clear and so warm. I have to go back!

 After the hot springs we went to eat at this restaurant with some delicious natural guayaba juice.

We had to go to the market before leaving so I could get some tangerines, mangos, alfajores, and guayaba jam.