Azapa Valley/Arica

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El Museo Azapa de San Miquel

We decided to go see the pre Columbian museum in the Azapa Valley, The trip out was interesting as we wound through olive orchards which survived on well water in the arid climate.

Azapa de San Miquel is a wee village nestled within the purple valley walls where the museum is housed in a new impressive building surrounded by beautiful gardens with rock art scattered around.

The artifacts within the museum are from 6000 years ago right up to the Spanish Independence, full of beautiful fabrics, fascinating tools and a huge olive press in the exit.

We wandered up towards town to eat having lunch in a restaurant ominously named Picos de Mueritos (picks of the little dead) Their pork Sunday dinner is designed to feed hungry rugby players with portions of pork weighing about 1lb each……………No one finished.

We climbed the hill behind the restaurant where we were told was a cemetery that visually bordered on the bizarre, this was so true, Its not often that you wander though a graveyard and have a feeling of contentment in jovial surroundings, graves are surrounded white picket fences and within flies colorful ribbons, windchimes, swirling umbrellas, gaudy plastic flowers and boxes with glass fronts which house personal effects of the deceased, favorite mugs, favorite hats and scarfs, for children favorite toys and dummies, soft toys hang from branches, the scene is as if in carnival, in some cases a bottle of the favorite tipple sits in the box in case of thirst in the next world. We left without a hint of sadness as we walked through the gates streaming with ribbons in a kaleidoscope of colours

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