Perfect Iquique, Chile

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From Puno, Peru we headed by bus over a section of the Andean Mountains to Tacna, Peru-to- Arica, Chile... and it was by far the most interesting bus ride yet!!! In our efforts to save a little money... we took a more local bus that stopped numerous times... dropping off and picking up locals. The most interesting pick up was the meat lady who boarded our bus and chopped away, with a giant meat cleaver some type of meat for passengers to buy (I can still hear the clunk-clunk). Fortunately... I had access to a window which kept the air flowing... in my mind cleaning out the smell. John had the audacity to say, "It sorta smells good... don´t you think?"... he was not even kidding!!

On our way "over the boarder" from Tacna, Peru to Arica, Chile we shared a taxi with a lady from Peru who explained to us that Iquique Chile was a "muy bien playa" (which is a very good beach). With no history or idea of what we would find... we went with it and was pleasantly surprised and impressed with our first beach town in Chile!!

In summary, Iquique is the perfect sized cove with lots of restaurants, lots of shops and the most interesting beach. We walked around for a few hours... found a board walk and fell in love. There were many beach goers, lots of children and many stray dogs fitting right in with the beach fun.

Our hostal Palm Hostal was the PERFECT place and only a 2 minute walk from the beach. The mascot there was a shy golden lab named Jim Bo (locals pronounce Jeep?), a fuse ball table and porch swing!! While walking along the beach... we quickly realized that bathing suites would be required... our previous creation of black bra, black underwear and black boxers would certainly not blend in. 😉 So we made the trek to the local mall and quickly discovered that no one in Iquique spoke English!! Haha... we had a fun laugh with the bathing suit employee who at first avoided us... but then realized the American giants were nice and had a little bit of spanish. She and John connected with the word "sexy" since I was him-hawing about which bathing suit to choose. 😉

So... we originally planned on staying 3 days, but ended up staying 5 noches and 6 dias!! During our time there, People watching was the complete highlight. Adults & children have no qualms about sand. Almost every person regardless of age either engaged in sand rolling, sand throwing (cramming in faces or throwing incredibly hard) and/or sand laying (no towels, mats, etc). Also, there is no personal space... everyone just finds a spot and sits there. Random people and dogs stepped on our sheets and kicked sand on us. We´re at the beach right?! haha. Also... the waves are huge 6-8ft, sea lions visited the swimming area (a bit nerve racking for me), giant pig snorting black birds hanging out in trees with webbed feet? Another interesting item... children peeing on the beach and parents just covering with sand. Made us think twice about digging our feet in- ha!!

We ended up having dinner at two very posh places. My favorite was called El Sombrero Restoran that had large glass sliding windows which allowed diret view of ocean, floating boats and breeze to visit us while we ate EXCELLENT fresh seafood and crisp white wine!!

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Comments

[Jacob]

Shiny Red Forehead
Sweet. When I lose my job in Land Development soon, I'm looking into Meat Sales and Distribution in third world countries as a possible career move. HA, that's great!! Chrissy, ...Someone has to take my place as the Sunscreen Police...I dont have jurisdiction outside the U.S. I'll send you some pesos and maybe you can get John a sombrero or invest in some Bull Frog SPF 100....He's looking wee bit bbq'd. Reminds me of a different time on a deck over-looking a different Ocean. Miss you guys. Jacob

[Suzanne]

Locked up abroad
Looks like you guys are having a great time...it is very hard to read about how much fun you are having after a long day of sitting in a cubicle. Dave and I were watching locked up abroad the other day so if someone tells you that you can make a lot of money if you just carry a few gold bars or a few bags of hash on the next flight with you...just walk away or kick them in the face and then walk away. Either way, we are just looking out for you. Those South American jails can be rough! Talk to you soon PS Bones, it looks like you are ready for a shave and a change of clothes.

[Iratxe]

sunburnt?
¡Qué bonito! But I'm a bit worried, John. Your face looks a bit like a lobster ;PPPPPPPPPP Do you have lots of English blood in you? 'Cause most Englishmen that come to Spain on vacation turn pink like that under the sun....... Es bromaaaaaa...... ;))))

[Griff]

Sunburn
Bones - I think you need to invest in some sunscreen!