Arturo Prat Iquique

... it was like entering a film set or ghost town - bascially there wasn´t a soul to be seen and the shops were all shuttered. Not that i´ve ever been to New Orleans (!!!) but thats what the buildings reminded me of. Very french style double storey wooden buildings with balconies painted in bright colours, very diff to anything else we´d seen in South America which has bascially been stone or mud ...

... but in the time that it takes the autofocus on a compact camera to operate, situations can develop very quickly when flying amongst a group of other paragliders. I felt safer keeping my hands on the controls. After the course finished, there was more time to relax, visit places around Iquique and contemplate where to go next. I had heard of a ghost-town nearby ...

... beds, althought i had only one other girl sleeping in the room. today i walked to the center of town, which was fine. i went to the beach for a little while. the sun is extremely hot here so i wanted to go swimming, but EVERYWHERE on the beach there is hugeeee jellyfish, literally some the diameter of a basketball or bigger, and there is no way to avoid them in the water because they ...

Okay.. time to let everyone know I´m alive again. Lots has happened since my last entry.. Spent my last day in Santiago with good friends from the school soaking up the rays on the San Cristobal pool.. couldn't´t have asked for a better last day before heading off into the erratic Patagonian weather. Got on a night bus to Puerto Montt to go catch the Navimag ferry.. I decided to splurge and spent a whole 45 bucks for the nice sleeper for a 13 hour ride ...

... a seemingly decent heat. We woke up at 10ish the next morning, packed our things and headed downstairs for breakfast. The lady complained because "we only serve breakfast until 10.30!" Whoop-dee-doo lady, give me my sandwich and drink. We went on our merry way, and by midday were settled in at Residencial Casa Grande. The ladies that work there are really helpful, and the hostel is pretty clean. They let Miguel and I stay in a triple room, without making us pay extra ...

... Thursday January 8th We get a wake up call this morning for 7:00, (5:00 our time) my concern is we will sleep to our regular time of 7:00 (9:00 Chilean time) and therefore lose valuable daylight. After a continental breakfast we walk down to the ocean front and watch the crew on the docks refurbish old fishing vessels. We left for the town of ...

... This gave Chris and I time to finally sort through our gear. It took most of the afternoon and it was boring but then it was time for the Christmas BBQ at the hostel. And it was fun. I hadn't had a drink in quite some time so it didn't take long the wine to go to my head. After dinner I called Mum and Dad and spoke to them briefly. I then hit the casino with another Aussie, Ryan (who also happens to be an architecture ...

... in South America so far, Iquique has it's fair share of wild dogs. Although the dogs in Iquique seem to be more sexually active. I'm not sure whether it's the warm weather, the sandy beaches, or the beautiful sunsets, but they give a new meaning to doggy-style. (Brian wrote this). There was a house dog at the second hostel we stayed at. One night, a lady brought over her dog and we were entertained the whole night watching them chase eachother around. So funny!

... demanda altra cop de nitrats naturals però aquestes dues ex-oficines les mantindran només com a museu. Després ens dirigim cap a el Salar de Pintados, on podem veure uns geoglífics gegants al desert més sec del món. Són enigmes que encara avui s'estan estudiant els significats. Algunes hipòtesis diuen que una muntanya simbolitza la vida a l'altiplà i, l'altre, simbolitza la vida a la costa... un altre teoria són que aquests geoglifics van estar fets pels ...

... wasn't that it was paved for a while and then it wasn't - No. It was all paved, with massive gaps and holes throught the journey, all the way to Pica. I don't know how many kilometers there were or how long it took but it felt like forever.<br><br>On the way to Pica on that same road, one sees a sign - Go to see the Dinosaur Tracks! Oh man, I had never seen anything like it, I missed my chance when I was in Bolivia the year before and I would totally not mind checking it out now, in ...