Chile - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 415

the area's mining heyday, with the biggest
and best-preserved example being
Humberstone (daily: March-Nov
9am-6pm; Dec-Feb 9am-7pm;
CH$1000), 45km to the east. Established
in the middle of parched desert land in
1862, this once-thriving mining town
bears the name of its British manager,
James Humberstone. Visitors can wander
the eerie streets where squalid and
partially wrecked worker barracks
contrast sharply with the faded glamour
of the theatre and the well-maintained
church. Workers here, mostly Chilean
but some foreign, earned a pittance by
putting in long hours in a hot and
dangerous environment.
The thermal springs at Pica , 114km
southeast of Iquique, are well worth
a visit for a relaxing splash around;
the most popular is Cocha Resbaladero
(daily 8am-9pm; CH$1000). The small,
pre-Hispanic town is also famed for
producing limes widely believed to make
the perfect pisco sour, and the pretty
Iglesia de San Andrés .

that lights up at night, you can enjoy a
magnificent panoramic view of the entire
city. Also up here, with cannons stationed
outside, is the Museo Histórico y de Armas
(daily 8am-8pm; CH$600), with
displays of weaponry, uniforms and other
artefacts from the War of the Pacific.

The city centre
Below El Morro is the large, palm-tree-
lined Plaza Vicuña Mackenna , and
alongside that lies Avenida Máximo
Lira, the main coastal road. On the
east side is the attractive Plaza Colón ,
decorated with pink flowers and ornate
fountains. The plaza is home to one of
Arica's most celebrated buildings, the
Gothic Iglesia de San Marcos , designed
by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame),
made entirely out of iron and shipped
over from France in 1876. Eiffel was
also responsible for the grand 1874
Ex-Aduana building nearby, alongside
the Parque General Baquedano. This
now houses the Casa de Cultura,
and regularly hosts art and photo
exhibitions. The main thoroughfare,
21 de Mayo , heads east from here before
becoming a pedestrian strip, lined
with restaurants and banks. Just off it,
at Sangra 315, the Museo del Mar
(Mon-Sat 11am-7pm; CH$2000)
houses the impressive, personal
collection of Nicols Hrepic Gutunic,
who has spent much of his life
collecting more than one thousand
species of shells from Chile and across
the globe. To the west is the bustling
Terminal Pesquero , where sea lions
compete with pelicans for scraps from
the dockside fish stalls.

4

ARICA
ARICA , Chile's northernmost city, 316km
north of Iquique, benefits greatly from
tourism, with foreign visitors flocking to
its pleasant sandy beaches in the summer,
and with a smattering of good museums.
The city was the principal port exporting
silver from Bolivia's Potosí mines until
1776, and only became part of Chile in
the 1880s after the War of the Pacific.
Aside from its own attractions, Arica
makes a good base for the beautiful
Parque Nacional Lauca (see p.423).

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
The compact city centre is easy to
explore on foot, though a visit to
Arica isn't complete without climbing
El Morro , the dramatic cliff that looms
high over the city.

The beaches
North of the centre and west of the
bus terminals lies the popular Playa
Chinchorro , which is ideal for swimming,
sunbathing and body-boarding. The city's
northernmost beach, Playa Las Machas ,
is not suitable for swimming due to the
strong undertow but has some good surf
breaks. A twenty-minute walk south of
the centre will bring you to the sandy
Playa El Laucho and Playa La Lisera , both
popular with sun worshippers and good

El Morro
A steep path leads to the top of El Morro
from the southern end of Calle Colón.
From the clifftop, home to a number of
turkey vultures and a giant Jesus statue