Day 42 –2nd January. Chuquicamata followed by a Stunning Coastline.

The world's largest mine - Chuquicamata

San Pedro de Atacama – Iquique 504 kms.

Total Distance So Far: 10,874 kms (9,104 kms by Land, 1,770 kms by Sea)

Our plans were ruined this morning, as last night when we went to refill the tank the only petrol station in town was out of fuel. We needed a full tank to take in our planned early start into the mountains to see the geysers of El Tatio. We had to leave at 4am as the 100 or so steam geysers only erupt once at day between 6 and 7am. The attendant said he would get gas at 8am in the morning.

At 9am there was 50-60 cars queued up at the station and around the block, and mostly tour 4x4’s. Clearly running out had caused lots of headaches. We headed back at 12 o’clock and joined a much smaller queue of about 15 cars. We then headed back on the single asphalt road that runs from Calama to the Bolivian border about 25kms south of San Pedro.

Calama is a dreary old town set up specifically to service and provide labour to the surrounding mines. Our goal was a visit to Chuquicamata Copper mine. When we arrived at the mine the security guards had told us that tours around the mine had now stopped due to safety reasons and the fact that one of the main attractions the actual town was due to be buried very soon by the expanding mine. The last tour was two days earlier on the 31st! I could not believe it. I gave them a long sob story about how it was our dream to see this famous mine, and crossed some palms with silver and hey presto! We got a personalized escort by one of the security personal.

It is hard to take in the sheer size of this mine. It has many firsts and records to its name; the largest annual production in the world – roughly 5% of the worlds total; it has by far the largest total production of approximately 29 million tonnes of copper to the end of 2007 since production started 90 years ago; despite its 90 years of intensive exploitation it remains the largest known copper resource; and lastly its open pit is the worlds largest at 4.3 km long, 3 km wide and over 850 m deep.

Our tour started with a ride around a large town called Chuquicamata Ville which once had 50,000 inhabitants. It was deserted with all of the people being moved out in 2008. It was complete with schools, parks, churches, shopping centres, cinemas, even a football stadium! The town was about to suffer the same fate as Punta de Rieles, Placilla and Banco Drummond, three earlier towns that had all been buried under the giant waste heaps surrounding the mine. This shows value of the copper exports to Chile. In 1950 it accounted for 75% of the value of the countries exports and even today it is 35%. Copper has been the currency that has paid the way for much of Chile’s modernization. After the town tour he took us to the edge of the mine but would not allow us to descend as he should not have been taking us around.

We then traveled west to the coast and headed northwards. The 250 kms from Tocopilla to Iquique were some of the most stunning roads and views I have ever seen. To the right there were huge mountains up to 2000 meters high, and in parts these were replaced by 1000 meters high walls of sand. I have never seen sand dunes of this scale. At one part there was a large tailback as a 5-6 kilometer stretch of the road had been covered by sand. On another part one side of the road for about a kilometer had been completely wiped out and we were ushered through by traffic police single file.

The setting sun painted these mountains red and it was a ride neither Lidy or I will forget. Arriving into Iquique at about 10.30pm we heading straight for the old town centre dropped off our gear and had a meal and a beer or two in the square. What a great day.

We are planning to rest here tomorrow, get a bit of work done on the bike, and then make it to the Peruvian border on Monday. We are now making our plans for the route to get to Cuzco. I have been told the Top Gear team suffered with some altitude problems at 17,000 ft. Our planned route takes us to the same altitude, about 5,000m. I had already done a lot of research of the effects of altitude sickness. People start to get it after 3,000m, and you need to be careful after 4,000m. After 5,000m you need to take precautions and spend time acclimatizing. I have been advised that going up to 5,000 and coming down again after a short period is not as demanding on your body than staying for a long time at 5,000. That is our plan to spend no more than two hours at 5,000m.

We have been advised to rest for at least one full day, two if possible in Arequipa which is 2,500 meters high, and about 800kms north of here to acclimatise before making the 600 kms ride over the higher passes at 5,000 meters in the Andes on the way to Cuzco which then drops back to 3,400 meters. The acclimatization is needed as sea level to 5,000 meters in one day is not advisable.

Altitude sickness is common for tourists especially if not properly acclimatised, but some people get it worse where they need to have oxygen via mask, and need to be taken quickly to lower altitudes. The symptoms are feeling dizzy, weak, breathless, nauseous and dry mouth and nose. Strong headaches are also an early sign. I have been told not to exert myself (should not be a problem!) and do things very slowly so as not to require a sudden extra amount of oxygen which is not there. To help with altitude sickness South Americans chew coca leaves. Growing coca leaves is one of the biggest agricultural industries in South America. They are used in the production of cocaine, and legalised medicines. The practice of chewing coca leaves goes back centuries and is still common among peasant farmers of the Andean altiplano and miners. The leaves are chewed with a little ash or bicarbonate of soda, as the alkalinity releases the mild stimulant contained in the leaf cells. Prolonged chewing dulls the pangs of hunger, thirst, cold and fatigue, which are all symptoms of altitude sickness. I am told you would have to chew a tonne of it to get stoned. The leaves also increase oxygenation in the bloodstream enabling breathing to be easier. Apparently they are very bitter, so If you don´t want to chew them, you can drink coca tea or suck on coca sweets too. All this is available in Arequipa. No alcohol, raw garlic, and asprin also help. The golden rule is if you really start to feel bad then descend – don’t hang about. You body gives lots of warning signs and only a fool continues to ascend when feeling very poorly. If it affects us too much then we can do a 1,200kms detour and get to Cuzco staying at 4,000m.



Part of the town of Chuquicamata Ville, soon to be buried under the ever-expanding mine.


Any colour as long as it's yellow!


There were packs of vultures along the coast road to Iquique.