Livin’ la vida loca, in the desert on the coast

Welcome to Friday! It’s hard to believe I’ve already been in Chile for nearly four weeks.

Over the course of the past few weeks, I’ve managed to sort myself out enough to have a respectable environment to live in. (Which was no small feat: I only brought three average-sized suitcases with me, the apartment was unfurnished and this country has NO IKEA. On top of it, my husband had been living in this apartment – more or less – for about 5 months before my arrival. So, you know.) I’ve received a number of requests to describe or show more about where, exactly, I live.

I’m planning on “showing you around” my apartment in my next post. But before I get to that, I should start from the very beginning – where I maybe should have started earlier in this blog – by describing a little bit about Chile in general.

Your Geography Lesson of the Day

So let’s start with this. Chile is on the “West Coast” of South America, stretching over an immense area of Pacific coastline and extending East really only to the Andes mountains.

Map of South America...for educational purposes only

I’m in the city of Antofagasta, which used to be Bolivia’s only port city. Bolivia lost the city to Chile in a treaty in 1904, which is still a sore spot between the two countries. Antofagasta is in an incredible desert called the Atacatama desert. If you’re thinking it’s one of those “cactusy” ranch type deserts, think again. This is actually the driest, deadest desert in the world. The soil is so dry, in fact, that NASA tested the Mars rover in this desert before launching it to Mars, because the conditions and terrain are very similar to the Red Planet.

Region of Antofagasta, with the city in that little bay on the coast

This whole desert thing is especially bizarre when you consider we are literally on the Pacific coast. Not unlike San Francisco, the days can get very hazy, cloudy, and even sort of misty or humid-feeling, but unlike Northern California, it only rains here about one day a year and the only natural greenery you might see is the occasional lichen or moss growing on the large boulders along the beach.

These unusual conditions give way to some fascinating landscapes, sunsets, and colors. Further inland there is an area that is home to out-of-this-world (literally, it looks like the Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine) rock formations, salt flats, geyesers and lakes. My husband and my cousin visited this area a few weeks ago when I was still in Canada and I plan on visiting sometime in the coming months.

San Pedro de Atacama, located further inland towards Bolivia - My cousin Paul took this picture!

The weather gets hot in the summer – we are within 30 miles of the Tropic of Capricorn – but right now we are in the end of winter and the days have been cool (50s, 60s Fahrenheit); basically, lightweight sweater weather. In a few weeks,we’ll be eased into more summery conditions, with daily highs in the 70s and lows somewhere in the 60s. Although it does snow in the winter in Southern Chile (quite a lot in the really Southern tip of Chile – it’s almost Antartica, after all!) and it just snowed last week in Santiago, it never snows this far north, as lows hardly ever reach rock-bottom, which is somewhere in the mid-40s.

I’ve never lived in such a moderate climate. This “winter” is refreshingly warm compared to Canadian winters – it feels more like September weather than midwinter weather – and while our Canadian friends and family are digging their way out of the snowbanks in December, we’ll be enjoying an ice cream on the beach in our summer clothes.

Antofagasta

So what do they do here?

Aside from enjoying pisco sours and hanging out on the beach, many of the inhabitants of Antofagasta are somehow associated with the mining industry. Copper is the primary metal that’s extracted here. You might remember the big rescue of the Chilean miners last October. Their mine was one of the many in this general region. Many miners or those who work for mining companies and related industries live in Antofagasta and commute via a 1-2 hour charter flight to isolated mining camps every week. Most of the expats I’ve met here have husbands in the mining industry.

Other expats are here because of the university. The major universities in this city have programs that are mostly geared towards students who want to go into industries related to mining (metals and materials and industrial engineering, management, etc.). (That’s why my husband is here.)

Another picture my cousin took of San Pedro, in the highlands of Chile

There’s no farming in the region, obviously…that tends to be further south. There’s some service industry, a lot of restaurants, a large mall, hotels, and a few places where artisans sell their crafts.

In central Chile, the climate gives way to greener landscapes and is suitable for agriculture. That’s where you will find vineyards, olive oil producers, orchards and farms.

In the southern tip of the country, there’s a region that is incredibly mountainous and shares a border with Argentina and its famous Patagonia region, which is known for its massive mountains and winter sports. It’s also the gateway to Antarctica.

Hope this little mini-lesson gives you a little better picture of what Chile is all about. I’ll continue to talk a lot about the country over the coming weeks and months! Enjoy your weekend!

P.S. Thanks a lot for all of your visits, comments and support! I am very happy to have such supportive friends and family. If you haven’t yet, please be sure to leave a comment so I know you’re dropping by!