ARICA

We walked to El Laucho Beach in the morning.

We visited the Morro de Arica, a 139-metre-high cliff, which overlooks the ocean and protects the city from the winds from the south. From the cliff top, we had spectacular panoramic views of the city and of the green Azapa Valley.

We stopped at the Archaeological Museum, which had a significant collection of pre-Columbian artefacts and mummies preserved in the sand and dating back to 5000 BC. These are the oldest mummies in the world and they are truly unique because of the artificial preparation method used.

We saw the fantastic geoglyphs along the slopes of the hills of Azapa valley. They are drawings carved into the land by the pre-Columbian people using stones or scratching the salty surface of the desert soil, which depict human and animal shapes and pastoral scenes.

We went to a handicrafts village where there are several shops selling typical Chilean items made from wool and ceramics.

We went to the centre of Arica to visit the main square and St Mark’s Cathedral, with its unique iron structure, built by French engineer Gustave Eiffel and opened in 1876.