Iquique 🏜️⛪️

What started as a planned week turned into two weeks in Iquique! On one hand, because I really enjoyed the north of Chile, but also because there were severe storms in La Serena during this time, and I couldn't return earlier. Iquique is located way up north in Chile, with only one larger city before you reach Peru. The city lies on the Pacific coast and is surrounded by pure desert. It is also known as 'the city where it is summer all year round.' Yes, I can truly confirm that; actually, we are in the middle of winter here in Chile, for example, in the south, there has been three meters of snow since last week, but in Iquique, it was possible to be at the beach in a bikini. The main reason we chose to spend this time in the north was for the largest religious festival in Chile, which takes place in a city near Iquique. I spent the first few days at a friend's house from my family here in Chile and explored a bit of the city and especially the beaches. As I have come to expect from Chile, I was received with great kindness and openness by her. She took me to a rotary meeting on the first evening, and I got to meet some of her friends. Unexpectedly, they wanted me to introduce myself officially at the meeting (in Spanish, of course 🫣), but I handled it quite well. When I have to speak in front of so many people, I definitely don’t feel very confident with my Spanish yet 😅. The next day was my first real exploration of the city. Iquique is not a large city, as it simply isn’t feasible due to space constraints. It is situated in a kind of small valley, surrounded behind by a huge sand dune, the Cerro Dragón, and enclosed on the left and right by the sea. Along the beach, I strolled into the old town. The beaches are really beautiful and there are always many people, but one must say that the city itself is not particularly attractive. There is one street in the old town that is lively and nice, featuring 'old' houses and a really nice square at the end, but that’s about it. So, I preferred to stay at the beach on the following visits. On July 16, it is the feast day of St. Virgin Carmen, who is the patroness of Chile. In La Tirana, a desert town about two hours inland, there stands the church of St. Carmen, and this is where the festival takes place. I was told that the festival itself is heavily influenced by Peru and Bolivia, as the borders of these countries are very close and due to earlier traditions, the influence is still quite strong. When a festival is mentioned in Chile, it is always associated with a lot of food, dancing, and many people. A typical feature of this festival is that people have items or even babies blessed by the statue of St. Carmen and wait in line for over three hours, in more than 30 degrees Celsius, to touch the statue. Well, thank goodness Lili and Jorge stood in line, so I could take the time to observe the events and the market stalls. After the church service, the actual spectacle begins with the typical dances. We watched a few different ones. The costumes and dresses were truly impressive! For lunch, we then headed to another town, Pica. Pica is known as an oasis in the desert because it is the only green spot for miles around. We drove for hours through a 'Mars landscape' of desert, and suddenly we saw a green spot in the distance. It really felt like being on another planet at times. After a really delicious meal, we visited a friend of Lili’s who has a mango plantation in Pica. Mangos are really typical and special in this region because they are a bit smaller, juicier, and sweeter than regular mangos. I ate the most delicious mangos of my life, and after five, I stopped counting how many I actually had. We also brought a lot back home - we are still eating them today 😅. We sat with him and his family on his farm late into the evening before we made our way home. Furthermore, Iquique is known for having a duty-free shopping center like Duty Free at the airport; Jorge and Lili wanted to show me that too, and we spent an afternoon there. A large population of Chinese immigrants has settled in Iquique, resulting in some great Chinese restaurants, which they of course also showed me. I then spent another day with Liliana's friend deep in the desert to see the Giant of Tapacá and a very small desert village. On the way there, we picked up an old man who was walking to the village. He was 88 and had spent most of his life in the desert. For me, it’s unimaginable to have nothing but heat every day. I don’t know if he has ever seen or felt rain in his life. In the village, we also visited the church. On the way back, I was even allowed to drive the car, where there was nothing but road and countless trucks on the way to Bolivia. I spent the remaining days at the beach, watching surfers or simply going for long walks. I was really glad to have spent the rainy season in La Serena during the 'summer' and thoroughly enjoyed my time in Iquique 🫶🏼