Iquique

Intense beach break, sun, and tennis - those are the words that describe our stay in Iquique.

After our delayed departure from Bahia Inglesa, we didn't get as far as we had hoped and had to make an unplanned stop along the way. Sleeping by the road was not an option due to the passing trucks, middle of nowhere was not an option because of Kathrin's fear, and cities are scarce in this section of Chile. So we parked our car in a city (Tocopilla) that the Lonely Planet describes as "ugly" - we couldn't agree more. After a restless night, we started our final leg towards Iquique with not the best mood. However, our mood improved upon arrival and after a supermarket shopping trip, because Iquique is actually quite nice.

Spontaneously, we asked the nice, older caretaker of the tennis club right by the cliffs if we could maybe play tennis (even though we can't) and we were successful. Once that was settled and we had organized surfboards for the next three days, our world was back in order. So we played tennis, went jogging, or surfed and enjoyed the sun. However, the beach break was quite steep and tall, making the wave more suitable for bodyboarders than surfers. Nevertheless, Luki still got tossed around in the washing machine daily - as training for Nicaragua.

As a parking place, we had a promenade area in the middle of the city. This is also where the pictures of the impressive sunset were taken.

After three days of beach vacation, it was time for us to say goodbye to the ocean (at least until Nicaragua in two weeks) and to our camper, which we will return in our last stop in Chile - San Pedro de Atacama.