Chile, from Osorno to Atacama

 We entered Chile through Paso Samoré, the border crossing just across from Villa La Angostura, and our first stop was Osorno. We went from rainy Osorno to the Atacama desert and, as we moved northward, the landscape changed constantly. Southern Chile is flushed with water from rain, river and lakes, while the northern part of the country becomes one of the driest places in the planet.

  

Water scarcity also means less population and production means. In the South they have cattle farming, agriculture, and forestry, while at the North they resort to big scale mining.

To support the many mining projects they built enormous photovoltaic and windmills complexes and distribution lines. At the same time, those projects consume most of the little water available in the region. Except for people working in the mines, one can drive hours and hundreds of miles without seeing a single person or an animal. The same hundreds of miles show the scars left by decades of mining projects in the Atacama region, not to mention the trail of pollution which nobody takes care of cleaning.

Some questions remains: ¿what would happen if, instead of providing energy and water to mining projects, the government provides energy and water to promote and sustain traditional activities such as agriculture? ¿Is it conceivable such type of development?

Transportation is very expensive, with a toll booth located every few miles (average one every 84 miles along 1932 miles. Average 4,50 U$S each). At the same time, in such a long country, public transportation is also very expensive. Chile is still a poor country, but to live and move in Chile is out of reach for the common person.

We drove from Osorno to Concepción, Santiago, Copiapó, Coquimbo, La Serena, and Antofagasta. Instead of keep going north on route 5 we turned NE to the border with Argentina at Paso Jama. The driving was exciting but difficult as our car couldn’t afford the high altitudes (around 15,000 feet), lost power and forced us to move much slowly.

 Volcano Licancabur, in the border between Chile and Bolivia

 The landscape changes significantly on the Argentina side. There is more humidity in the air and in the high mountains we started seeing some small bushes and vicuñas.

 Our objective was to stay overnight in Purmamarca, Jujuy, and then travel north to Bolivia. However we got there during Easter and the hotels were crowded. Confronted with the problem we kept driving north to the border city of La Quiaca, and tomorrow we will cross to Villazón, on the Bolivian side.