THE INCA TRAIL
the big South American adventure rally
Day 23: Arica - Calama (705km)
Driest places and biggest hole
Merryweather & Deacon - still on track for Gold |
Phil Surtees shows off his big shovel. |
Yep, that sure is a big shovel. |
Atacama Desert - the driest place on earth. But though rainfall is almost nonexistent, deep canyons (quebradas) carrying streams from distant mountains cut through the arid terrain of the 1,000m high plateau, where rock, stone and sand give way to occasional oases with trees, other plantlife and places where people live and farm.
The Panamericana forms the backbone of today's route for the older classics, the rest of the field turning west after 256km for a run down the coast road. A splendid dramatic coastline, teeming with life: big red crabs scuttle around the rocks all day long.
Mining for nitrates has long been important in this part of the Atacama - and besides the ghost towns, evidence of the area's past, the land is still being exploited. After the mining port of Tocopilla, the route turns inland, making a steady climb up onto the desert plateau. Shortly before our overnight halt at Calama, the road passes Chuquicamata - the biggest opencast copper mine in the world. Another superlative for the Inca Trail - and of course a visit to this great hole was in order.
The greatest test of the day came on the approach to Chuquicamata (Chuqui to its friends). The long climb through the hot desert in increasingly rarified atmosphere took its toll on one or two cars - classics and 4x4s alike. The Jaguar XK140 of Do and Ans Meeus was among those to suffer, quietly grinding to a halt as the gradient increased. Peter Rushforth offered a tow - the 10,400 ft summit still around 8km up the road. After 5km, the Mitsubishi course car admitted defeat, handing over the baton - and tow rope - to the larger petrol driven Landcruiser of the van Rossenbergs. The difference was remarkable: they fairly flew away over the horizon at around 80kph.
We''ve heard a lot about 4x4s helping out the classics so a little way further on it was good to see John Mathew's Mercedes as well as Rolf Pritz's Land Rover Discovery pulled up alongside the Wrays' Hyundai Galloper, lending a hand to change a split radiator hose. Job done, the Mercedes seemed loath to start again. Not to worry: John simply pointed the car down the hill, engaged gear and it ran happily enough. Several pints of water supplied from Course Car gerry can stocks saw the Wrays safely on their way, too.
And so to the big hole, and its museum of mechanical diggers. Yes, it was indeed a big hole. And you had to pinch yourself to remember that the (pretty huge) diggers in the museum are the ones that have been superceded by ever more impressive machinery out there in real life...
Bus rescue service
Those Pelly-Frys have been at it again. After acting as an unofficial river ferry a few days ago in their Audi Allroad, today they were in the right place at the right time for a broken down bus. Unlike the villagers beaten by the river, the bus occupants stayed put, but they gave the bus driver a lift to the next village, where he could get help organised for his vehicle and passengers. What will their third Good Samaritan escapade be?