Huasco, the lovely Chilean fishing town.

I arrived in Huasco on Sunday afternoon. When I got to the hotel reception the key to the office was in the door but nobody was there. I walked into the dining room where 2 Asian guys sat at opposite sides of the room working on laptops. They were clearly working, manuals were piled up beside each of them. I asked, in Spanish, if they spoke Spanish or Ingles, they looked at me blankly. So I asked in English, they looked at me blankly again. I decided to sit and wait. The guys eventually spoke Japanese to each other.
   After about 20 minutes I wondered about a door at the side of the dining room, I opened it and in doing so woke up the owner / manager from his afternoon siesta in a lounge in front of a TV. So I got a room. It was a very nice hotel, with private rooms overlooking the ocean. The coast was pretty, but marred to the left by an industrial plant which the owner told me was turning 'crap' oil, brought in as waste from other countries, into electricity. He obviously wanted it, and its pollution, gone.
   The town was quiet. I went down to the pier, and grabbed a couple of seafood empanadas, the walked right around the seafront of the town to the "Playa Grande" (Big Beach) at the far end of town. At this point it became obvious that I had reached Atacama, home of the driest desert in the world, even if I was at the beach.
   In the morning I took a walk, frustrated myself on the wi-fi internet, and then left town to Copiapo. I had thought I would stay a couple of nights in Copiapo, and do a tour up to Nacional Parque Tres Cruzes. I walked into town to find a tour agency, but there seemed to be none where the guide booke suggested, so I asked in the LAN Chile (airline) office and they directed me to the government tourist office. It was closed for the day. I took the hint... It wasn't tourist season, I was unlikely to get a tour, and I returned to the bus station, and headed off again, to Caldera.

The Sea in front of my hotel, Huasco.

Huasco and its fishing boats.

The skate park in Huasco.

The desert meets the sea at Huasco's 'Playa Grande'.

Oh, I loved the playground equipment in a seaside park in Huasco, there was also a see-saw and a fort. Let me know if you'd like to see more photo's!

Notes:
Accomodation: Huasco; Hostel San Fernando $30. private room, private bath, beach views, eggs at breakfast! * * * * *
Buses, 2 of: La Serena to Huasco $12
2 seafood empanadas: $3.